چکیده (انگلیسی):

The topic derivation is one of the fundamental concepts in the learning of calculus in university. It is a
prerequisite for other concepts in that level and its traces are visible in the majority of mathematical courses at
university level. Students have difficulties in the learning of this concept which mostly come back to lack of
conceptual understanding and focusing only procedural aspects. The purpose of this study was to investigate
conceptual difficulties that these students faced, to understand derivation conceptually. The design of this study is
qualitative analysis of open-ended questions, and its subjects consisted of 60 university students. The findings
showed students have serious difficulties in understanding derivation conceptually. The students’ responds
indicated that main reasons of difficulties in conceptual understanding of derivation come back to focusing on
symbolic aspect more than embodied aspect (like graph), lack of making logical connection between these aspects,
and weakness of dealing with generalized question. Findings of this study provided information to calculus
instructors and students to overcome learning difficulties of derivation.