Resequencing Calculus Phase 2

这个项目团队正在早期的努力基础上，为传统的三学期微积分课程做好准备，以便更好地服务于所有STEM学生的需求，而不仅仅是那些传统的工程和物理专业的学生。核心创新是将高级STEM课程所需的主题和概念覆盖范围移至传统三学期序列的前两个学期。PI假设这样的策略有几个有益的结果：i)微积分2对生物和化学学生来说是一个有吸引力的“起点”；ii)在整个三门课程的结果序列中，难度是自然递增的；以及iii)微积分3中有空间通过斯托克斯定理和发散定理来完成矢量微积分。在实践中，重新排序的主题涉及许多变化，包括：1)早期对多元微积分、向量和序列的介绍；2)无穷级数的推迟；3)矩阵的早期处理，尽管简短；以及4)少数其他主题的去强调、删除或重新分配。该项目的主要活动包括编写辅助性课程材料和评估，对整个三学期序列进行大规模的贝塔测试，评估其在各种伙伴机构的效力和影响，参与进一步传播项目结果和结果，以及为更广泛地实施这些想法争取支持。

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.