We investigated the effects of a major revision of the differential and integral calculus curriculum, the primary goal of which was to improve STEM retention. The revamped curriculum has greater emphasis on the power of computing to help visualize patterns and gain insights to better prepare students for STEM majors, and less emphasis on…

Previous investigations into first year calculus students' understandings of tangent lines have revealed common misconceptions arising either from students' prior experiences with the topic or from the treatment of the subject in the calculus classroom. This study seeks to examine in-service secondary mathematics teachers' conceptions of tangent…

Knowledge required to teach mathematics at the university level is a current and relevant research topic in Mathematics Education. Thus, the case study presented in this article pertains to one mathematics lecturer whose knowledge is examined focusing on his delivery of a Multivariable Calculus course. The data required were gathered via classroom…

Taylor series play a ubiquitous role in calculus courses, and their applications as approximants to functions are widely taught and used everywhere. However, it is not common to present the students with other types of approximations besides Taylor polynomials. These notes show that polynomials construed to satisfy certain boundary conditions at…

A productive understanding of rate of change concept is essential for constructing a robust understanding of derivatives. There is substantial evidence in the research that students enter and leave their Calculus courses with naive understandings of rate of change. Implementing a short unit on "what is rate of change" can address these…

Evidence shows that to improve student persistence in mathematics, we must change our course design to encourage students to have a growth mindset. By using standards-based grading, students earn grades based on their actual learning, so they are motivated to persist with difficult topics until they achieve understanding. Mastery-based testing has…

Standards-based grading is an alternative grading system that gives students multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency in course standards or objectives. It has the potential to provide flexibility and reduce student anxiety, which are particularly important during difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, students in a…

This case study explored Grade 12 learners' misconceptions in limits of functions. The study aimed at understanding problems that learners face in learning the concepts of limit by analyzing misconceptions that learners have and identifying the possible sources of these misconceptions to take remedial action. An exploratory research design was…

The ideas of measurement and measurement comparisons (e.g., fractions, ratios, quotients) are introduced to students in elementary school. However, studies report that students of all ages have difficulty comparing two quantities in terms of their relative size. Students often understand fractions such as 3/7 as part-whole relationships or…

This brief focuses on the important role that math requirements contribute to inequity in access to college, in particular the value placed on calculus, even though it is not an essential course for students who are seeking non-STEM degrees. The boost earned by students who are fortunate enough to have access to calculus, a benefit unequally…

We propose an original machine that traces conics and some transcendental curves (oblique trajectories of confocal conics) by the solution of inverse tangent problems. For such a machine, we also provide the 3D-printable model to be used as an intriguing supplement for geometry, calculus, or ordinary differential equations classes.

The natural exponential and logarithm are typically introduced to undergraduate engineering students in a calculus course using the notion of limits. We here present an approach to introduce the natural exponential/logarithm through a novel interpretation of derivatives. This approach does not rely on limits, allowing an early and intuitive…

Since Personalized Instruction increases the motivation, interest, performance and attitude of the student, it is aimed to develop an instructional management system that can be adapted to the individual, taking into account the prior knowledge level of the person who provides the personalization of all instructional materials. The project is…

For integrals consisting of rational functions of sine and cosine a set of little known rules known as the Bioche rules are considered. The rules, which consist of testing the differential form of the integral for invariance under one of three simple substitutions x [right arrow] -- x, [pi] -- x, and [pi] + x, allow one to decide which of the…

Every application of integration by parts can be done with a tabular method. The trick is to identify and consider each new integral in the table before deciding how to proceed. This paper supplements a classic introduction to integration by parts with a particular tabular method called Row Integration by Parts (RIP). Approaches to tabular methods…