This site includes a short summary/explanation of the chain rule, including example problems.
Type of Material:
Reference Material
Recommended Uses:
This site would be useful for self-guided study/review and individual student practice.
Technical Requirements:
Any Browser supporting JavaScript.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
The major goal of this site is to provide guidance and review in applying the chain rule to take derivatives.
Target Student Population:
High School, College Lower Division, Calculus I students
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Pre-Calculus, Basic derivative rules.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
This site provides clear step-by-step instructions on using the chain rule to find derivatives. Explanations are written in very conversational language. Links to prequisite materials, examples on using the chain rule, and 12 try it problems where the student can attempt to answer a question and then click to see the full solution.
Concerns:
The site does not contain a proof of the chain rule nor does it contain a reference to it. It also does not provide any real world applications of the chain rule. There is also an error in the first example where it states that the answer can be simplified to 14x(x^2+1)^2. The last square should be a 6th power.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
Students can be pointed to this site for a quick introduction or review of the chain rule. They can practice problems until they obtain mastery of using the chain rule to find derivatives. This would be a great resource to add to a reference library in the LMS for a Calculus I course.
Concerns:
None
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The site is just a web page that has reading content, links, and questions where students click to see the answer. Students will have no problem navigating through it. It is well laid out with box headers and flows naturally.
Concerns:
Content is displayed with wide margins on the computer screen which makes for a nice display on a smartphone screen for the most part. When opening the site on the smartphone, boxed in items, such as the definition of the chain rule, don’t fit on the screen. Users will need to zoom out to view this information.
Creative Commons:
Search by ISBN?
It looks like you have entered an ISBN number. Would you like to search using what you have
entered as an ISBN number?
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
