Analysis of students’ skills on derivative of a function

A lecture, in general, involves a lecturer as a source of knowledge. A lecturer has a significant role in determining the aims of the learning and in associating technical matters in order to fulfill the targeted aims. How to organize a class needs to be associated with the preparation that a lecturer should not be ignored [1]. Students’ prior knowledge needs to be checked to give plausible accurate information about how to make the better technical organization of a class. A derivative of a function is the fundamental concept that must be mastered by prospective students of Ordinary Differential Equations. Analyzing students’ skills on concept understanding of derivative will have a better impact on how to organize a class. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze students’ skills on concept understanding on derivative of a function. The study is conducted by giving basic problems on derivative of a function to 62 prospective students of the course of Ordinary Differential Equations. Data obtained from students’ answers to the problems are analyzed from integral construction of their conceptual understanding. The study reveals that 93,55% of participants have poor conceptual understanding of derivative and only 45,16% of them have procedural skills. The data can be made as a reference and as feedback for a lecturer on the learning model that has been applied. It also can be used as a supporting tool in building a lecturer’s confidence in teaching ability [2].