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Unnecessarily Hard: How Student Emotions, Course Components and Rigor Collide in Calculus

Publication ,  Conference
Black, K; Akin, V; Viel, S; Scanlon, H; Tremaine, R; Kress, N
Published in: http://sigmaa.maa.org/rume/RUME27_Proceedings.pdf
March 1, 2025

In this poster, we present a case study of Kappa University (KU), a private institution in the Southeastern United States. Our case study focuses on students’ experiences of their introductory calculus courses, which they often describe as “unnecessarily hard.” There may be a disparity at KU between what instructors and students perceive as necessary for student learning. An investigation of the interactions between student emotions, course components, and instructor conceptions of rigor could help instructors better support students in rigorous courses. We thus chose to investigate the question: How do classroom practices associated with the instructor ideal of rigor align with students’ emotional experiences in introductory math at KU?

Duke Scholars

Published In

http://sigmaa.maa.org/rume/RUME27_Proceedings.pdf

Publication Date

March 1, 2025

Location

Alexandria, VA

Conference Name

27th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education
 

Citation

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Black, K., Akin, V., Viel, S., Scanlon, H., Tremaine, R., & Kress, N. (2025). Unnecessarily Hard: How Student Emotions, Course Components and Rigor Collide in Calculus. In S. Cook, B. Katz, & K. Melhuish (Eds.), http://sigmaa.maa.org/rume/RUME27_Proceedings.pdf. Alexandria, VA.
Black, Kairi, Victoria Akin, Shira Viel, Hannah Scanlon, Rachel Tremaine, and Nancy Kress. “Unnecessarily Hard: How Student Emotions, Course Components and Rigor Collide in Calculus.” In Http://Sigmaa.Maa.Org/Rume/RUME27_Proceedings.Pdf, edited by Samuel Cook, Brian Katz, and Kathleen Melhuish, 2025.
Black K, Akin V, Viel S, Scanlon H, Tremaine R, Kress N. Unnecessarily Hard: How Student Emotions, Course Components and Rigor Collide in Calculus. In: Cook S, Katz B, Melhuish K, editors. http://sigmaa.maa.org/rume/RUME27_Proceedings.pdf. 2025.
Black, Kairi, et al. “Unnecessarily Hard: How Student Emotions, Course Components and Rigor Collide in Calculus.” Http://Sigmaa.Maa.Org/Rume/RUME27_Proceedings.Pdf, edited by Samuel Cook et al., 2025.
Black K, Akin V, Viel S, Scanlon H, Tremaine R, Kress N. Unnecessarily Hard: How Student Emotions, Course Components and Rigor Collide in Calculus. In: Cook S, Katz B, Melhuish K, editors. http://sigmaa.maa.org/rume/RUME27_Proceedings.pdf. 2025.

Published In

http://sigmaa.maa.org/rume/RUME27_Proceedings.pdf

Publication Date

March 1, 2025

Location

Alexandria, VA

Conference Name

27th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education