Teaching and Learning of Calculus

Teaching and Learning of Calculus
Author: David Bressoud
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2016-06-14
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3319329758

This survey focuses on the main trends in the field of calculus education. Despite their variety, the findings reveal a cornerstone issue that is strongly linked to the formalism of calculus concepts and to the difficulties it generates in the learning and teaching process. As a complement to the main text, an extended bibliography with some of the most important references on this topic is included. Since the diversity of the research in the field makes it difficult to produce an exhaustive state-of-the-art summary, the authors discuss recent developments that go beyond this survey and put forward new research questions.

Grade Inflation

Grade Inflation
Author: Valen E. Johnson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2003-04-30
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0387001255

Grade inflation runs rampant at most colleges and universities, but faculty and administrators are seemingly unwilling to face the problem. This book explains why, exposing many of the misconceptions surrounding college grading. Based on historical research and the results of a yearlong, on-line course evaluation experiment conducted at Duke University during the 1998-1999 academic year, the effects of student grading on various educational processes, and their subsequent impact on student and faculty behavior, is examined. Principal conclusions of this investigation are that instructors' grading practices have a significant influence on end-of-course teaching evaluations, and that student expectations of grading practices play an important role in the courses that students decide to take. The latter effect has a serious impact on course enrollments in the natural sciences and mathematics, while the combination of both mean that faculty have an incentive to award high grades, and students have an incentive to choose courses with faculty who do. Grade inflation is the natural consequence of this incentive system. Material contained in this book is essential reading for anyone involved in efforts to reform our postsecondary educational system, or for those who simply wish to survive and prosper in it. Valen Johnson is a Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Michigan. Prior to accepting an appointment in Ann Arbor, he was a Professor of Statistics and Decision Sciences at Duke University, where data for this book was collected. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.

Calculus Deconstructed

Calculus Deconstructed
Author: Zbigniew H. Nitecki
Publisher: American Mathematical Society
Total Pages: 491
Release: 2022-01-11
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1470466759

Calculus Deconstructed is a thorough and mathematically rigorous exposition of single-variable calculus for readers with some previous exposure to calculus techniques but not to methods of proof. This book is appropriate for a beginning Honors Calculus course assuming high school calculus or a "bridge course" using basic analysis to motivate and illustrate mathematical rigor. It can serve as a combination textbook and reference book for individual self-study. Standard topics and techniques in single-variable calculus are presented in context of a coherent logical structure, building on familiar properties of real numbers and teaching methods of proof by example along the way. Numerous examples reinforce both practical and theoretical understanding, and extensive historical notes explore the arguments of the originators of the subject. No previous experience with mathematical proof is assumed: rhetorical strategies and techniques of proof (reductio ad absurdum, induction, contrapositives, etc.) are introduced by example along the way. Between the text and exercises, proofs are available for all the basic results of calculus for functions of one real variable.

Infinite Powers

Infinite Powers
Author: Steven Strogatz
Publisher: Mariner Books
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2019
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1328879984

This is the captivating story of mathematics' greatest ever idea: calculus. Without it, there would be no computers, no microwave ovens, no GPS, and no space travel. But before it gave modern man almost infinite powers, calculus was behind centuries of controversy, competition, and even death. Taking us on a thrilling journey through three millennia, professor Steven Strogatz charts the development of this seminal achievement from the days of Aristotle to today's million-dollar reward that awaits whoever cracks Reimann's hypothesis. Filled with idiosyncratic characters from Pythagoras to Euler, Infinite Powers is a compelling human drama that reveals the legacy of calculus on nearly every aspect of modern civilization, including science, politics, ethics, philosophy, and much besides.

Calculus: A Rigorous First Course

Calculus: A Rigorous First Course
Author: Daniel J. Velleman
Publisher: Courier Dover Publications
Total Pages: 737
Release: 2017-01-18
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0486809366

Designed for undergraduate mathematics majors, this rigorous and rewarding treatment covers the usual topics of first-year calculus: limits, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. Author Daniel J. Velleman focuses on calculus as a tool for problem solving rather than the subject's theoretical foundations. Stressing a fundamental understanding of the concepts of calculus instead of memorized procedures, this volume teaches problem solving by reasoning, not just calculation. The goal of the text is an understanding of calculus that is deep enough to allow the student to not only find answers to problems, but also achieve certainty of the answers' correctness. No background in calculus is necessary. Prerequisites include proficiency in basic algebra and trigonometry, and a concise review of both areas provides sufficient background. Extensive problem material appears throughout the text and includes selected answers. Complete solutions are available to instructors.

Calculus for Biology and Medicine

Calculus for Biology and Medicine
Author: Claudia Neuhauser
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2004
Genre: Biomathematics
ISBN: 9780130455161

For a two-semester course in Calculus for Life Sciences. This text addresses the needs of students in the biological sciences by teaching calculus in a biological context without reducing the course level. It is a calculus text, written so that a math professor without a biology background can teach from it successfully. New concepts are introduced in a three step manner. First, a biological example motivates the topic; second, the topic is then developed via a simple mathematical example; and third the concept is tied to deeper biological examples. This allows students: to see why a concept is important; to understand how to use the concept computationally; to make sure that they can apply the concept.

Real Mathematical Analysis

Real Mathematical Analysis
Author: Charles Chapman Pugh
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 445
Release: 2013-03-19
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0387216847

Was plane geometry your favourite math course in high school? Did you like proving theorems? Are you sick of memorising integrals? If so, real analysis could be your cup of tea. In contrast to calculus and elementary algebra, it involves neither formula manipulation nor applications to other fields of science. None. It is Pure Mathematics, and it is sure to appeal to the budding pure mathematician. In this new introduction to undergraduate real analysis the author takes a different approach from past studies of the subject, by stressing the importance of pictures in mathematics and hard problems. The exposition is informal and relaxed, with many helpful asides, examples and occasional comments from mathematicians like Dieudonne, Littlewood and Osserman. The author has taught the subject many times over the last 35 years at Berkeley and this book is based on the honours version of this course. The book contains an excellent selection of more than 500 exercises.

Open Middle Math

Open Middle Math
Author: Robert Kaplinsky
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2023-10-10
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1003839886

This book is an amazing resource for teachers who are struggling to help students develop both procedural fluency and conceptual understanding.. --Dr. Margaret (Peg) Smith, co-author of5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematical Discussions Robert Kaplinsky, the co-creator of Open Middle math problems, brings hisnew class of tasks designed to stimulate deeper thinking and lively discussion among middle and high school students in Open Middle Math: Problems That Unlock Student Thinking, Grades 6-12. The problems are characterized by a closed beginning,- meaning all students start with the same initial problem, and a closed end,- meaning there is only one correct or optimal answer. The key is that the middle is open- in the sense that there are multiple ways to approach and ultimately solve the problem. These tasks have proven enormously popular with teachers looking to assess and deepen student understanding, build student stamina, and energize their classrooms. Professional Learning Resource for Teachers: Open Middle Math is an indispensable resource for educators interested in teaching student-centered mathematics in middle and high schools consistent with the national and state standards. Sample Problems at Each Grade: The book demonstrates the Open Middle concept with sample problems ranging from dividing fractions at 6th grade to algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. Teaching Tips for Student-Centered Math Classrooms: Kaplinsky shares guidance on choosing problems, designing your own math problems, and teaching for multiple purposes, including formative assessment, identifying misconceptions, procedural fluency, and conceptual understanding. Adaptable and Accessible Math: The tasks can be solved using various strategies at different levels of sophistication, which means all students can access the problems and participate in the conversation. Open Middle Math will help math teachers transform the 6th -12th grade classroom into an environment focused on problem solving, student dialogue, and critical thinking.

The Calculus Story

The Calculus Story
Author: David Acheson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2017
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0198804547

"[Acheson] introduces the fundamental ideas of calculus through the story of how the subject developed, from approximating π to imaginary numbers, and from Newton's falling apple to the vibrations of an electric guitar."--Back cover

Learning and Understanding

Learning and Understanding
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 589
Release: 2002-09-06
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309074401

This book takes a fresh look at programs for advanced studies for high school students in the United States, with a particular focus on the Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate programs, and asks how advanced studies can be significantly improved in general. It also examines two of the core issues surrounding these programs: they can have a profound impact on other components of the education system and participation in the programs has become key to admission at selective institutions of higher education. By looking at what could enhance the quality of high school advanced study programs as well as what precedes and comes after these programs, this report provides teachers, parents, curriculum developers, administrators, college science and mathematics faculty, and the educational research community with a detailed assessment that can be used to guide change within advanced study programs.