Gabriel's Horn is a solid of revolution commonly featured in calculus textbooks as a counter-intuitive example of a solid having finite volume but infinite surface area. Other examples of solids with surprising geometrical finitude relationships have also appeared in the literature. This article cites several intriguing examples (some of fractal…

With the help of the National Science Foundation, the Department of Mathematics at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez has developed a set of manipulatives to help students of science and engineering visualize concepts relating to points, surfaces, curves, contours, and vectors in three dimensions. This article will present the manipulatives…

The purpose of this article is to provide a deeper understanding of the natural rhythm of a typical semester, as observed in students' reflections in journals kept during the semester. Our analysis of students' writings rendered a breakdown of the semester into four distinct periods that were independent of the particular semester or section the…

The Laplace Transform is an object of fundamental importance in pure and applied mathematics. In addition, it has special pedagogical value in that it can provide a natural and concrete setting for a student to begin thinking about the modern concepts of "operator" and "functional". Most undergraduate textbooks, however, merely define the…

Summarizes an interdisciplinary undergraduate research project involving experimental physics and calculus and illustrates how mathematics was used to finesse incomplete experimental information and maximize physical quantity known as jerk. Describes how calculus can be applied in the "real world" where functions are not always given by nice…

Explores a method of teaching called Peer Instruction. Describes how Peer Instruction was implemented in physics and summarizes the results. Discusses the way in which Peer Instruction was modified to be used in an introductory single variable calculus course. (Author/ASK)

Outlines ideas and exercises for two topics that accompany the standard treatment of integral calculus. Emphasizes intuition to help facilitate student comprehension of the definite integral as a limit of Riemann Sums. (Author/MM)

Discusses some of the differences between the ways mathematicians and physicists view vector calculus and the gap between the way this material is traditionally taught by mathematicians and the way physicists use it. Suggests some ways to narrow the gap. (Author/ASK)

Provides an overview of an ongoing calculus reform that includes cooperative learning, oral presentations, and long-term student projects. (Author/ASK)

Discusses how applications from microbiology and sociology can be used to involve students. Presents a physical context for critical concepts in a first-semester calculus course. (Author/ASK)

Alternative forms of evaluation can provide deep and powerful learning experiences for students. Explains how to implement portfolios as an evaluation tool and describes a problem that was successfully implemented in a second semester reform calculus class. (Author/ASK)

Common student attitudes toward reform methods are conveyed through the thoughts of a student leaving a multivariable calculus exam and musings range over textbooks, homework, workload, group work, writing, noncomputational problems, instructional problems, instructional styles, and classroom activities. (Author/ASK)

Describes the behavior of five calculus professors and their students based on observations of calculus classes. Results showed that the dominant mode of instruction was lecture and students were usually not actively engaged in doing mathematics. (14 references) (Author/MKR)

Presents a college calculus program based on the discovery method and the educational psychology literature used to develop it. Lists departmental, educational, and calculus reform goals, and describes characteristics of the program, including relaxed atmosphere, use of visualization, and supplemental teaching techniques. (13 references) (MKR)

Reports results of a survey of demographics and work and study habits of college freshmen mathematics students. No statistically significant correlation was found between work hours and grade outcome. (Author/MKR)