Peer Review

Tutorials for the Calculus Phobe

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Overview:: This site has multiple calculus videos...ranging across topics central to limits to foundational explanations in derivatives. It includes solved problems and nice control features to assist in learning.
Type of Material:: Presentation with associated sample problems, tutorial and animation.
Recommended Uses:: This material would be really perfect for a flipped methodology for the 11 lessons presented here. The instruction is clear, self-paced with chances to "rewind". There are associated solved problems included to support learning. The teacher could also use this material to introduce the topics in the classroom. There is not a lot of drill; there are no extended problem sets.
Technical Requirements:: This site was tested with Chrome, Internet Explorer 11 and Firefox. It only worked on IE 11. Presumably this is a flash issue.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: There are ll topics; each one takes a targeted approach to presenting fundamental material relevant to that topic. The major goals include the explanation of limits and why they are mathematically important as well as fundamental introductory material about derivatives.
Target Student Population:: Intended for Calculus I, or perhaps a Pre-Calculus discussion of limits. Could be of interest to teachers for planning purposes or for flipping classes.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Pre-Calculus

Rating:
Strengths:: This site contains a collection of 11 lessons from the first semester calculus. The topics include Limits, Continuity, and Derivatives together with the rules of differentiation. Each lesson is a Flash animated slide show with verbal explanation of the lecturer. Partway through each lesson, the video stops and the student is asked a question that accesses whether the student is able to apply what is being discussed. The lessons are matched with topics in the order of most available Calculus textbooks. There is also a link on the site that takes a student to the “Problem of the Week” page. The problems range in difficulty, but most of them are related to the material discussed in the lessons. The site has excellent descriptions; intuitive presentations of topics as well as well-designed graphics. There are some nice pedagogy features, such as the ability to easily pause and repeat sections and the inclusion of examples for review. Selection of topics is appropriate for introductions in the first 2/3 of a calculus I course.
Concerns:: Very browser dependent. Limited selection of topics. Short problem list, but they are appropriate problems.

Rating:
Strengths:: This site is a good supplement to any calculus textbook. It could also be easily used as a part of self-guided study of the Calculus I topics discussed. The site should be really helpful to students who are visual learners. The “Problem of the Week” set and the frequent pauses to check for understanding will ensure that the student is not just passively viewing the videos without learning. The site is self-contained, of appropriate length and includes pauses and examples. It uses good transitions and clear explanations.
Concerns:: The number of topics is limited to the first two major chapters of a Calculus textbook. It would be nice to see more lessons to appear. The videos introduce some words for ideas that are not necessarily common practice....such as the "intention of a function to reach a height". While this is not wrong, it is somewhat colloquial and could make transfer to other materials a little confused for a while.

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Strengths:: Provided that all the necessary plug-ins are installed, the site is intuitive and very easy to use. The links are well thought out and the navigation of the site is simple. The instructions are clearly presented with speech, text, and animation. The site has a very nice, clean interface, good voice inclusion, and nice drawings. Pausing for repetition by subsections is also nice.
Concerns:: The videos only play in Internet Explorer.. You have to start from the beginning of each video, although there are rewind features included for repetition.

Other Issues and Comments:: The site is very useful for flipping a classroom or providing some material outside of class. It definitely is visually helpful, has good audio and makes good use of graphics.
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