Learning Difficulties of Finite and Infinite Sets in Applied Mathematics Professional Career students

Abstract

Objective: To identify the learning difficulties related to the concept of finite and infinite set detected in the students of the professional career of Applied Mathematics of the Jose Faustino Sanchez Carrion National University. Materials and methods: The survey technique was used with 20 items measured through a Likert scale, with 3 values, plus two tests with 10 questions, applied at the beginning of the second week and at the end of the fourth week. Results: The evidence indicates that 25% use specialized symbols to communicate their ideas, 35% do not adequately use secondorder logic to structure and understand proofs, 10% use diagrams and relational diagrams to stimulate their understanding and reasoning. Finally, 30% did not use the verified theorems as an instrument of their reasoning. Conclusions: It was identified that 80% of the students conceive the concept of a finite set as a metaphorical consequence of natural language and 20% as a representational constructive process of formal language.