Have you seen your students disengage from your calculus class in the first week as they struggle with the technical topic of limits? They don’t see the point, get mired in the algebra and can become alienated. I will share why I save limits for later and start out with an exciting and historical approach using slope and velocity.
But perhaps your textbook, like mine, follows a traditional approach? I will also share how I used parts of two Open Education Resources (OER) by Matt Boelkins and Dale Hoffman, along with a few pages I created, to make a coursepack for my first unit. [Link to modifiable materials provided at talk, or by email.] Their materials gave my students the support they needed in our excursions off the traditional textbook’s beaten path.
I’ll help you see why there’s a better order to the topics. (It’s not just the limits.) And I’ll show you one way to make Calculus fun for yourself and your students.
You can use the experiences I share in my talk as inspiration to help you get started remixing OER to develop your own approach and materials. Using these materials in a coursepack alongside the required text may also be a way to show your reluctant department that they don’t need the $200-plus conventional textbooks.
- Have I said enough to make it clear what I have to offer?
- What more should I say?
- What should I change?
- Would you come to my talk?
(My deadline is in 4 days.)
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