Software-Based Mathematics Courses
Computer Algebra at the Core
The majority of Distance Calculus courses use the LiveMath computer algebra and graphing software system as a core part of the learning experience. The most advanced courses use Mathematica. This is not a calculator with extra buttons - it is a full mathematical environment that lets you visualize, experiment, and compute in ways that pencil-and-paper cannot match.
You can download LiveMath from livemath.com and try the 15-day demo right now, before you ever enroll - we'll talk about why that's actually a smart thing to do, below.
Software Used in Distance Calculus Courses
LiveMath
LiveMath is used extensively in nearly every Distance Calculus course - Precalculus, Calculus I, Calculus II, Applied Calculus, Statistics, and Multivariable Calculus. It provides an interactive, visual environment for exploring mathematical concepts with real-time computation and graphing. LiveMath runs on Windows, Macintosh, and Chromebook.
Mathematica
Mathematica is used in our most advanced and Honors courses (Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Probability Theory, Abstract Algebra, Differential Geometry, and all newly introduced upper-division courses). Mathematica is the industry-standard computational mathematics platform used in research and industry worldwide. It is genuinely powerful, and we reserve it for the courses where that power earns its keep.
"Can I Just Do This on Pencil and Paper Instead?"
This is a question we hear from a small fraction of students - usually in the first week, after they've hit a few bumps with LiveMath and felt some frustration. The honest answer is no: these courses are designed around the use of LiveMath (and, in advanced courses, Mathematica) as integral parts of the pedagogy. The software isn't decorative.
We don't lean on computer algebra systems because we like fancy tools. We lean on them because the pedagogy of these courses is laboratory-based. Just as the microscope is essential to a biology course, and the Bunsen burner is essential to a chemistry lab, LiveMath and Mathematica are essential to these mathematics courses. Take the laboratory tool away and the entire structure of the course changes - into a different course we don't actually offer.
How Hard Is LiveMath, Really?
Honestly: not very. LiveMath does take a little learning at the start - not very much, but a little. Almost every student reports that after a few early bumps in the road, they got up and running quickly and the software became transparent. The vast majority of students who finish their Distance Calculus course report that the bit of anxiety they felt toward the software in week one had completely dissipated by week three, and their overall experience was excellent.
LiveMath is also a wonderfully gentle bridge between the graphing calculators you likely used in high school and the high-end professional tools (Mathematica, Maple, MATLAB) used in research and industry. Learning LiveMath in your freshman and sophomore years is a great stepping stone toward those advanced tools later - and many students discover that they actually prefer LiveMath for everyday work even after they've moved on to the heavier platforms.
Why We Reserve Mathematica For The Most Advanced Courses
Mathematica is enormously powerful, but using it well requires a notch of programming understanding that many mathematics students don't yet have. We are very deliberate about keeping Mathematica-based courses from drifting into "programming courses" - these are math courses, and the focus stays squarely on the collegiate mathematics. We use Mathematica only where the additional power is genuinely worth the extra cognitive load, which is almost exclusively in advanced and Honors courses.
Test Drive LiveMath Before You Enroll
We genuinely encourage prospective students to try LiveMath out before submitting an enrollment application. Download the demo from livemath.com, install it, watch a few of the Getting Started videos, and click around.
If you discover right away that you have a strong negative reaction to working in this kind of environment - that's great information, and a totally fair conclusion to reach before you enroll. Distance Calculus may not be the right fit for you, and finding that out in the demo is far better than finding it out two weeks into a course. Most students, though, find LiveMath approachable; the early frustration tends to melt away, and the rest of the course experience is built on top of a tool they've come to genuinely enjoy.
Why Software-Based Courses?
- Laboratory-based pedagogy - The software is the lab equipment
- Deeper understanding - Visualize concepts that are impossible to see on paper
- Professional skills - Stepping stone toward Mathematica, Maple, MATLAB
- More exploration - Test ideas and see immediate results
- Better retention - Interactive engagement produces stronger learning outcomes
- No multiple choice - Real computational homework, graded by real humans
See our Software page for details on obtaining LiveMath and Mathematica, and our Computer Requirements page for system requirements.
Start Your Enrollment Application
Distance Calculus - Student Reviews
Probability Theory is required for me to apply to Master's programs in Statistics, so I was glad when I found Distance Calculus. While the course was slightly less difficult than I originally expected, there were parts that definitely slowed me down and made me think. (Also, although calculus is not everywhere in the course, it is everywhere in normal and exponential variables and beyond, so make sure to review derivatives and integrals (single and double)!) I used Mathematica for my software, and it helped speed along calculations and proved to be the perfect stage and tool for this material. I think visual learners will absolutely revel in how the material is presented in this course. (I know I did!) As there is plenty of writing and calculation to do, you have many opportunities to develop and strengthen your voice as a mathematician. The modern format of 80% electronic notebook work and 20% handwritten work is an excellent mixture for studying probability theory and grasping its core ideas. Dr. Curtis is clear in his answers to any questions and concerns you may have and is highly responsive to email and chat, and to responses you leave in your notebooks. He truly wants to help you and to see you succeed, and he is always on your side.
I highly recommend Probability Theory with Distance Calculus!
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.
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