Resequencing Calculus Phase 2

这个项目团队是在早期工作的基础上，为传统的三个学期微积分课程的“大修”做准备，以更好地满足所有STEM学生的需求，而不仅仅是那些传统的工程和物理科学专业的学生。核心创新是将高级STEM课程所需的主题和概念覆盖转移到传统的三个学期顺序的前两个学期。pi假设这种策略有几个有益的结果：1)微积分2成为生物和化学学生的一个有吸引力的“起点”；Ii)难度的自然进展贯穿整个三个课程的顺序结果；iii)在微积分3中有空间通过Stokes定理和散度定理来完成向量微积分。在实践中，重新排序主题涉及许多变化，包括：1)早期介绍多元微积分，向量和序列；2)无穷级数的延拓；3)对矩阵的早期，虽然简短的处理；4)弱化、删除或重新分配一些其他主题。该项目的主要活动包括编写辅助课程材料和评估，对整个三个学期的课程进行大规模测试，评估其在各种伙伴机构的有效性和影响，参与进一步传播项目发现和结果，并为更广泛地实施这些想法提供支持。

This project team is building on an earlier effort that prepared the groundwork for an "overhaul" of the traditional three-term calculus course to better serve the needs of all STEM students, beyond just those in the traditional engineering and physical sciences track. The central innovation is to move topics and conceptual coverage needed in upper-level STEM courses into the first two terms of the traditional three-semester sequence. The PIs hypothesize that such a tactic has several beneficial consequences: i) Calculus 2 becomes an attractive "jumping-off" point for students in biology and chemistry; ii) a natural progression of difficulty throughout the full three-course sequence results; and iii) there is room in Calculus 3 to complete vector calculus through Stokes Theorem and the Divergence Theorem. In practice re-sequencing the topics involves a number of changes, including: 1) an early introduction to multivariate calculus, vectors, and sequences; 2) a postponement of infinite series; 3) an early, although brief, treatment of matrices; and 4) the de-emphasis, deletion, or redistribution of a handful of other topics. Primary activities of this project include developing supporting course materials and assessments, large-scale beta-testing of the full three-term sequence and assessing its effectiveness and impact at a variety of partner institutions, engaging in further dissemination of project findings and results, and building support for wider implementation of these ideas.