Category Archives: Resources

Alternate ending: draft of a new Chapter 8

I’ve written a rough draft of a very different version of Chapter 8 for Active Calculus (single variable), and I am interested in feedback from users. TL;DR version: I have come to think that the Taylor series representations of the … Continue reading

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A (partial) mastery-grading approach for Active Prelude to Calculus

For the Fall 2020 Pandemic Semester, I taught two sections of GVSU’s 5-credit MTH 124: Functions and Models, our calculus-prep course. This is the course for which I wrote Active Prelude to Calculus, and this was my first time getting … Continue reading

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Back to school updates for Active Prelude, Active Single, and Active Multi

Here is my just-in-time post for back to school, Fall 2020 Edition. Overall: The two main things to know about the Active Calculus textbooks (Active Prelude to Calculus (APC), Active Calculus Single Variable (ACS), and Active Calculus Multivariable (ACM)) are … Continue reading

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Active Calculus Activities in Google Sheets

Erica Miller of VCU had a brilliant idea:  set up AC activities in Google sheets for remote teaching so that her students can work in breakout groups on a shared document.  Dave Kung learned about this in an MAA-sponsored session … Continue reading

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reminder: Active Calculus YouTube playlists

My GVSU colleagues have developed extensive video content to support all 8 chapters of Active Calculus.  Each screencast is enumerated with the section number that aligns with the text.  At GV, our Calculus 1 is MTH 201, which corresponds to … Continue reading

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Desmos versions of Active Prelude Preview Activities

My colleague Marcia Frobish at GVSU has instantiated each of the preview activities in Active Prelude to Calculus as a Desmos activity. If you are a Desmos user, you should check these out.

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Google groups for Active Calculus

I’m launching two groups for information about the Active Calculus texts:  https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/active-calculus-announce, where there will be infrequent posts announcing new editions and features, and https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/active-calculus-users, which is a forum for instructors who use (or are considering using) the text. At … Continue reading

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Active Calculus and Edfinity: an alternative to WeBWorK

Many instructors use online homework systems with their students.  This approach provides accountability for students, immediate feedback and multiple attempts on their work, and simple grading for instructors.  While I’m always glad to share WeBWorK .def files with users who … Continue reading

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How to Use Active Calculus

I added new sections to the preface of Active Calculus this year, including “Students! Read This!” and “Instructors: Read This!”  My main goal in writing these was to help better ensure that users of the text are aware of some … Continue reading

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Active Calculus 2019 updates

I’m excited to share several important updates: 1. new landing page at https://activecalculus.org 2. updated versions of Active Calculus (single variable, 2018 edition) in HTML, PDF, and print (with updated activities workbooks [1-4], [5-8], too) 3. updated version of Active Prelude … Continue reading

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