TEACHING MULTIVARIABLE DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS USING GEOGEBRA AND QUIZZES

This paper explains the design of nine multiple-choice quizzes used as formative e-assessment for teaching multivariable differential calculus, including GeoGebra and problem solving tools. It was a preliminary experiment conducted in a second course of calculus for about 200 students in Managerial and Electronical Engineering at University of Udine. Several GeoGebra applets have also been provided to facilitate the graphical representations of the concepts. From the Psychometric Analysis we found out that the quizzes were well chosen, and they discriminated adequately between higher and lower student subject knowledge. A survey was also administered to evaluate the appreciation of the students about the quizzes and GeoGebra. The results were also positive: we found that the quizzes helped students to find gaps in their preparation and to keep up with the lessons, furthermore there was a fair use of GeoGebra and the relative applets.