Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
Project-Based Teaching of Calculus –
From the Advisor’s Side
Scott W. Campbell
Chemical & Biomedical Engineering
University of South Florida
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
How it works:
•
Students are given the option of doing a project, usually in lieu of a
final examination.
•
The student works with two advisors: a subject area advisor (usually
the person who provides the problem) and a mathematics advisor
(usually their calculus instructor).
•
The student solves the problem and writes a report in a specified
format.
•
The subject area advisor provides an evaluation of the report to the
mathematics instructor, who incorporates the feedback into a grade for
the project.
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
The Subject Area Advisor evaluation form
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
Why we do it:
• The failure rates in ordinary calculus sections at USF are high.
• Many students will leave an engineering major before they even
take a single engineering course.
• Some of these students would make good engineers or scientists
but are unmotivated because they do not see the relevance of the
course material to their discipline of interest.
• Giving students the option of doing an applied project allows them
to see the relevance of their coursework to something they are
interested in.
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
How students obtain projects:
• Some math instructors will make suggestions about who the
student should approach to be a subject area advisor.
• Many math instructors will send interested students to other
members of the STEP team, who will either match them to a project
or to a subject area advisor. These coordinators are:
• Gordon Fox (Life Sciences Calculus)
• Scott Campbell (Engineering Calculus)
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
Project ideas can come from an
internship, co-op or other work
experience
Transportation of Machinery through a
Confined Space by Diana Atwood
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
Project ideas can come from an
undergraduate research experience
ℎ
𝑄 = 2𝜋𝛼
0
𝑍1/2
𝑅2
𝑅 1/2 1 +
ℎ − 𝑧 𝑑𝑧
4𝑍𝐻
𝐻
MODELING FLOW RATE TO ESTIMATE
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY IN A PARABOLIC
CERAMIC WATER FILTER by Ileana Wald
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
Students come in with their own ideas
but need help formulating the problem
Job Site Optimization by
Kenneth Ryan Cabana
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
Sometimes you have to dig a little to
find out what students are interested in
dv x
D
  vvx
dt
M
dvy
dt
 g 
D
vv y
M
𝑣=
𝑣𝑥2 + 𝑣𝑦2
GOING BALLISTIC
By Amanda Wade
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
Sometimes you can’t get anything
from a student other than what
general area or discipline they are
interested in
1. Know the interests of other faculty in
the college and ask one of them to
direct the student.
2. Modify an existing problem out of our
problem database and give that to the
student.
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
Observations:
• Students generally are pretty knowledgeable about the
mathematical operations of calculus.
• Students often do NOT understand how these mathematical
operations are relevant to real world problems.
• Most students put far more time and energy into their project than
they would studying for a final exam.
• The vast majority of students appreciate the opportunity to work
on an applied project where they can see the relevance of their
course material.
• The vast majority of the students appreciate the opportunity to
work with an advisor within their discipline of interest.
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Workshop for Interdisciplinary and Inquiry Based
Teaching of Calculus – April 5, 2014
Feel free to write down your
questions – you will have a chance to
ask these later at the session in the
afternoon.
Thank-you
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