The following notes and practice problems are ancillary materials for OpenStax Calculus Volume 1. Topics include: Limit of a Function Continuity Derivatives Differentiation
Type of Material:
Drill and Practice
Recommended Uses:
This can be used as a study guide and to practice homework in class or outside of class. It is more geared towards the individual student. Also some of the activities towards the last part of the excercise section can be used for group-work type activities.
Technical Requirements:
Download as PDF
Identify Major Learning Goals:
The site provides the highlights of the first class in calculus. Students will learn how to determine if a function has a limit and is continuous at a point. They will also get practice with the basic types of calculus problems.
The book also incorpoerates real - life context problems. This resource is the first of three volumes. The topics in Volume 1 includes functions, limits, derivatives, and integration. The target audience includes learners that matriculate in a general calculus course.
Target Student Population:
College General Ed, College Lower Division, in particular students taking Calculus 1.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Learners should feel comfortable with equation solving and manipulating alebraic expressions. Learners should also be able to factor. They should have already succeeded in a pre-calculus class.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
This material is an open educational resource that can be helpful to all levles of calculus students. Students have the opportunity to review the material as a supplement to their studies or as the main medium of learning.
The notes in this supplement are clear and concise. The graphs and examples are easy to understand and the exercises that appear are well chosen to provide students with the basics of limits, continuity and differentiation. It is formatted so that the content flows naturally.
Concerns:
It would be helpful to have links to the OpenStax textbook pages that it is a supplement for. Also, it is static text rather than a multimedia teaching tool. An interactive supplement would be helpful.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
This material would be an optimal choice as a teaching tool for any general calculus course. This supplement can help students review the key concepts in the Calculus 1 course. It is succinct and efficient in going over limits, continuity and differentiation. Any student that wants to review the basics can benefit from going through this supplement.
Concerns:
This supplement covers only the basics, so if a student wants to go over applications or additional topics, there is no guidance provided. Students might falsely think that they are ready for the final exam after reading through this supplement and doing the exercises, but will not be prepared for the applications or other related topics covered in the course.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The material overall is a downlaoble pdf which is easy to print out if necessary or bookmark for later use. Students can access this resource from any computer. The formatting is clear and easy to read through. Because there are no redundant examples, students can get through this supplement while reviewing in a short amount of time.
Concerns:
After clicking the initial Go to Material link, the user is sent to the Summary Page that provides overall details, instructor resouces, students resources, and partner resources. The downloadable pdf is not apparent initially. Students would perhaps need to be directed to the pdf.
The supplement is completely text based, so there is no interactivity and if the student needs extra assistance or wants to delve deeper, there are no links to go to. Videos and dynamic activities, or at least links to them, would help.
Creative Commons:
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