This site is devoted to learning mathematics through practice. Many dozens of practice problems are provided in Precalculus, Calculus I - III, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, and Abstract Algebra. The last two subject areas -- referred to as "books" on the site -- are under construction. To each topic within a book (for example, Epsilon and Delta within Calculus I) there is a "module" of approximately 20 to 30 problems. Each module also includes a help page of background material. The modules are interactive to some extent and often provide suggestions when wrong answers are entered.
Type of Material:
Drill and Practice.
Recommended Uses:
Student practice.
Technical Requirements:
A JavaScript enabled browser.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
To promote the learning of mathematics through practice.
Target Student Population:
Students who are studying Precalculus, Calculus I - III, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, or Abstract Algebra.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Since the learning material presented here is devoted to practice rather than instruction, students should be familiar with the concepts and methodologies in the stated subject areas.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
Just the sheer quantity of practice material here is impressive. It is enough to keep students busy -- and profitably so -- for many hours. The problems are clearly stated, nicely rendered graphics complement many of the problems, and encouraging, often humorous, comments are provided throughout. The practice problems within a given module (topic) are not automatically generated; while this limits the number of practice problems, the authors take good advantage of this limitation by providing many different kinds of problems instead of near-replications of the same problem. The coverage of topics within the calculus books is quite thorough, and the range of difficulty in the problem sets is adequate for the purposes of a drill and practice learning site.
Concerns:
None
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
Even though this is a practice site, every module (or topic) has a help page which contains basic explanations of concepts, tables of formulas, and worked out examples. Also, wrong answers always result in some kind of interactive comment and graphic aimed at setting the student on the right course and often humorously, at that. Some of the more difficult modules use the first problem in the practice set as a worked-out example. Several modules are designated hands-on and use JavaScript to allow students to experiment with concepts by changing the values of certain parameters and immediately seeing the graphical consequences. Clearly, any student wanting additional practice in one of the areas covered on this site will benefit from her/his time spent here.
Concerns:
Practice on basic trigonometry is sketchy, both in the Precalculus book and the Calculus I book. This is not a big concern,
since the major emphasis of this site is on the calculus. A somewhat more serious concern is that the modules on limits, derivatives as slope, some applications of derivatives, and several other topics with strong graphical consequences have few or no problems involving actual graphs. The methodology in these modules is exclusively algebraic, whereas these topics lend themselves so naturally to graphical approaches. For example, the modules on Graph Sketching under Applications of the Derivative have not a single graph represented among the problem sets. It would have strengthened these modules to have considered this and to have included more graphs and maybe even more of the hands-on modules that are employed elsewhere on the site.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Indices to the modules (topics) within each book (subject area) provide easy and convenient navigation. The site provides a wonderfully thorough introduction on how to use its features. Buttons that link to additional help or site guidance are almost always available. Also, the pages involving JavaScript worked flawlessly.
Concerns:
None
Other Issues and Comments:
This review does not evaluate the recording/grading feature of this site. That feature is exclusive to students with logins and passwords.
Creative Commons:
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