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Course description
and expectations:
This
course is aimed at future high school mathematics teachers who have
already studied calculus, but want a deeper, more intuitive grasp of
the subject. Such understanding should be rewarding for its own sake,
as well as be helpful to them as future teachers of high school calculus.
The emphasis throughout the course will be on in-depth, intuitively
rich understanding of the ideas of calculus through multiple approaches
to basic concepts and multiple solutions to the central questions and
issues of the subject..
In
this course, students will engage in a variety of activities, both individually
and in groups, to investigate questions such as:
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What does the area under a graph have to do with
the distance covered by a moving object? |
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What do we mean when we talk about the direction
of a curve at a single point? |
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In what way are tangent lines and area under a
graph "opposite" or "reciprocal" concepts?
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What do we know about the position vs. time function
for a moving object, when we have the velocity vs. time function
for the object? |
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What does the Fundamental Theorem say and why
do they call it that? |
The materials
and activities in this course will be quite varied. In their work in
this course, students will discuss their understanding of the mathematical
ideas with one another; solve traditional mathematics problems; use
a computer spreadsheet to solve calculus problems; write reports summarizing
what they have learned, and keep a Reflective Journal.
There will be no examinations
in the course. Course grades will be based on the quality of written
work and classroom discussion. W-credit for the course is available.
There is no required textbook for the course. Course materials will
be distributed via the web. The course meets on Mondays and Wednesdays
from 10:30 to 12:20.
This course and Math
497, as it is offered in Spring 2007, are complements. There is very
little overlap between them.
If
you would like more information about this course, just click on names
of documents under Information for prospective students, or contact
Steve Monk. monk@math.washington.edu.
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