Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of a teaching activity that aimed to convey the meaning of indeterminate forms to a group of undergraduate students who were enrolled in an elementary mathematics education programme. The study reports the implementation sequence of the activity and students’ experiences in the classroom. To assess the effectiveness of the adopted approach, an individual homework assignment, in which students were asked to generate examples for indeterminate forms as geometrical constructions, was applied. The findings revealed that the students had various misunderstandings about the meanings of indeterminate forms prior to the study. Moreover, the use of the term “indeterminate” to designate these limit forms was found to be inappropriate because of its connotation. In light of the results, some suggestions are made to improve the teaching of indeterminate forms.

Key words: Calculus teaching, indeterminate forms, limit concept, concept of infinity.