Calculus

by rrusczyk, Aug 7, 2008, 3:50 PM

The new AoPS calculus course is now available. Unlike our other courses, we are limiting enrollment in this class. (In most of our other classes, if we have high enrollment, we split them into two sections. We will not be splitting this class into two sections.)

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Looks pretty sweet. Glad to see you guys rolled out with something for calculus. Only wish I'd had that when I was in high school (how many times have you heard that by now?

by joml88, Aug 7, 2008, 4:48 PM

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Yeah, I say that to myself about a lot of the things we do. (Sandor once said to me after we wrote AoPS 1 and 2, "Imagine how good we would have been at math contests if we'd had these when we were in high school". My answer: "I probably would have done worse, because then everyone else would have them, too

by rrusczyk, Aug 7, 2008, 7:24 PM

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dang dang dang dang dang dang i already worked my up to integrals in calculus....

by Poincare, Aug 7, 2008, 7:28 PM

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Ugh, I wish you had this class available last year, when I self-studied calc...

by Ubemaya, Aug 8, 2008, 5:20 PM

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In light of the calculus trap article that you wrote, I'm curious: why did you choose to provide a calculus course?

by Altheman, Aug 8, 2008, 8:26 PM

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also related to alex's question:
to what extent are contest problems going to be used?

by IntrepidMath, Aug 8, 2008, 9:00 PM

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Would this be a good class for someone who's already taken AP Calculus at their high school, or would there be too much review?

by h_s_potter2002, Aug 8, 2008, 9:40 PM

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@Al: My calculus trap article is not intended to mean "calculus is evil". It's intended to mean "calculus is not nearly as important as the current curriculum makes it out to be". Note that we wrote not one, not two, but three discrete math books before getting to calculus!

That said, we do have some concern about contributing to the calculus trap, as we'll certainly have some students taking it who shouldn't...

@Intrepid: There will certainly be problems from the Putnam and the HMMT included.

@h_s: I'm not sure; I'll ask DPatrick, but I'm guessing you'd be better off looking at something other than calculus. Grab yourself a book on modern algebra (group theory) and play with it and see what you think. If nothing else, that will give you a fair amount of information about whether or not you really want to study pure mathematics. (Unfortunately, there won't be an AoPS book on those topics for another couple years.)

by rrusczyk, Aug 8, 2008, 10:25 PM

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why not?

by Poincare, Aug 9, 2008, 9:24 PM

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Poincare wrote:

why not?

Well, keep in mind that good books on things like modern algebra are more plentiful than good books on high-school mathematics, probably because high-school mathematics is more obscure, from a professional mathematician's point of view. This also may have something to do with the fact that most high school textbooks are designed for typical people, whereas most college textbooks (beyond calculus and intro linear algebra, diff eqs, etc.) are designed for people serious about math (math majors, grad students, researchers). I think some people like Herstein for modern algebra, though I've never seen it myself. I like Bourbaki, but I'm weird.

By the way, I'll be interested to hear how this course turns out.

by Boy Soprano II, Aug 10, 2008, 4:43 AM

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What's the precedent for getting school credit for AoPS classes? My school doesn't currently offer an AP BC class, (AP AB only and a new accelerated pre calculus class, so they are trying to start up an AP BC class in 09-10).

I'm gonna go ask my counselor about this soon, if it's a viable option.

I've finished pre calculus, did Calc 1 over the summer at the community college, but admit that I didn't really learn much at all from it.

by pianoforte, Aug 10, 2008, 5:15 AM

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As for school credit, it depends on the school. We are happy to assign grades to schools that will accept them (and have done so on rare occasion), but you'll have to talk to your school first.

by rrusczyk, Aug 10, 2008, 7:08 PM