How Exams Work
Distance Calculus uses a Mastery Learning format. There are no multiple-choice exams, no surprise topics, and no scantrons. Every piece of work you submit is real mathematics, graded by a human, with the goal of confirming what you actually know.
The full course assessment is intentionally multi-modal - we don't make a single high-stakes exam carry the entire grade. Several different evaluation tools each check a different facet of your understanding, and your earned letter grade reflects the combined picture.
Homework Assignments (the Foundation)
Homework is the largest part of your course experience and the prerequisite for any final exam.
- You submit homework electronically through the course software (LiveMath or Mathematica).
- An instructor or teaching assistant marks up your submission with detailed feedback.
- You revise and resubmit. Under Mastery Learning, this cycle repeats as many times as it takes - typically 2 to 6 rounds per assignment - until the notebook is genuinely complete at 100%.
- Each assignment ends at one mark: "C" = Complete. There is no "78" or "B+" on a notebook.
You must drive every assignment in the course to "C" before you are eligible to begin the final exam sequence. There is no credit-by-examination path: the only way to the finals is through the homework.
The Final Exam Sequence
After all homework is Complete, your earned letter grade is determined by some combination of the following, depending on the grade you're aiming for:
1. Proctored Final Exam (required for every passing grade)
- Live, over video call, with your Course Professor or Teaching Assistant.
- Under exam conditions; no notes, no software, no chatbot, no outside help.
- Pass at 70% or higher to earn any passing letter grade.
- May include a brief oral exam of 1-3 problems to confirm academic honesty across the entire course engagement.
- This is intentionally the easiest of the final exams; the take-home exams below are harder.
2. Take-Home Final Exams (required for B and A grades)
- Open for 48 hours so you can fit them around work and family schedules; actual engagement time is typically 4-8 hours.
- Completed independently under the honor system, with computer-algebra software permitted just as in homework.
- Not graded recursively - submitted once, scored once.
- B-Level Take-Home unlocks B-grade evaluation (passing at 70%) and the door to A-grade evaluation (passing at 85%+).
- A-Level Take-Home is required for A-grade students, also at 85%+ to pass.
- Exam engagement may be screen-recorded and submitted for instructor review.
3. Video Portfolio (required for A grade)
- You screen-record solutions to 2-5 assigned problems, narrating your reasoning.
- The closest analog to "come to the board and work this problem" that you'd encounter in a classroom course.
- Specifically required for A-grade students; serves as a final mastery demonstration.
Quick Grade Map
| Grade | All Homework "C" | B-Level Take-Home | A-Level Take-Home | Video Portfolio | Proctored Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Yes | - | - | - | Pass at 70%+ |
| B | Yes | Pass at 70%+ | - | - | Pass at 70%+ |
| A | Yes | Pass at 85%+ | Pass at 85%+ | Required | Pass at 70%+ |
See the Grade Policy page for the full rules, and How Distance Calculus Courses Work for the broader course flow that leads up to the final exam sequence.
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Distance Calculus - Student Reviews
Posted: Jun 25, 2026
Courses Completed: Multivariable Calculus
The professor as well as the TAs give great feedback when you need help with problems and the videos are great at explaining concepts. Return time on work is good and the work is not too much to handle.
Transferred Credits To: University of Wisconsin
Posted: Jan 12, 2020
Courses Completed: Calculus I, Calculus II
I needed to brush up on my high school calculus and finally take Calc II before starting a graduate program that needed them as prereqs. This was perfect choice to fit in that summer. Got done at fast pace that I wanted and needed. Also had added bonus of one on one feedback and help when needed. Video lessons were better than many on campus instructors in large lecture settings. Recommend for anyone needing to satisfy prereqs at home institution.
Transferred Credits To: University of Michigan
Posted: Feb 28, 2020
Courses Completed: Precalculus, Calculus I
Pros: once you get going, you can go really fast. The visual textbook is pretty cool. The instructors were very responsive.
Cons: the movies are great, but the software crashes more than it should. Sometimes it is just a hassle doing things in the software instead of on paper, but once I got used to the software, it was ok.
Cons: the movies are great, but the software crashes more than it should. Sometimes it is just a hassle doing things in the software instead of on paper, but once I got used to the software, it was ok.
Transferred Credits To: Texas Christian University
Posted: Jul 29, 2026
Courses Completed: Calculus II, Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra
After completing all the math offered by my highschool, I switched over to Roger Williams for Calculus II and onward. Overall, it has been a pretty great way to understand the topics online, with transferrable college credits. The exams are not terrible, and the courses cover the vast majority (if not all) of topics covered by traditional courses, with some unique ones added to. So far, I have taken four courses, with another one or two before I graduate.
The only problem with the course is the lack of pen and paper work. This shouldn't come as a crazy surprise with an online course, but there is not much emphasis on symbolic computation. Mathematica or other software does most of the heavy computation for you. The lectures usually show how to solve the problems through paper, but those skills are rarely put into practice. Literacy Sheets act as a way to do some of that (especially with the Calculus II & III course).
All in all, this isn't a huge issue. I just memorize and practice things like double integration, Laplace, ODE solving, matrix diagonalized form, row operations, etc. With a little outside work, this resolves itself. Without Roger WIlliams, I probably would not have been able to take any of these math courses in highschool.
So overall, a great choice for highschool advanced math, especially with transferrable credits.
The only problem with the course is the lack of pen and paper work. This shouldn't come as a crazy surprise with an online course, but there is not much emphasis on symbolic computation. Mathematica or other software does most of the heavy computation for you. The lectures usually show how to solve the problems through paper, but those skills are rarely put into practice. Literacy Sheets act as a way to do some of that (especially with the Calculus II & III course).
All in all, this isn't a huge issue. I just memorize and practice things like double integration, Laplace, ODE solving, matrix diagonalized form, row operations, etc. With a little outside work, this resolves itself. Without Roger WIlliams, I probably would not have been able to take any of these math courses in highschool.
So overall, a great choice for highschool advanced math, especially with transferrable credits.
Email: abarger@protonmail.com
Posted: Jun 24, 2026
Courses Completed: Linear Algebra
This course gives a perspective on Linear algebra that no traditional course does. I’d say i gained much more intuition for this subject from the DC course than my friends who took traditional courses elsewhere. As a cs major, this version of learning with visualization has helped me a lot in understand ML models. However the course doesn’t have videos for the last 2 chapers so i had to self learn with the mathematica notebooks. Response times are a little slow but since it’s a remote class, i guess it’s justified. Overall amazing course and definitely take this over traditional lin alg classes.
Posted: Jun 24, 2026
Courses Completed: Calculus I
As a full-time business owner completing an Executive MBA, I needed to satisfy a calculus prerequisite without putting my work on hold. Distance Calculus made that possible. The fully self-paced structure let me work early mornings and weekends around an unpredictable schedule, which a fixed-semester classroom course never would have allowed.
The course covered the core business calculus material thoroughly — derivatives, optimization, integration techniques including u-substitution, the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, improper integrals, and numerical methods. The LiveMath computer algebra environment was central to the experience: it forced me to build each step explicitly rather than just arriving at an answer, which actually deepened my understanding of the mechanics.
Communication through the student portal was responsive when I had questions. For working professionals who need a rigorous, accredited calculus course on a flexible timeline, I'd recommend it.
The course covered the core business calculus material thoroughly — derivatives, optimization, integration techniques including u-substitution, the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, improper integrals, and numerical methods. The LiveMath computer algebra environment was central to the experience: it forced me to build each step explicitly rather than just arriving at an answer, which actually deepened my understanding of the mechanics.
Communication through the student portal was responsive when I had questions. For working professionals who need a rigorous, accredited calculus course on a flexible timeline, I'd recommend it.
Transferred Credits To: MIT Ebma
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