ZDM Mathematics Education (2014) 46:507–515

DOI 10.1007/s11858-014-0615-x

SURVEY PAPER

Research on calculus: what do we know and where do we need

Marcelo C. Borba

Accepted: 10 July 2014 / Published online: 30 July 2014

Abstract In this introductory paper we take partial stock everything from a ‘weeding out’ course to fundamental
of the current state of field on calculus research, exempli- preparation to take on applied problems in partner disci-
fying both the promise of research advances as well as the plines, preparing students to bring an understanding of
limitations. We identify four trends in the calculus research rates, concavity, functional relationships, among other
literature, starting with identifying misconceptions to topics to bring to bear on multi-disciplinary problems.
investigations of the processes by which students learn Large numbers of students enroll in calculus courses at the
particular concepts, evolving into classroom studies, and, secondary and tertiary levels each year. For instance, in
more recently research on teacher knowledge, beliefs, and Europe and East Asia calculus is compulsory for many
practices. These trends are related to a model for the cycle students at the secondary level, whereas in the United
of research and development aimed at improving learning States, students take calculus either at the secondary or at
and teaching. We then make use of these four trends and the tertiary level (or both). Similarly, in most countries in
the model for the cycle of research and development to Latin America, calculus is taken by millions of students at
highlight the contributions of the papers in this issue. We universities.
conclude with some reflections on the gaps in literature and Although differences exist among countries, we argue
what new areas of calculus research are needed. that the secondary vs. tertiary differences are not great for a
first course in differential and integral calculus, especially
Keywords Calculus
Trends in calculus research
Cycle when taking a developmental lens. However, the secondary
of research and development
Future directions vs. tertiary differences might be greater when viewed
through a pedagogical or cultural lens, including institu-
Calculus plays an important role in secondary and tertiary tional constraints and affordances. This is an interesting
education. Future teachers, engineers, doctors, economists, and open area of research.
scientists, and, of course, mathematicians undertake the Given that a good number of students around the world
effort of learning and understanding calculus concepts and enroll in calculus, whether at the secondary or tertiary
techniques. Calculus also carries status; taking a course in level, research on the learning, teaching, and understanding
calculus is often thought to be a pinnacle of intellectual of calculus has the potential to have broad impact. Thus,
achievement by students and parents. Calculus is used as we argue it is fundamentally important that the body of
research on calculus learning, teaching, and understanding
coherently contribute to the practice of educating the mil-
C. Rasmussen (&)
lions of students who enroll in calculus courses each year.
San Diego State University, San Diego, USA
e-mail: [email protected] Twenty years ago, Schoenfeld (1994) argued that well-
executed research in collegiate mathematics education
K. Marrongelle provides, ‘‘theoretically based, disciplined ways of
Portland State University, Portland, USA
enhancing our understanding of mathematical thinking,
M. C. Borba learning, and teaching’’ (p. 4). Has research in undergrad-
São Paulo State University, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil uate mathematics education (and in calculus in particular)

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produced results that enhance our understanding of math- advent of constructivism in particular impacted under-
ematical thinking, learning, and teaching, as Schoenfeld graduate mathematics education research and led to the
argued it should? While the past several decades of publication of research attempting to follow students
research in calculus has contributed to better understanding through stages of understanding particular ideas. For
of mathematical thinking, learning, and teaching in areas example, the work of Dubinsky and colleagues adapted
such as limit, derivative, and integral, too much research ideas from Piaget to develop what they refer to as the
remains isolated and uncoordinated. Action, Process, Object, Schema (APOS) theory (see Ar-
These gaps were the departure point of this issue of non et al. 2014 for a comprehensive review of APOS
ZDM. With papers from over a dozen leaders in the field, theory). At about the same time, Sfard (1991a, b) was
this issue of ZDM takes partial stock of the current state of developing related ideas of process and object and Gray
the field and exemplifies both the promise of research and Tall (1994) were publishing on the idea of procepts. In
advances in calculus learning and teaching as well as the physics education research, diSessa (1988) was fleshing out
current limitations. In broad terms, the collection of papers his theory of p-prims. While there are important differences
shed light on the following questions: To what extent has between these different framings, the point we make is that
the field moved forward in providing a more cohesive these advances ushered in an era of research that was
portrait of calculus teaching and learning? To what extent focused not on student misconceptions, but rather on
have research advances impacted the actual teaching of the articulating theories of how students learn and the role of
millions of students that take calculus? In Sect. 2, we manipulatives and other representations in learning (e.g.,
discuss the broad trajectories in which the field has Cobb 1992; Thompson 1992). Zandieh (2000) illustrates
advanced as well as a model for interpreting the cycle of the impact of these theoretical developments by combining
research and development aimed at improving teaching and a process-object layer with a context (representation) layer
learning. In Sect. 3 we then use this background to discuss to form a framework for analyzing student understanding
each of the papers in this volume. of the derivative. The research literature continues to
investigate the role of representations in student learning.
Hähkiöniemi (2004), for instance, reported on how students
1 Background learn the concept of derivative through interactions with
multiple representations.
Research on calculus learning and teaching generally has In addition to building theories about how students
followed a pattern of (1) identifying and studying student learn, more recent research has also targeted the focus; for
difficulties and cognitive obstacles followed by (2) inves- example, studying student understanding of the chain rule
tigations of the processes by which students learn particular (Barbosa 2009; Kabael, 2010), the Riemann Sum (Sealey
concepts, (3) evolving into classroom studies (or close 2014), or the fundamental theorem of calculus (Salinas
approximations thereof), including the effects of curricular 2013; Thompson and Silverman 2008); bringing in ideas
and pedagogical innovations on student learning, and, more from psychology; for example, research on gesture (Yoon
recently (4) research on teacher (including graduate student et al. 2011a, b), employing research related to psychon-
instructor, lecturers, etc.) knowledge, beliefs, and practices. analysis (Baldino and Cabral 1994), and crossing disci-
We can see this pattern, in varying degrees, in the research plinary boundaries to physics (Marrongelle 2004;
in different subdomains of calculus: limit, derivative, and Christensen and Thompson 2012). These are all important
integral. advances in our understanding of how students’ learn
For example, in the subdomain of research on the specific calculus topics, but the studies leave the field with
learning and teaching of derivative, early research focused a hit-or-miss map of the terrain in calculus learning,
on students’ difficulties and under-developed conceptual teaching, and understanding.
understandings of derivative (Orton 1983; Ferrini-Mundy Many of the studies in calculus learning, teaching, and
and Graham 1991). An even earlier paper by Morgan and understanding are relatively small in scale, implementing
Warnock (1978) reported on an investigation of student clinical interview methodologies with a small number
difficulties as a result of calculating derivatives on a cal- students. Others, such as Borba and Villarreal (2005) and
culator. Similarly, early research on the learning and Soares (2012) have reported on studies that include whole
teaching of limit detailed a range of student difficulties and classrooms (40–50 students) that investigate, for example,
misconceptions (e.g., Davis and Vinner 1986; Furinghetti the role of visualization provided by different software in
and Paola 1988; Tall and Vinner 1981). modeling or in problem solving activity.
In the 1980s and 1990s, advances in the theoretical The predominant methodology, whether applied to a
foundations of student thinking and learning had a strong few or many students, is the clinical interview. This begs
influence on research in mathematics education. The the question, after several decades of research on student

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thinking about derivative, what do we know about the Knowledge Production and Improvement of Practice
development of the derivative concept and how has the (henceforth referred to simply as the Cycle of Knowledge)
research shaped teaching practice? It is noteworthy that the is one attempt to articulate a cycle of research and devel-
research in calculus learning and teaching has not capi- opment aimed at improving learning and teaching (see
talized on advances in design research (Kelly et al. 2008) to Fig. 1). No single project, on its own, would be expected to
further link theories of learning with theories of instruc- answer a significant problem of practice or theory; rather,
tional design, as researchers in differential equations (Ar- projects would build upon one another to build knowledge
tigue 1994; Rasmussen 2007) and abstract algebra (Larsen and inform practice.
et al. 2013) have. One might wonder why design research If we again turn to the literature on thinking, learning
in calculus has not been more prevalent. One conjecture is and teaching of the derivative, we can ask how the deriv-
that, at least in the US, the calculus reform movement in ative literature maps onto the Cycle of Knowledge. Many
the 1990s was dominated by curriculum development studies fall into the categories of ‘‘studies of basic prob-
projects led by thoughtful mathematicians who tended not lems of teaching and learning,’’ including early research on
to have extensive educational research expertise. The student misconceptions (e.g., Orton 1983) and studies of
subsequent backlash from the calculus reform movement students conceptions of derivative (e.g., Aspinwall
may have then had an effect on the type of calculus et al.1997; Nemirovsky and Rubin 1992). Research
research that was carried out. We argue that the time is now informed by theories such as APOS (e.g., Asiala et al.
right, given the depth of what we know about student 1997) moves to the ‘‘Development and testing of new
learning of particular ideas in calculus, for the field to theories of knowledge about teaching and learning’’ part of
engage in comprehensive design research in which math- the cycle. As we continue around the cycle, we find that
ematicians and mathematics education researchers work fewer published studies examine ‘‘Interventions in Prac-
together to address theoretical and pragmatic concerns tice’’ and even fewer report on teachers’ mathematical
related to the teaching and learning of calculus. knowledge for teaching derivative, an aspect of ‘‘Inter-
In its manuscript Mathematical Proficiency for All Stu- ventions in practice,’’ a hugely under-investigated area in
dents: Toward a Strategic Research and Development calculus learning and teaching research.
Program in Mathematics Education, the RAND Study
Panel (2003) advised about the field of mathematics edu-
cation writ large, ‘‘The absence of cumulative, well- 2 Papers in this issue
developed knowledge about the practice of teaching
mathematics and the limited links between research and Including this introductory paper, there are 16 papers in
practice have been major impediments to creating a system this issue of ZDM dedicated to Arnold Kirsch. Kirsch’s
of school mathematics that works’’ (p. 5). The same contributions to calculus research is acknowledged by
observation can be made of calculus learning and teaching, including a reprint of one of his papers, which is charac-
if we value the interplay between the production of teristic for his interest in a deep and sound understanding of
knowledge and the improvement of practice. The Cycle of concepts beyond formalism. This reprint, which appears as

Fig. 1 Cycle of knowledge

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the penultimate paper in this issue, is followed by a com- teacher or the researchers, but with the use of innovative
mentary paper by Werner Blum who remarks on the high digital tools, the pairs of students worked through a series
importance of the work by Arnold Kirsch in the German of tasks and the corresponding analysis sheds light on the
and even wider European context. Preceding the reprint by mathematical elements employed by the students and the
Kirsch, there is a commentary paper by Barry Sloane, who paths that students followed as they explored dynamically
provides an insightful perspective from the viewpoint of linked graphs.
someone who is intimately familiar with a variety of The paper by Kouropatov and Dreyfus (2014, this issue)
research methods and who is keenly aware of the priorities takes a similar methodological approach of working with
and concerns of mathematics education research and its pairs of secondary school students outside of their regular
funding. classroom. They examine the work of four pairs students as
Thus, not counting this introductory paper, Kirsch’s they progress through a ten-lesson unit aimed at building
paper, and the two commentary papers, there are 12 other the concept of definite integral. Making use of the theo-
papers in this issue. These 12 papers, as well as the other 4 retical perspective of abstraction in context (Hershkowitz
papers, reflect the growth of the research on calculus et al. 2001), the authors detail how students can leverage
learning and teaching and exemplify both the progress the ideas of approximation and accumulation to develop a
made as well as the gaps still present. One noteworthy proceptual understanding of the integral in readiness for
point is that none of the 12 papers is aptly characterized as learning the fundamental theorem of calculus. In contrast
primarily identifying and studying student difficulties and to the paper by Swidan and Yerushalmy (2014, this issue),
cognitive obstacles, which is more typical of educational this research did not make use of digital technologies, in
research areas in their early stages. To be certain, all 12 part because most secondary schools do not have access to
papers discuss the challenges students and/or instructors specifically designed technologies and hence the authors
typically face, but documenting such difficulties is not the wanted to mirror as much as possible typical school
main focus of the analysis. A more appropriate theme for context.
all 12 papers is that of exploring the prospects and possi- The paper by Törner et al. (2014, this issue) represents a
bilities for more coherent and conceptual learning and transition to studies that examine the effects of curricular
teaching. More specifically, each of the 12 papers addres- and pedagogical innovations on student learning. In total,
ses one of the three research themes that typically follow there are eight papers that fit this theme, four of which are
reports that document student difficulties: investigating the empirical reports and four of which are more theoretically
processes by which students learn particular concepts; oriented reports. The Törner et al. paper reports on the
examining the effects of curricular and pedagogical inno- intended secondary school calculus curriculum in several
vations on student learning; and, Studying instructor European countries. Through a careful literature review
knowledge, beliefs, and practices. In terms of the Cycle of and small expert-based survey, these researchers found
Knowledge in Fig. 1, these three research themes represent that, to a large extent, research advances (such as those in
movement clockwise starting at ‘‘studies of basic problems the previous two papers) that utilize digital technologies
of teaching and learning’’. In the paragraphs that follow, and/or specially designed tasks to actively engage students
we summarize the contributions of each of the 12 papers, to develop conceptual learning of the more formal math-
starting with those that fit the research theme of ‘‘Investi- ematics has not found its way into the majority of European
gating the processes by which students learn particular secondary school calculus classrooms. A long-standing
concepts’’, followed by the papers that primarily ‘‘examine emphasis on procedures and techniques in conjunction with
the effects of curricular and pedagogical innovations on national exams with similar emphases is posited to con-
student learning’’, and conclude with the papers that tribute to the minimal extent to which research advances
‘‘Study instructor knowledge, beliefs, and practices’’. are finding their way into classrooms. An important con-
The theme of investigating the processes by which stu- tribution of the paper is in its careful comparison of sec-
dents learn particular concepts is embodied by only two of ondary school calculus curriculum in several European
the 12 papers. In the paper by Swidan and Yerushalmy countries, one of the first such comparisons.
(2014, this issue), the authors make use of Radford’s While widespread adoption of innovative approaches to
(2003) perspective on semiotics to detail the objectification teaching and learning calculus has yet to be realized in
processes involved in making sense of the concept of an several European countries (likely similar results exist
indefinite integral when studied graphically in a dynamic around the world), some progress is being made with more
technological environment. They analyze how 11 pairs of local efforts. For example, the paper by Keene et al. (2014,
secondary school students think with and through cultural this issue) report on an iterative, classroom-based design
artifacts, which are taken to be essential sources of learning research study (Cobb et al. 2006) in a specialized calculus
and shape thinking. Without significant intervention by a class for undergraduates who will become elementary

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school teachers. Their research program, which includes studies of basic problems of teaching and learning, fol-
the development of a new curriculum, addresses a new lowed by the use, development, and documentation of
department level requirement for prospective elementary interventions in practice.
school teachers to be conversant with the fundamental Three other papers in this issue also address the effects
ideas in calculus. The study draws on the instructional of curricular and pedagogical innovations on student
design theory of Realistic Mathematics Education learning. In contrast to the previous empirical studies, these
(Gravemeijer 1994) and the paper details the evolution of papers report on the theoretical and mathematical founda-
prospective elementary school teachers’ intuitions and tions for different approaches on how calculus ideas can (or
conceptions of the limit of a sequence. This work has should) be developed. In terms of the Cycle of Knowledge
potential to spread to other post secondary institutions in these four papers begin to address research focused on the
the United States that wish to increase the mathematical ‘‘Development and testing of new theories and knowledge
competencies required of prospective elementary school about teaching and learning’’ (see Fig. 1). For example,
teachers, in part because it address the unique needs of Weigand (2014, this issue) eschews the widespread
future elementary school teachers, which are arguable embrace of starting with the limit to develop key ideas in
different than that of students pursuing a degree in a sci- calculus. He instead articulates a comprehensive discrete
ence, technology, engineering, or mathematics. step-by-step approach by working with sequences and
Continuing the trend of exploring the prospects and difference sequences, functions defined on Z, and discrete
possibilities for undergraduate students, but this time for domains of Q to illustrate how one can develop the concept
students in the biological sciences, Soares and Borba of rate of change. In this approach, digital technologies are
(2014, this issue) report on a multi-level design research used as a tool for the representation and visualization of
study (Lesh and Kelly 2000) that takes full advantage of sequences and functions as well as a tool to create recur-
digital technologies. Taking an epistemological perspective sively defined sequences, enabling the user to switch
based on the notion of humans-with-media (Borba and between symbolic, numerical, and graphical
Villarreal 2005), the authors focus on the role of the soft- representations.
ware during the evolution of one of the activities that Rather than making use of a discrete approach, Moreno-
developed the relation between secant lines and the Armella (2014, this issue) embraces the use of infinitesi-
instantaneous rate of change. Similar to the Keene et al. mals, such as conceiving of a smooth curve as a polygon
work, this research program has considerable potential for whose sides have infinitesimal length. He argues that such
wider spread adoption for many of the same reasons. The an approach is especially valuable for teaching because it
needs of biology students are arguably different than those has a clear intuitive meaning for students. At the heart of
of mathematics majors. Moreno-Armella’s approach to calculus is the need for a
As the field moves from studies that are conducted in clear distinction between analysis on the one hand, and the
settings outside of regular class time to design research intuitive ideas of change and accumulation on the other.
studies that make use of regular classroom contexts, it is Moreno-Armella argues that the logical organization of
appropriate to carry out more quantitatively oriented analysis based on definitions of limit, real number, conti-
studies that compare the effect of interventions in which nuity, and so on, is not necessarily first from the cognitive
the researchers have little to minimal involvement in the viewpoint. Instead, through the use of dynamic digital
actual teaching. Such is the case with the paper by Code technologies that shape and are shaped by the user, the
et al. (2014, this issue). Their work examines the efficacy Moreno-Armella tenders several examples of the possibil-
of using research-based, high-engagement teaching meth- ities for an approach to calculus that blends the intuitive
ods to help undergraduate economics students master the ideas with the digital-dynamic embodiment of these ideas.
conceptual and procedural aspects of calculus in a rela- This approach certainly has commonality with the stance
tively standard differential calculus course taught in a large Realistic Mathematics Education inspired approach taken
lecture format. The authors conducted a ‘‘switching repli- by Keene et al. (2014, this issue).
cation’’ study, which makes for a strong quasi-experi- For their part, Job and Schneider (2014, this issue) cir-
mental design (Shadish et al. 2001) as each student acts as cumvent the dichotomy between formal and intuitive
their own control. Results include improved student per- aspects of limits, which is an implicit or explicit concern of
formance—on conceptual items in particular—with a many of the papers in this issue. Using Chevallard’s
switching replication in that each section outperformed the anthropological theory of the didactic (Chevallard 1999),
other on the topic for which it received the intervention. they put forth an epistemological model where calculus is
We see this report as paradigmatic of a study that can be considered as a pragmatic praxeology that evolved into a
captured by more than one location of the Cycle of deductive praxeology, the difference being in the type of
Knowledge. The original motivation is situated with tasks and the nature of the justifications. This allows them

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to distinguish between calculus, with its pragmatic praxe- decision-making. One of their findings is that nearly half of
ology, and analysis with its deductive praxeology. This tasks in the data corpus were ‘‘complex procedures’’ or ‘‘rich
distinction is similar to the one insisted on by Moreno- tasks’’. This is especially interesting in light of the result
Armella. Developing their theoretical framing of the cal- from the paper by Törner et al. (2014, this issue), who found
culus to analysis transition further, they demonstrate how that European secondary school students were primarily
empirical positivism can function as an epistemological being exposed to procedures and techniques. Another
obstacle in both calculus and analysis. At the heart of the interesting finding by White and Mesa is the fact that there
problem is that secondary schools and universities tend to was considerable variation in the nature of the tasks assigned
blur the distinction between the two praxeologies, which across the five instructors at the institution studied, despite
reinforces the empirical positivist attitude as an epistemo- the fact that they all used the same textbook. The authors
logical obstacle to learning both calculus and analysis. discuss a number of implications of this finding for tertiary
Implications for both research and teaching are offered. institutions. Finally, the framework they developed for
The final three papers in this issue represent more recent charactering tasks is an important contribution in and of
efforts in calculus research to study instructor knowledge, itself. It was shown to be reliable in coding tasks and
beliefs, and practices. For example, Eichler and Erens extended relevant prior work and hence will likely be a
(2014, this issue) investigate the belief systems of 29 upper valuable tool for other researchers who wish to examine the
secondary school teachers, where belief systems refer to opportunities to learn that different tasks afford students.
the intersection of cognitive and motivational aspects that
influence the selection of content and goals for calculus
teaching (Hannula 2012). The authors also compare 3 Conclusion
teachers’ belief systems to four education trends in the
teaching of calculus, which provide a set of objectives from One salient characteristic of this issue of ZDM is that it
which calculus teachers potentially select their individual reports on research on early topics of calculus, and this
teaching goals. As the authors point out, research on cal- focus corroborates the findings of Britton and Henderson
culus teachers’ belief systems is scarce, and hence this (2013), who reviewed all the proceedings of the Delta
report makes a useful contribution to an emerging area of conferences. They point out that there a shortage of papers
calculus research. in the Delta Conference proceedings that go beyond early
The focus of the paper by Ellis et al. (2014, this issue) topics of calculus, in areas such as multivariable calculus
shifts from secondary school teacher belief systems (and and differential equations. A look at PME proceedings will
the potential connection to instructional practices) to uni- confirm this finding.
versity level instructor practices and the relationship As the papers in this volume attest to, the research in
between these practices and student persistence in the calculus is continuing to advance our foundational
calculus sequence. Based on regression analyses of data knowledge of the learning and teaching process. While we
from a large national survey in the United States, these know much about how students learn particular ideas in
authors found that student persistence in calculus (a proxy calculus and the potential for digital technologies and high
for continuation in a STEM major) was related to different engagement pedagogies, there still exists the issue of how
student reported frequencies of a number of pedagogical researchers can coordinate various advances that are
activities. Making use of Tinto’s (2004) framework on grounded in and informed by different theoretical per-
persistence, the authors discuss a number of implications of spectives. Consider the two papers in this volume on the
this work for retaining students in a STEM major. In the student learning of the indefinite and definite integral
United States and elsewhere around the world, there is (Kouropatov and Dreyfus 2014, this issue; Swidan and
great need to better understand the factors that contribute to Yerushalmy 2014, this issue). On its own, each paper
student decisions to stay in or to leave a STEM major, and makes progress on revealing the processes by which stu-
this paper makes a useful contribution in this direction. dents can learn the indefinite and definite integral, but each
Finally, the paper by White and Mesa (2014, this issue) paper views the process of learning in fundamentally dif-
examines a different aspect of instructor practice, namely the ferent ways. How then, should the research field coordinate
potential cognitive demand of nearly 5,000 Calculus I tasks such advances? To be sure, the research field is currently
that instructors assigned to students at a 2-year college in the working, both theoretically and pragmatically, on ways to
United States identified as having a more successful calculus coordinate and network different theoretical perspectives
program. Certainly the tasks that students are assigned are and respective findings (e.g., Artigue and Mariotti 2014;
essential learning opportunities, and hence understanding Bikner-Ahsbahs and Prediger 2014; Hershkowitz et al.
the nature of these tasks and how assigned tasks may vary 2014; Prediger et al. 2008; Rasmussen et al. 2012), but
across instructors is an important aspect of instructional considerably more progress is needed.

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Research on calculus 513

In light of the challenges that the research community the transition from Calculus to Analysis, Alves (2012)
has in coordinating different research advances, it is per- investigates the use of Geogebra to help students visualize
haps not surprising that these advances have not had a the relation of epsilon and N in understanding convergence
widespread impact in the actual teaching of and learning of of series and Bergé (2008) examines the opportunities for
calculus (e.g., Toerner et al. this issue). The relationship learning about the set of real numbers in four undergrad-
between the progress researchers need to make to coordi- uate correlative courses in Calculus and Analysis. Trigu-
nate and network different advances and the uptake of such eros and Martı́nez-Planell (2010) examine student learning
advances by the broader practitioner and policymaking of two variable functions in multivariable calculus. The
communities is an issue that sorely needs addressing. research of Dullius, Araujo, and Veit (2011), Javaroni
Moreover, taking up research advances in any widespread (2007), Keene (2007), and Soares (2012) aim to improve
manner requires an understanding of learners, teachers, the teaching learning process of differential equations and
classrooms, departments, and institutions as complex sys- explore the potential of computers to promote favorable
tems. While some local improvements and innovations are conditions for meaningful learning. These recent research
occurring in individual classrooms, broader impact will efforts are only but a few of the international contributions
need to based on theoretical advances and empirical studies that are providing much needed insights into the learning
that advance what we know about how institutions in all and teaching of mathematical concepts that build on and
their complexity change. That is, research that takes up the extend the research on early calculus. An area of even
institutional and cultural context and how these aspects greater need, however, is that of the relationship between
constrain and enable sustained uptake of advances in cal- calculus and the client disciplines of engineering, physics,
culus learning and teaching is sorely needed. Indeed, we biology, and chemistry. We end this paper with a call for
argue that this represents a new research theme, one yet to research that closely examines the ways in which calculus
be realized to any large extent. ideas are leveraged in the client disciplines, how these
Lastly, the papers in this issue reveal another tension in ideas are conceptualized and represented in the client dis-
the research on calculus—what exactly do we want students ciplines, and what these insights might mean for calculus
in calculus to learn? The tension here is multifaceted and instruction.
includes differences between the secondary and tertiary
level as well as differences between the needs of students
studying mathematics and those majoring in economics,
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