Calculus I: What to Expect

Here is some additional, more informal info about the class that should give you a better idea what to expect from this class, how to enjoy it and do well, and help you decide whether or not this class is for you.

• This class is big. You and I will need to work together creatively to make sure that this classtime is comfortable and effective, and that outside of class people are able to get all the help they need. Last time I taught this class there were 27 students in it and it worked well.

• Falling behind in this course is not a good idea. If you're confused about something, it's very important that you seek help sooner rather than later. There are many people around who can offer help. However, we can't offer assistance if we don't know who needs it when. You need to take responsibility to seek help if you need it. On a related note ...

• I do not expect all of the homework assignments to be easy; I don't expect you to be able to sit down and do them easily the first time. Don't let yourself get frustrated -- I strongly suggest working with others and seeking help if you need it.

• In many more traditional math classes the textbook has a ton of examples in them. The book we'll be using doesn't. The result is that students sometimes find the homework to be challenging, frustrating, and occasionally even annoying. However, I'm convinced that this style of homework -- where there's not an example just like the problem you're trying to do -- is much better pedagogically. You'll learn a lot more this way.

• This course does covers pretty standard Calc I material. The only exception to this is that we introduce integrals in Calc I, where in many other courses integrals aren't covered until Calc II. The text book we're using is used at many other colleges and universities in the U.S.

• This class is listed as an introductory course. I do not assume that you've had calculus before. If you've had calculus elsewhere, this still might be a good course for you. However, you should check with me to make sure that you don't end up in a course that's a waste of your time. Calculus has a scary reputation, but I don't think it's an intrinsically hard subject. Calculus "makes sense," in that it holds together as a conceptual whole, and doesn't require memorizing lots of seeming unrelated facts.

• This class is a lot of work. However, the workload is steady; you'll be doing approximately the same amount of work each week. We'll hit the ground running and try to get lots of stuff done the next few weeks. The workload will taper off some toward the end of the term.

Web page maintained by dave@hornacek.coa.edu.