Colloquium Series

Change of Settings and Row-Reduction Process in Undergraduate Linear Algebra

Lance Burger Mathematics Education Candidate Oregon State University

Since the formation of the Linear Algebra Curriculum Study Group in 1990, there has been considerable interest in studying the teaching and learning of undergraduate linear algebra. This talk outlines a dissertation aimed at understanding how undergraduate linear algebra students are often able to implement a computational algorithm such as row-reduction, but later encounter great difficulty with changes in context. The talk will discuss the research question in the context of constructivist encapsulation theories, as well as a methodological framework influenced by work done in experimental psychology. Emerging results concerning the Gaussian elimination algorithm in different settings will be presented; which describe relevant procedural and conceptual links in connection with Piaget’s (1989) notion of "reflective abstraction," as well as suggest an extension of Tall’s notion of the procept.

Friday, 16 March 2007 4:10 p.m. in Math 109

Spring 2007 Colloquium Schedule         Mathematical Sciences | The University of Montana