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The Assessment of a Complex Problem: The Bungee Jump Project
Author(s) -
Jones Graham A.,
Rich Beverly S.,
Day Roger
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
school science and mathematics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.135
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 1949-8594
pISSN - 0036-6803
DOI - 10.1111/j.1949-8594.1996.tb15813.x
Subject(s) - rubric , jump , displacement (psychology) , acceleration , jumper , consistency (knowledge bases) , computer science , mathematics education , mathematics , calculus (dental) , algebra over a field , geometry , psychology , physics , pure mathematics , classical mechanics , medicine , dentistry , quantum mechanics , psychotherapist , operating system
This article describes a course project used to assess students' capacity to make mathematical connections. Students created simulations of a bungee jump and applied graphic differentiation to investigate connections among the displacement, velocity, and acceleration of the bungee jumper. The responses of three groups of students are described and analyzed to portray their graphical models and characterize their ability to connect essential elements of the model. The key factor distinguishing the three student groups was the degree of completeness and consistency in their connections among the physical elements of the model—displacement, velocity, and acceleration—and its mathematical elements—algebra, geometry, and calculus. A scoring rubric generated from the thinking of the three groups illustrates a means of assessing complex problems like the bungee‐jump project.