Math 210 Calculus I

About the Textbook

Apex Calculus

Description:  This text is Part I of a three—text series on Calculus. This first part covers material taught in many Calculus 1 courses: limits, derivatives, and the basics of integration. 

The explanations of new concepts are clear, written for someone who does not yet know calculus. Each section ends with an exercise set with ample problems to practice & test skills (odd answers are in the back).  

APEX Calculus comprises 13 chapters. The text was written to have the same basic organization as most traditional calculus textbooks.  

Author: 

• Gregory Hartman - Virginia Military Institute.
  

Formats: 

The book is available for free in several formats, as an interactive PDF, with color or black and white graphics.  It is also available in grayscale print at Amazon.com  for $14.

Cost savings:  

I previously used Thomas' Calculus, which currently retails for $217. Since I teach about 100 students per year, this is potential annual savings students for of $21,700. 

License:

Apex Calculus is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. This means you are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and remix, transform, and build upon the material. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

About the Course

MTH 210: CALCULUS I

Description: 

Introduction of functions and limits, differentiation, applications of differentiation, integration, and applications of the definite integral.  

In this course, I introduce the fundamental concept of limits.  This forms the foundation for critical concepts such as continuity, differentiation and integration.  

Prerequisites:  A grade of C- or better in College Algebra.

GE credit: 4 units of GE credit.

Learning outcomes:

• Understand the concept of a function and why it is useful.
• Have a qualitative grasp of the concept of a limit and of continuity of functions.
• Understand the concept of a derivative and recognize its relevance to dynamic systems in the real world.
• Calculate the derivative of many functions.
• Use the derivative to sketch graphs of functions.
• Translate problems involving dynamic systems into problems of calculus. 
• Use the derivative to solve applied problems involving dynamic systems.
• Become more comfortable using quantitative techniques like calculus in problem solving.

Teaching and learning impacts:

Collaborate more with other faculty: Yes
Use wider range of teaching materials: No
Student learning improved: Unsure
Student retention improved: Unsure
Any unexpected results: No

I collaborated with other math faculty members as we all made the transition to the new textbook together.

Sample assignment and syllabus:

Assignment
This is a Worksheet to determine Related Rates.

Solutions
These are the solutions for the Related Rates Worksheet

Syllabus
This is the syllabus I used for the Fall 2014 class

Textbook Adoption

OER Adoption Process

I was previously using Thomas's excellent and well-known textbook for the calculus sequence.  Alhough I was very happy with the content of the book, the price (~$200) was so exorbitant that I couldn't ethically ask my students to pay for it. Thus, I sought out a solution and found a very good one in the form of APEX Calculus - a free and open-source textbook that is good and still improving.

Student access:  

Students typically access the book through the Internet, although softcover print-on-demand versions are available through online retailers.  I would say about 10-20% of students go this route, no doubt because they prefer having a physical and tangible text to work with.

Student feedback or participation:

My students have responded positively to the change.  There are some gripes about the textbook -- the lack of a detailed solutions manual is probably the biggest one.  However, they appreciate that their instructor cares about their financial well-being and I believe that this becomes part of a healthy instructor/student relationship.

Students rather enjoyed the book, particularly for its low price, interactive graphics, and the quality of the example problems.

Taiyo Inoue, Ph.D.

I am a math professor at the California Maritime Academy. I teach the calculus sequence, differential equations, linear algebra, and soon will be teaching probability theory.

My teaching philosophy centers around promoting in my students the virtue of consistent self-improvement and overcoming obstacles which prevent learning from occurring.  

My research interests include hyperbolic geometry in dimension 3, particularly in right-angled hyperbolic polyhedra.