- Courses Start At Any Time
Distance Calculus does not follow the traditional academic calendar,
so you may enroll today - or next week, or next month - and start your course.
- Finish the Course Quickly, If Needed
You may accelerate your pace and completion of the course - provided your
skills warrant such progress. Your instructor will set your pace for you,
and if you need to complete your course by a certain deadline, we will work
with you to establish a pace that should be sufficient to meet your deadline.
We cannot, of course, guarantee that you will finish your Distance Calculus
by a certain date, as the ability to complete the course is dependent upon
your academic skills.
Each course is designed for a standard 14-week semester, with an expected
student workload of 9-12 hours per week. Some students have been able to finish
such courses in 4-6 weeks (and not doing much other than Calculus during this period!)
- Take 1 Course, Or Take Many - As You Prefer
You may take only 1 course from Distance Calculus - or you may take many, or even
take the entire Calculus sequence. It is up to you. Many students will take, for
example, Calculus II from Distance Calculus, where they took Calculus I at their
primary college/university, and then take Calculus III at their primary college/university.
You do not need to take all of your Calculus courses through Distance Calculus.
But, of course, you may if you wish.
The Story of Distance Calculus
Once upon a time
two cool math
professors at the University of Illinois
and another
cool math professor at the
Ohio State University wrote a new type of electronic math textbook that was based upon
student experimentation
using computer algebra and graphing software, as opposed to the traditional "read the text and
do the homework problems on paper."
Big computer labs were set up at both Universities for the students to "go through Calculus" using these new
technologies and curricula. One day a visitor said, "Hey, there is no reason
these students have to be in THIS room. They could be anywhere."
This led to the first "Calculus Remote" courses at University of Illinois and
The Ohio State University.
From this start, a variety of similar calculus-in-distance courses
have migrated around the country. Distance Calculus was founded at a major university in Boston, Massachusetts in
1997 with one of the
instructors from
The Ohio State University program.
Distance Calculus uses a combination of the original e-curriculum,
Calculus&Mathematica,
also now ported to the graphically-based
computer algebra and graphing system
LiveMath™, as well as new and emerging
curriculum using a variety of media, including QuickTime/RealPlayer movies,
Instant Messenger/Chat communication tools, and lots and lots and lots of communications
between student, teaching assistants, and professors.
Distance Calculus is led by Dr. Robert Curtis, and
operated by a small team of educators through Distance Mathematics Education Associates, Inc.,
also the publishers of
LiveMath™ and
MathEQ™
software, based in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
The Distance Calculus courses are based upon
communication. There are no formal lectures;
the replacement is an amount of communication between student, teaching assistant, and professor
that you may not be used to. A typical "session" between the student and the professor might include
10-20 Instant Messages back and forth, a single LiveMath notebooks passed back and forth 3 or 4 times, 2 or 3 emails
following up a discussion; a particular notebook homework assignment might be turned in for grading
2, 3, 4, or more times in a "recursive homework" paradigm. The course is based upon the Mastery Learning
pedagological model, so the student achieves a 100% understanding level before moving on to the next topic.
A student may be working on 2 or 3 or 4 notebooks at the same time.
As you can tell, this is a
much different experience
from what you would have
in a traditional calculus lecture classroom where you would be
taking notes, maybe asking a question during class, and going home to do the assigned textbook
exercises.
Please investigate the related pages on this website to discover if Distance Calculus is
for you. For some students, Distance Calculus is totally cool and an amazing experience.
For other students, a traditional calculus course is better suited to their needs and
academic practices.
If you have any questions about Distance Calculus, including questions about how these
courses will
transfer to your specific academic institution, please contact us at your
convenience. We are here ready and happy to help you find an improved and
successful calculus experience!
