Twelfth Grade Kuwaiti Students’ Identification of Domain and Range in Graphical Representation of Function and the Meaning they Ascribe to them

• Published in: Mağallaẗ al-dirāsāt al-tarbawīyyaẗ wa-al-nafsīyyaẗ Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. 576 - 591
• Main Author: Alajmi, Amal H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 11.07.2019
• ISSN: 2218-6506; 2521-7046
• DOI: 10.53543/jeps.vol13iss3pp576-591

This research investigated twelfth grade students' performance in identification of domain and range of functions in a graphical representation. The study focused on four types of functions: polynomial, trigonometry, piecewise and discontinuous. The study also aimed to identify the meaning that students gave for the domain and range and how they identified them. To collect the data two instruments were used: a test and an interview. A sample of 216 students participated in the study. The results showed a low performance in identifying domain and range for functions in graphical representation. The T-test indicated a statistical difference in students’ performance in domain and range in favor of domain. The results indicated a statistically significant difference in students' performance among the different types of function. Tukey test showed that the difference was in favor of polynomial against the other types of function. Also there was a significant difference between trigonometry and piecewise items in favor of trigonometry. The interviews revealed that students’ meaning and common practices in identifying the domain and range reflected misunderstandings. Some of them highlighted that the domain is the x-axis and y-axis or the x-intercept and y- intercept. Others considered that the curve as the domain or the range.