Nowadays, Calculus teaching has become a real challenge. Experiences in the classroom show that students consider Calculus a never-ending succession of techniques or, as they usually say, "recipes". Most of the problems presented do not have any "real" meaning for them. Frequently the teacher introduces these problems by using Geometry. This approach is sometimes very useful, however its scope is rather limited to some very specific applications. Geometry alone cannot represent the importance of Calculus in the development of Science and Technology. The student may learn the methodology, remember the formula, and find the tangent equation or any other task assigned by his teacher. But sooner or later, the student will ask the question, "what am I going to do with this?" Freudenthal mentions that a considerable amount of research has been done about the learning process but most of this research has been more lab-oriented than classroom-oriented. Very little is known about how an individual applies what he or she has learned. This knowledge is the key to understanding why many people never successfully apply their theoretical knowledge.
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