scholarly journals Students’ Understanding of the Economic Interpretation of the Derivative in the Context of Marginal Cost

Author(s):  
Frank Feudel ◽  
Rolf Biehler

AbstractMany disciplines make use of mathematical concepts. However, there are often discrepancies between the way mathematical concepts are understood and taught in mathematics and the way they are used in other disciplines. The literature suggests that such discrepancies might make it hard for students in mathematics service courses to make a connection between the mathematical concepts taught and the way they are used in the students’ major disciplines. We investigated this hypothesis for one specific example in mathematics for economics students – the derivative and its interpretation commonly used in economics as the amount of change when increasing the production by one unit. We conducted an interview study investigating to what extent economics students can make a connection between the mathematical concept of the derivative and this common economic interpretation of the derivative. This study provides empirical evidence that it is actually difficult for economics students to make this connection, even though it was covered in their calculus course. In particular, the study reveals difficulties students have when trying to make this connection, which could be addressed in teaching.

Author(s):  
K. P. Purnhagen ◽  
E. van Herpen ◽  
S. Kamps ◽  
F. Michetti

AbstractFindings from behavioural research are gaining increased interest in EU legislation, specifically in the area of unfair commercial practices. Prior research on the Mars case (Purnhagen and van Herpen 2017) has left open whether empirical evidence can provide an indication that this practice of using oversized indications of additional volume alters the transactional decision of consumers. This, however, is required to determine the “misleadingness” of such a practice in the legal sense as stipulated by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC. The current paper closes this gap by illustrating how behavioural research can inform legal interpretation. In particular, it extends the previous research in two important ways: first, by examining the actual choice that people make; and second, by investigating whether the effects remain present in a context where a comparison product is available. Yet, while supporting and extending the findings of the study from Purnhagen and van Herpen (2017) on deceptiveness, the current study could not produce empirical evidence of a clear influence on the transactional decision of consumers, in the way “UCPD” requires.


In this article, Wilko van Holten and Martin Walton continue the exchange with John Swinton regarding the understanding and usefulness of the “timelessness of God” (Swinton, 2016) in the context of dementia (see HSCC 8(1), “A Critical Appraisal of John Swinton’s Theology of Time and Memory” by van Holten and Walton, 2020, and “A Rejoinder to van Holten and Walton” by Swinton, 2020a). Both van Holten and Walton argue that Swinton’s restatement of God’s eternal presence in terms of unchangeableness comes with a serious theological price, namely, a static image of the divine. Swinton’s refusal to pay this price points to a tension in his thinking on this point. The authors adduce some empirical evidence to substantiate the claim that a timeless and immutable God is psycho-spiritually less appropriate in the context of pastoral care. For van Holten and Walton, their major concern is not with the intentions or conclusions at which Swinton arrives, but with the way in which he argues for those conclusions and expresses these intentions. In this exchange, practical and philosophical theology meet, and the authors explore some of the questions which are raised. These questions ultimately are concerned with theological method. A response to this article by Swinton will also be published in this issue of HSCC (see Swinton, 2022).


Technology has significantly emerged in various fields, including healthcare, government, and education. In the education field, students of all ages and backgrounds turn to modern technologies for learning instead of traditional methods, especially under challenging courses such as mathematics. However, students face many problems in understanding mathematical concepts and understanding how to benefit from them in real-life. Therefore, it can be challenging to design scientific materials suitable for learning mathematics and clarifying their applications in life that meet the students’ preferences. To solve this issue, we designed and developed an interactive platform based on user experience to learn an advanced concept in the idea of linear algebra called Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and its applicability in image compression. The proposed platform considered the common design principles to map between the provider in terms of clear mathematical explanation and the receiver in terms of matching good user experience. Twenty participants between the ages of 16 and 30 tested the proposed platform. The results showed that learning using it gives better results than learning traditionally in terms of the number of correct and incorrect actions, effectiveness, efficiency, and safety factors. Consequently, we can say that designing an interactive learning platform to explain an advanced mathematical concept and clarify its applications in real-life is preferable by considering and following the common design principles.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Luis Roberto Vega-González

In this paper it is proposed that similarly with the evolution and maturation of any organization, the Linking and Management of Technology Office (L & MoT) of a public R&D Mexican Centre has been evolved and is in the way to be transformed into a Technology Transfer Office (TTO). Case of fifteen year evolution of the Centro de Ciencias Aplicadas y Desarrollo Tecnológico L & MoT presents empirical evidence to identify the main phases and actions that have been driving this process along this time. Standard results obtained through the years using the L & MoT Management of Technology Model (MoT) are presented. Emphasis is placed in a final section with the lessons obtained from non-standard results coming from unsuccessful negotiations and failed link actions between the Center and some external organizations. Experience has shown that not all negotiations are successful but curiously, the best lessons for the personnel of a technology transfer office are probably derived from these problematic cases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 416-431
Author(s):  
Myriam Martí-Sánchez ◽  
Desamparados Cervantes-Zacarés ◽  
Arturo Ortigosa-Blanch

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse how the media addresses entrepreneurship and to identify the attributes linked to this phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach The sample is defined in terms of a linguistic corpus comprised of content related to entrepreneurship drawn from the digital editions of the three most important Spanish economic newspapers for the period 2010–2017. Word association and co-occurrence analyses were carried out. Further, a non-supervised clustering process was used as the basis for a thematic analysis. Findings Correspondence between social and media patterns related to the entrepreneurship phenomenon is revealed by the results. It is shown how attributes such as “success”, “innovation”, “ecosystem” and “woman” appear as very relevant and are linked to different co-occurrence scenarios. Relevant thematic groups are also identified related to lexical associations such as innovation, digital economy and public policies linked to entrepreneurship. Research limitations/implications It is important to emphasise that this study has identified and explored relationships between words, but not their evolution. Furthermore, conclusions cannot be drawn concerning whether there are differences in how each newspaper has dealt with entrepreneurship because of the way the corpus was constructed. Originality/value The study provides empirical evidence that helps to identify the way media approaches entrepreneurship. The authors carried out the analysis on the media contents and not on the perception of the public on the phenomenon.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Lange ◽  
Sara Protasi

The public and scholars alike largely consider envy to be reprehensible. This judgment of the value of envy commonly results either from a limited understanding of the nature of envy or from a limited understanding of how to determine the value of phenomena. Overcoming this state requires an interdisciplinary collaboration of psychologists and philosophers. That is, broad empirical evidence regarding the nature of envy generated in psychological studies must inform judgments about the value of envy according to sophisticated philosophical standards. We conducted such a collaboration. Empirical research indicates that envy is constituted by multiple components which in turn predict diverse outcomes that may be functional for the self and society. Accordingly, the value of envy is similarly nuanced. Sometimes, envy may have instrumental value in promoting prudentially and morally good outcomes. Sometimes, envy may be non-instrumentally prudentially and morally good. Sometimes, envy may be bad. This nuanced perspective on the value of envy has implications for recommendations on how to deal with envy and paves the way toward future empirical and theoretical investigations on the nature and the value of envy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-218
Author(s):  
Eko Yulianto ◽  
Wahyudin Wahyudin ◽  
Ahmad Tafsir ◽  
Sufyani Prabawanto

Ethno-mathematical research trends pioneered by D'Ambrosio are on the rise, especially in Indonesia as a nation with high cultural diversity which has a lot of potential researches to be explored. This paper has two major objectives, first to explore the importance of the role of mathematics in the practice of Dhikr Jahar in Tariqa Qodiriyyah Naqsyabandiyyah and second to contrast the differences between mathematical phenomena and mathematical concepts in ethnomathematics research. Attempts to contrast the mathematical phenomena and mathematical concepts in ethnomathematics was expected to provide a sharper highlight in the writing of ethnomathematics research. This research used qualitative methods with two approaches, namely ethnography and phenomenology. The locations of the research are at Pondok Pesantren Suryalaya-Sirnarasa and Padepokan Talangraga Tasikmalaya with observations for 9 months in the first stage and then 6 months in the second stage. The number of respondents interviewed in this research were 48 people. Data processing was performed using the Nvivo 12 Plus. The results showed that there are many mathematical phenomena in the practice of Dhikr Jahar Ikhwan TQN. In carrying out the practice of dhikr, the Ikhwan used a mathematical concept with two events, fingers and prayer beads aids. The concept of counting in dhikr was used strictly by the Ikhwan. They believe that numbers have an important role in the quantity of dhikr. Contrasting mathematical phenomena and mathematical concepts can be done with an emic and etic approach and is expected to become an alternative style in ethnomathematics research. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-62
Author(s):  
A.K. Alpysov ◽  
◽  
A.K. Seytkhanova ◽  
I.Sh. Abishova ◽  
◽  
...  

The article discusses the ways of developing skills and abilities to effectively solve problems when describing methods for solving equations and inequalities, clarifying theoretical knowledge, the basics of forming skills for practical application. The formation of mathematical concepts through solving problems in teaching mathematics opens the way to the development of mathematical thinking, the application of knowledge in practice, and the development of search skills. To master a mathematical concept, along with its definition, it is necessary to know its features and properties. This can be achieved primarily through problem solving and exercise. Problem solving is based on the development of new methods, the creation of algorithms, ways of developing practical skills in the methods and techniques mastered with the help of tasks.In addition, transforming equations and inequalities through the development of thinking skills helps to identify common or special properties in order to draw correct conclusions. Solving various problems, it shows what operations should be used to determine the situation in which a solution was found, and what features of the solution allow choosing the most effective methods. Thanks to the theoretical substantiation of the general article, it is possible to master convenient methods for solving equations and inequalities of various structures.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-230
Author(s):  
Rosida Rakhmawati

Culture-based education has a vital role of individuals and communities to achieve progressivity in all aspects of life. Math-based culture called ethnomathematics is an approach that can be used to explain the role of mathematics in a multicultural society. Mathematical concepts used to explore the existence of mathematics in culture, especially traditional societies of Lampung. This study aims to describe the results of exploration Lampung Ethnomathematics with this kind of exploratory research as well as an ethnographic approach. The results showed that without studying the mathematical concept, traditional society of Lampung have applied these concepts in their daily lives using ethnomathematics. Proved the existence of mathematical concepts contained in custom home building, the local unit of  Lampung, geometric shapes motif of tapis, as well as traditional games Lampung. Researchers suggest the results of this study to (a) used as alternative ideas mathematics learning outside the classroom, (b) introduced in learning formal mathematics as initial capital to teach the concept of mathematics to students, (c) be used as reference material for preparing a matter of mathematical problem-solving context.


Author(s):  
Van Thi Hong Loan

The paper provides empirical evidence for the development of the theory of media agendasetting. The power of the media, according to the theory, has been changed in public relations in Vietnam. Public relations practitioners have power to shape media content as they desire. This research uncovers that public relations practitioners not only impact media agendas as the theory describes, but also do the job of journalists. While public relations practitioners in the West use framing and information subsidies to influence media agendas for the public, this study indicated that practitioners in Vietnam tend to be responsible for public relations editorials that are considered as the main duty of media people. The paper additionally explains the way Vietnamese journalists conduct news to underpin understanding of the characteristics of media relations in the country. This paper also presents a Tripolar model of corporate, media and public agendas which was designed based on the research data.


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