1.1 Philosophy

We will not dwell on philosophy but merely list some features we hope to encorporate in the course.

Philosophy of the Course

  1. Use computers as much as possible.
  2. Use spreadsheets.
  3. Encourage active learning rather than passive; try to make you think about the material.
  4. Integrate one variable calculus into multivariable calculus so that they are treated together rather than one after the other.
  5. Ask you to submit homework electronically via email to me when appropriate.
  6. Make you redo homework until it is correct.
  7. Feedback an important part of required activity.

Philosophy of Learning

  1. Amount learned is proportional to time put in.
  2. Best way to learn is to figure out ideas yourself or teach them to someone else.
  3. Second best is to do so with hints from others like your friends or us.
  4. Third best is to get the ideas from reading; but pause in your reading to think about them.
  5. Fourth best: unacceptable: don't get them at all.
  6. The object of  a lecture is not so much to inform you of important facts, but rather to stimulate you to try to learn about some concept.
  7. The object of the course is to empower you to use the concepts of calculus in any context.