Examining College students' conceptual metaphors of infinity across Calculus coursework sequence

Abstract

This study examined College students? conceptual metaphors of duality in understanding and representing infinity. Data was collected using two openended tasks from N=188 students enrolled in one of the southwestern universities in the U.S. Data was analyzed by three independent experts using Fleiss?s Kappa for inter-rater reliability (=.7165). Results reveal that students? experiences in traditional Calculus sequence are not supportive of the development of duality conception. On the contrary, it significantly strengthens the singularity perspective confirmed by Chi-square statistic (2 =9.686, p(.05). Findings could serve as a facilitating instrument to further analyze cognitive obstacles in College students? understanding of the infinity concept.