The Partial Derivatives Machine

Highlights of the activity

1. This small group activity is designed to introduce the interpretation of derivatives as measurable quantities determined experimentally.
2. Students work in small groups to determine a particular derivative as the ratio of measured small changes.
3. The whole class wrap-up discussion emphasizes the numerical representation of derivatives, and the need to specify “with respect to what”.

Reasons to spend class time on the activity

The Partial Derivatives Machine forces students to confront subtle issues involving partial derivatives, namely the effect of different choices of independent variables, and the use of the numerical representation when working with experimental data.

Reflections

• Reflections from the original implementation.

• Reflections from "official" adapters/adopters.

• Reflections from the general public.

Instructor's Guide

• Wiki version