Student Research Projects in Calculus


Book Description

Provides teachers with over 100 projects ready to assign to students in single and multivariable calculus. The authors have designed these projects with one goal in mind: to get students to think for themselves. Each project is a multistep, take-home problem, allowing students to work both individually and in groups.




Mathematics Research for the Beginning Student, Volume 2


Book Description

Mathematics research opportunities for undergraduate students have grown significantly in recent years, but accessible research topics for first- and second-year students are still hard to find. To address this need, this volume provides beginning students who have already had some exposure to calculus with specific research projects and the tools required to tackle them. Chapters are self-contained, presenting projects students can pursue, along with essential background material and suggestions for further reading. In addition to calculus, some of the later chapters require prerequisites such as linear algebra and statistics. Suggested prerequisites are noted at the beginning of each chapter. Some topics covered include: lattice walks in the plane statistical modeling of survival data building blocks and geometry modeling of weather and climate change mathematics of risk and insurance Mathematics Research for the Beginning Student, Volume 2 will appeal to undergraduate students at two- and four-year colleges who are interested in pursuing mathematics research projects. Faculty members interested in serving as advisors to these students will find ideas and guidance as well. This volume will also be of interest to advanced high school students interested in exploring mathematics research for the first time. A separate volume with research projects for students who have not yet studied calculus is also available.




Mathematics Research for the Beginning Student, Volume 1


Book Description

Mathematics research opportunities for undergraduate students have grown significantly in recent years, but accessible research topics for first- and second-year students with minimal experience beyond high school mathematics are still hard to find. To address this need, this volume provides beginning students with specific research projects and the tools required to tackle them. Most of these projects are accessible to students who have not yet taken Calculus, but students who know some Calculus will find plenty to do here as well. Chapters are self-contained, presenting projects students can pursue, along with essential background material and suggestions for further reading. Suggested prerequisites are noted at the beginning of each chapter. Some topics covered include: games on graphs modeling of biological systems mosaics and virtual knots mathematics for sustainable humanity mathematical epidemiology Mathematics Research for the Beginning Student, Volume 1 will appeal to undergraduate students at two- and four-year colleges who are interested in pursuing mathematics research projects. Faculty members interested in serving as advisors to these students will find ideas and guidance as well. This volume will also be of interest to advanced high school students interested in exploring mathematics research for the first time. A separate volume with research projects for students who have already studied calculus is also available.




Calculus Mysteries and Thrillers


Book Description

The author presents eleven mathematic problems and their solutions in story form for the reader. The calculus concepts on which the problems are based include; tangent and normal lines, optimization by use of criticla points, inverse trig functions, volumes of solids, surface area integrals, and modeling economic concepts using definite integrals". -- Back cover.




A Project-Based Guide to Undergraduate Research in Mathematics


Book Description

This volume provides accessible and self-contained research problems designed for undergraduate student projects, and simultaneously promotes the development of sustainable undergraduate research programs. The chapters in this work span a variety of topical areas of pure and applied mathematics and mathematics education. Each chapter gives a self-contained introduction on a research topic with an emphasis on the specific tools and knowledge needed to create and maintain fruitful research programs for undergraduates. Some of the topics discussed include:• Disease modeling• Tropical curves and surfaces• Numerical semigroups• Mathematics EducationThis volume will primarily appeal to undergraduate students interested in pursuing research projects and faculty members seeking to mentor them. It may also aid students and faculty participating in independent studies and capstone projects.




Transformational Change Efforts: Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning


Book Description

The purpose of this handbook is to help launch institutional transformations in mathematics departments to improve student success. We report findings from the Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning (SEMINAL) study. SEMINAL's purpose is to help change agents, those looking to (or currently attempting to) enact change within mathematics departments and beyond—trying to reform the instruction of their lower division mathematics courses in order to promote high achievement for all students. SEMINAL specifically studies the change mechanisms that allow postsecondary institutions to incorporate and sustain active learning in Precalculus to Calculus 2 learning environments. Out of the approximately 2.5 million students enrolled in collegiate mathematics courses each year, over 90% are enrolled in Precalculus to Calculus 2 courses. Forty-four percent of mathematics departments think active learning mathematics strategies are important for Precalculus to Calculus 2 courses, but only 15 percnt state that they are very successful at implementing them. Therefore, insights into the following research question will help with institutional transformations: What conditions, strategies, interventions and actions at the departmental and classroom levels contribute to the initiation, implementation, and institutional sustainability of active learning in the undergraduate calculus sequence (Precalculus to Calculus 2) across varied institutions?




Calculus


Book Description

A student projects book to be used as a complement to any calculus text. Contains activities that can be done in class or as homework and large projects for the students to work on (usually in groups) outside the classroom. Materials are excellent for cooperative learning. Most activities and projects require no technology and the few that do are not technology specific. Students actively participate in their learning. Emphasizes the role of calculus as a tool for understanding the world with modeling as a central theme.




Teaching and Learning of Calculus


Book Description

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.




Calculus in Context


Book Description

For courses currently engaged, or leaning toward calculus reform. Callahan fully embraces the calculus reform movement in technology and pedagogy, while taking it a step further with a unique organization and applications to real-world problems.




Calculus Renewal


Book Description

Calculus Reform. Or, as many would prefer, calculus renewal. These are terms that, for better or worse, have become a part of the vocabulary in mathematics departments across the country. The movement to change the nature of the calculus course at the undergraduate and secondary levels has sparked discussion and controversy in ways as diverse as the actual changes. Such interactions range from "coffee pot conversations" to university curriculum committee agendas to special sessions on calculus renewal at regional and national conferences. But what is the significance of these activities? Where have we been and where are we going with calculus and, more importantly, the entire scope of undergraduate mathematics education? In April 1996, I received a fellowship from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). This fellowship afforded me the opportunity to work in residence at NSF on a number of evaluation projects, including the national impact of the calculus reform movement since 1988. That project resulted in countless communications with the mathematics community and others about the status of calculus as a course in isolation and as a significant player in the overall undergraduate mathematics and science experience for students (and faculty). While at NSF (and through a second NSF grant received while at the American Association for Higher Education), I also was part of an evaluation project for the Institution-wide Reform (IR) program.