An investigation of business calculus students’ covariational reasoning, procedural knowledge and conceptual knowledge in the context of price elasticity of demand

Abstract

Motivated by the paucity of research that has examined students’ covariational reasoning in economic contexts, the study reported in this article investigated business calculus students’ covariational reasoning about the economic concept of price elasticity of demand. Furthermore, the study examined students’ procedural knowledge and conceptual knowledge in the context of explaining what it means for demand to be inelastic, elastic or unit elastic, respectively. Additionally, the study examined students’ calculational knowledge of price elasticity of demand. The analysis of 10 students’ responses to three tasks used in the study revealed that most of the students struggled making sense of what it means for demand to be inelastic, elastic or unit elastic, respectively. A majority of the students only engaged at the lowest levels of covariational reasoning when prompted to reason about the relationship between the concept of price elasticity of demand and its relationship to the economic quantities of price, demand and revenue. Furthermore, showing that maximum revenue occurs when price elasticity of demand is equal to one was particularly challenging for all the students. Overall, findings from this study suggest that the study participants demonstrated a weak understanding of the concept of price elasticity of demand. Directions for future research and implications for instruction are included.