Differential equations: students’ reasoning about a problem posing task

Abstract

This article reports on a qualitative investigation into students' thinking about a differential equations problem posing task; i.e. an initial value problem. Analysis of written and verbal responses to the task indicate that only four of the 34 students who participated in the study were successful in posing problems. Furthermore, only one of the problems they posed is solvable. In general, findings of this study indicate that posing problems involving initial value problems is particularly challenging for students. In light of the multitude of benefits of problem posing in mathematics education, I recommend the inclusion of problem posing tasks in the teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics courses, including ordinary differential equations.