viii
where the user will also find a link to a print-on-demand for purchasing a bound, softcover
version for about $20. Other ancillary materials, such as WeBWorK .def files, an activitiesonly workbook, and sample computer laboratory activities are available upon direct request
to the author. Furthermore, because the text is open-source, any instructor may acquire
the full set of source files, again by request to the author at boelkinm@gvsu.edu. This
work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported License. The graphic
that appears throughout the text shows that the work is licensed with the Creative
Commons, that the work may be used for free by any party so long as attribution is given
to the author(s), that the work and its derivatives are used in the spirit of “share and share
alike,” and that no party may sell this work or any of its derivatives for profit, with the
following exception: it is entirely acceptable for university bookstores to sell bound photocopied
copies of the activities workbook to students at their standard markup above the copying expense.
Full details may be found by visiting
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
or sending a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View,
California, 94041, USA.
Active Calculus: our goals
In Active Calculus, we endeavor to actively engage students in learning the subject through
an activity-driven approach in which the vast majority of the examples are completed by
students. Where many texts present a general theory of calculus followed by substantial
collections of worked examples, we instead pose problems or situations, consider possibilities, and then ask students to investigate and explore. Following key activities or examples,
the presentation normally includes some overall perspective and a brief synopsis of general
trends or properties, followed by formal statements of rules or theorems. While we often
offer plausibility arguments for such results, rarely do we include formal proofs. It is not
the intent of this text for the instructor or author to demonstrate to students that the ideas
of calculus are coherent and true, but rather for students to encounter these ideas in a
supportive, leading manner that enables them to begin to understand for themselves why
calculus is both coherent and true. This approach is consistent with the growing body of
scholarship that calls for students to be interactively engaged in class.
where the user will also find a link to a print-on-demand for purchasing a bound, softcover
version for about $20. Other ancillary materials, such as WeBWorK .def files, an activitiesonly workbook, and sample computer laboratory activities are available upon direct request
to the author. Furthermore, because the text is open-source, any instructor may acquire
the full set of source files, again by request to the author at boelkinm@gvsu.edu. This
work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported License. The graphic
that appears throughout the text shows that the work is licensed with the Creative
Commons, that the work may be used for free by any party so long as attribution is given
to the author(s), that the work and its derivatives are used in the spirit of “share and share
alike,” and that no party may sell this work or any of its derivatives for profit, with the
following exception: it is entirely acceptable for university bookstores to sell bound photocopied
copies of the activities workbook to students at their standard markup above the copying expense.
Full details may be found by visiting
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
or sending a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View,
California, 94041, USA.
Active Calculus: our goals
In Active Calculus, we endeavor to actively engage students in learning the subject through
an activity-driven approach in which the vast majority of the examples are completed by
students. Where many texts present a general theory of calculus followed by substantial
collections of worked examples, we instead pose problems or situations, consider possibilities, and then ask students to investigate and explore. Following key activities or examples,
the presentation normally includes some overall perspective and a brief synopsis of general
trends or properties, followed by formal statements of rules or theorems. While we often
offer plausibility arguments for such results, rarely do we include formal proofs. It is not
the intent of this text for the instructor or author to demonstrate to students that the ideas
of calculus are coherent and true, but rather for students to encounter these ideas in a
supportive, leading manner that enables them to begin to understand for themselves why
calculus is both coherent and true. This approach is consistent with the growing body of
scholarship that calls for students to be interactively engaged in class.