One student's resources throughout a triple integral question

Malik, Idris; Meyer, Samantha; Christensen, Warren M.

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One student's resources throughout a triple integral question

written by Idris Malik, Samantha Meyer, and Warren M. Christensen

Students in physics courses are often asked to compute integrals that are both similar and different compared to the integrals from Calculus courses. We interviewed three students at a mid-sized midwestern university and asked them to work on integral problems from math and physics contexts and talk through their thinking. We identified five conceptual resources that students activated throughout and across the interviews. Here, we highlight an example of a student reasoning through a volume integral problem, and their thought process as they attempt to connect different conceptions of integration. We argue that this case study excerpt is representative of some of the hurdles that certain conceptions of integrals may lead to when solving different integral problems in physics, despite students' prior success in math courses.

Physics Education Research Conference 2025
Part of the PER Conference series
Washington, DC: August 6-7, 2025
Pages 252-257

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Last Modified: October 20, 2025

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education - Basic Research - Cognition - Communication = Representations - Problem Solving Mathematical Tools - Multivariable Calculus = Multiple Integral	- Lower Undergraduate	- Reference Material = Research study

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Format:: application/pdf
Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2025…
Access Rights:: Free access
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:: American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:: 10.1119/perc.2025.pr.Malik
NSF Numbers:: 1852045; 2336911
Keyword:: PERC 2025
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created October 20, 2025 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: October 27, 2025 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: October 28, 2025

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=17149">Malik, I, S. Meyer, and W. Christensen. "One student's resources throughout a triple integral question." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2025, Washington, DC, August 6-7, 2025.</a>

AIP Format

I. Malik, S. Meyer, and W. Christensen, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2025, Washington, DC, 2025, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=17149&DocID=6077).

AJP/PRST-PER

I. Malik, S. Meyer, and W. Christensen, One student's resources throughout a triple integral question, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2025, Washington, DC, 2025, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=17149&DocID=6077>.

APA Format

Malik, I., Meyer, S., & Christensen, W. (2025, August 6-7). One student's resources throughout a triple integral question. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2025, Washington, DC. Retrieved February 11, 2026, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=17149&DocID=6077

Chicago Format

Malik, I, S. Meyer, and W. Christensen. "One student's resources throughout a triple integral question." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2025, Washington, DC, August 6-7, 2025. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=17149&DocID=6077 (accessed 11 February 2026).

MLA Format

Malik, Idris, Samantha Meyer, and Warren M. Christensen. "One student's resources throughout a triple integral question." Physics Education Research Conference 2025. Washington, DC: 2025. 252-257 of PER Conference. 11 Feb. 2026 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=17149&DocID=6077>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "Idris Malik and Samantha Meyer and Warren M. Christensen", Title = {One student's resources throughout a triple integral question}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2025}, Pages = {252-257}, Address = {Washington, DC}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {August 6-7}, Year = {2025} }

Refer Export Format

%A Idris Malik %A Samantha Meyer %A Warren M. Christensen %T One student's resources throughout a triple integral question %S PER Conference %D August 6-7 2025 %P 252-257 %C Washington, DC %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=17149&DocID=6077 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2025 %O August 6-7 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Malik, Idris %A Meyer, Samantha %A Christensen, Warren M. %D August 6-7 2025 %T One student's resources throughout a triple integral question %B Physics Education Research Conference 2025 %C Washington, DC %P 252-257 %S PER Conference %8 August 6-7 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=17149&DocID=6077

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