What is AP Calculus?
AP Calculus is a full-year college-level introductory course in calculus. In AP Calculus Online, students
who have completed Algebra II and Trigonometry are prepared for success on college-level calculus tests, such
as the College Board's AP Calculus AB and BC exam (usually given in May of each year) and the College Level
Equivalency Program (CLEP) exam.
AP Calculus Online Goals and Objectives
To achieve college-level knowledge of calculus
To prepare students for success on either the AP Calculus AB exam or the BC exam
To use graphing calculator technology to learn calculus
To apply calculus to solve real-world problems
AP Calculus AB Course Description
Topics covered in this course will include:
Limits
The Problem of Tangents and the Derivative
Applications of the Derivative
The Problem of Area and the Definite Integral
The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
Applications of the Integral
AP Calculus AB Online consists of 50 lessons with a pace that averages about 2 lessons per week. At the end of each lesson the student will be expected to complete an online end-of-lesson quiz. This quiz will be graded and the score as well as comments will be sent back to the student online.
AP Calculus BC Course Description
Topics covered in this course will include:
All topics covered in AP Calculus AB
Sequences, Series of constants, and Power Series
Vector Functions
Calculus of Vector Functions
AP Calculus BC Online consists of 78 lessons with a pace that averages about 3 lessons per week. At the end of each lesson the student will be expected to complete an online end-of-lesson quiz. This quiz will be graded and the score as well as comments will be sent back to the student online.
Graphing Calculators in AP Calculus Online
AP Calculus Online will feature the graphing calculator as a tool for teaching the concepts of calculus and as a tool for problem solving in calculus. Students will be required to have a graphing calculator which is on the College Board's approved list for AP Calculus. AP Calculus Online recommends the TI-83 Plus. Students who do not already own a graphing calculator are encouraged to purchase one of the approved Texas Instruments models and, in particular, the TI-83 Plus.
AP Calculus Online Course Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. Jim Choike, Professor of Mathematics, Oklahoma State University
AP Student Assistants: Amanda Ciskowski, Eva DeGreef, Ben Fine, and Mary Dominguez
AP Calculus OnLine Web-Site Manager: Vinh Tran
Course Objective: To achieve college-level knowledge of calculus.
Textbooks:
AP Calculus Online Lesson Guide and Workbook by Dr. James R. Choike.
Recommended: Calculus with Analytic Geometry by Purcell & Varberg (7th Edition), Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Exams:
There will be four exams: Exam 1, October 20, Exam 2, December 15, Exam 3, February 23, and Exam 4, April 20.
Each exam will be a full-period (50-minute), cumulative exam. Each exam will have a multiple choice section and a free response section. Each exam will be a 200-point exam. All exams will be graded by Oklahoma State University.
Each online course will consist of four exams. The design of the exams will be modeled after the AP Calculus exams both in format and in level of difficulty. Exams will be delivered to a student's teaching partner via the Internet. The teaching partner will print a copy of the exam and administer it to the student. The student's exam and work will then be sent to OSU for grading. After the exam has been graded, it will be returned to the teaching partner for review and consultation with the student.
End-of-Lesson Quizzes:
There will be a quiz at the end of each lesson. Quizzes will be administered online and taken by the student online. Scoring and comments on work submitted will also be delivered online back to the student. In the AP AB course, the student must complete 50 End-of-Lesson Quizzes. In the AP BC course, the student must complete 78 End-of-Lesson Quizzes.
End-of-Lesson Quizzes will be a means to monitor that the student is keeping pace with the course, and that the student is making acceptable progress through the course content.
Grade for the Course:
There will be no final grade given by Oklahoma State University. The goal of the course is to prepare students for a successful performance on the AP Calculus exam administered by the College Board in May of the Academic year. Scores for the AP Calculus Online Exams and the End-of-Lesson Quizzes will be maintained and provided to the Teaching Partner for their use in evaluating the performance of their students who are taking this course as part of their high school mathematics curriculum.
The Instructor
The instructor of AP Calculus Online from OSU is Dr. Jim Choike, Professor of Mathematics. He received his doctorate in mathematics, specializing in the study of functions of a complex variable, from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He has been actively teaching AP Calculus to students around the country since 1987, via satellite technology, and now via the Internet. Dr. Choike has served as a reader of AP Calculus exams and has been a presenter at AP Calculus regional conferences.
He is the recipient of numerous awards for his teaching on campus (the Oklahoma State University AMOCO Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award in 1982 and the Oklahoma State University 1995 Regents Distinguished Teaching Award for the College of Arts and Sciences) and in the Southwest region (awarded the Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics in recognition of extraordinarily successful teaching by the Oklahoma-Arkansas Section of the Mathematical Association of America in 1995).
Dr. Choike has also been recognized for his work in the use of telecommunications and Internet technology for the delivery of instruction. His awards for work in this area include: the University Continuing Education Association's (UCEA) Educational Telecommunications Division 1998 Noncredit Series Program of Excellence Award for his program Getting Ready for Algebra; the first prize "Exceptional Program Award 2000, Non-Credit" from the Association for Continuing Higher Education (ACHE), Region VIII, in March, 2000 for his program Getting Ready for Algebra; and the Oklahoma State University 2000 University Extension Faculty Excellence Award.
Dr. Choike currently serves as a consultant to the College Board and to the Educational Testing Service. He has served as Chair of the College Board's Equity 2000 National Mathematics Technical Assistance Committee and is currently co-chair of the College Board's Pacesetter Mathematics with Meaning Curriculum Task Force.
