May 2002
First-Year Calculus
Sciences Core outline
Social Sciences/Business Core outline
Recommendations adopted (BCcupm)
Core Calculus Sub-Committee
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May 2003
Full First-Year Core Calculus Follow-up Report (printable version)
Core Curriculum Sciences Calculus
First-Year
A first year (two-semester) Sciences Calculus course must include all the topics from the Core Topics list. It is expected that coverage of this material would constitute three-quarters of the course(s) with the remaining one-quarter chosen from the Additional Topics list. For breadth, at least four Additional Topics should be included.
Reference Text: Edwards & Penney, Calculus, Early Transcendentals, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall,1998.
Core Topics (75%)
First and second derivatives with geometric and physical interpretations
Mean value theorem
Derivatives of exp and log functions, exponential growth and decay
Derivatives of trigonometric functions and their inverses
Differentiation rules (including chain rule, implicit differentiation)
Linear approximations and Newtons Method
Optimization - local and absolute extrema with applications
Definition of the definite integral
Areas of plane regions
Average value of a function
Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
Integration techniques: substitution (including trig substitution), parts, tables, partial
fractions
Applications of integration
Additional Topics (25%)
Core Curriculum Social Sciences/Business Calculus
First-Year
A first year (two-semester) Social Sciences/Business Calculus course must include all the topics from the Core Topics list. It is expected that coverage of this material would constitute approximately two-thirds of the course(s) with the remaining one-third chosen from the Additional Topics list. For breadth, at least four Additional Topics should be included.
Reference Text: Haeussler and Paul, Introductory Mathematical Analysis for Business, Economics, and the Life and Social Sciences, Ninth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1998.
Core Topics (67%)
First and second derivatives with geometrical and physical interpretations
Applications to economics, business and social sciences
Derivatives of exp and log functions, exponential growth and decay with applications
Derivatives of trigonometric functions
Differentiation rules (including chain rule, implicit differentiation)
Linear approximations and Newtons Method
Optimization - local and absolute extrema with applications
Definition of the definite integral
Areas
Average value of a function
Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
Integration techniques: substitution, parts, tables
Applications of integration
Additional Topics (33%)
Transfer Proposal for First-Year Calculus
The BCcupm affirms the autonomy of BC's post-secondary institutions in their freedom to design calculus courses to meet the needs of their unique constituencies. However, the diversity of calculus courses in first year offerings in these institutions has created difficulties for transferring students and their institutions. For example, while current first-year "business" calculus courses at SFU, UBC and UVic share many common topics, the additional material covered by these institutions is irreconcilable within a single two-term calculus sequence.
This proposal addresses the significant challenges encountered by students transferring first-year calculus courses and by their sending institutions. To lessen the impact of these challenges, we propose that all post-secondary institutions in BC recognize a common curriculum for first-year calculus courses. Such recognition will have the following benefits for students and their institutions:
Recommendations:
Bruce Kadonoff, Chair; Rustum Choksi; David Leeming; Philip Loewen; Casey McConill; Leo Neufeld
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