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Sunday, September 23, 2018

Methods of Finding Limits Error Analysis

My AP Calculus students just took their big Limits quiz and before we dive into Continuity and IVT, I wanted to make sure we solidified some sloppy issues I saw pop up.  I designed this activity based off actual errors from student work, hoping for a little personal reflection before they ever get their quizzes handed back to them. I'm planning to use this as an intervention tool with my struggling AP kids, but then a teaching tool with my school level Calculus kids.



I started this by simply having students choose a technique to evaluate each limit, without actually evaluating. I hope this will be a catalyst for conversations within the group and a baseline for students as they move into the next part of the activity.


The 2nd part of the activity shows examples of mistakes from the quiz that I rewrote in my own handwriting to avoid any embarrassment. Student will need to find the mistake and then fix it. One of my favorite parts of these mistakes is that often they do not lead to an incorrect answer. My Calculus students need to get very used to attending to notational precision in their work and there's no better time than the present for that!

There's a good mix of Algebra and Calculus mistakes throughout the activity, but they definitely lean heavier on notational fluency than anything else.  

Feel free to use as is or modify as you see fit! Also, if you have any common issues that you see with your students and limits, feel free to send them to me so I can add them to this! 


1 comment:

  1. Hi Caitlyn-  I've been using your Sloppy Limits activity for the past few years and have loved it.  Thanks for sharing it!  This year we are remote, so I made it into a Desmos Activity.  Here is the link:  https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/5f4eaba2486111223170898e
    Thanks again for all the great ideas and materials!

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