Identifying and describing cognitive and social factors involved in problem solving processes. A case study

Abstract

This work is based on the analysis of information gathered during two weeks of class aimed at introducing differential equations in a first year university course, for which a Teaching Module was designed with two main objectives in mind: to introduce the concept of the Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) based on the concept of the derivative of a function as an alternative to the use of the formal definition and to create a problem solving environment in which students interact with each other, analyzing and discussing the issues in question. The aim of this study is the identification of certain factors that can be used to detect and explain the progress of students during the development of the Teaching Module. The aforementioned factors to be described will be exemplified by a series of episodes during the resolution process of one of the pairs of students participating in the research: Alexis and Zoraida (pseudonyms).