Welcome to MA101: Single-Variable Calculus I. General information about this course and its requirements can be found below.
Course Designer: Clare Wickman
Requirements for Completion: You will only receive an official grade on your final exam. However, in order to adequately prepare for this exam, we recommend that you work through the materials in each unit. In order to pass this course, you will need to earn a 70% or higher on the final exam. Your score on the exam will be tabulated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam, you may take it again following a 7-day waiting period.
To earn credit from Excelsior College for this course, you will need to take the UExcel Calculus examination. Visit the UExcel website, and click on "MAT150 Calculus” for details about the UExcel Calculus examination. In order to adequately prepare for this exam, you will need to work through all of the resources in this course, the activities listed above, and Saylor's final exam. For more information about earning credit through Saylor Academy's partnership with Excelsior College, please go here. If you wish, you may take the Saylor Academy final exam as practice for the UExcel Calculus exam.
Time Commitment: While learning styles can vary considerably and any particular student will take more or less time to learn or read, we estimate that the "average" student will take 100 hours to complete this course. Each resource and activity within the course is similarly tagged with an estimated time advisory. We recommend that you work through the course at a pace that is comfortable for you and allows you to make regular (daily, or at least weekly) progress. It's a good idea to also schedule your study time in advance and try as best as you can to stick to that schedule.
It may be useful to take a look at these time advisories and to determine how much time you have over the next few weeks to complete each unit, and then to set a schedule for yourself. For example, Unit 1 should take you 9.5 hours. Perhaps you can sit down with your calendar and decide to complete subunits 1.1 and 1.2 (a total of 4.5 hours) on Monday night; subunit 1.3 (a total of 3 hours) on Tuesday night; etc.
Tips/Suggestions: Learning new material can be challenging, so below we've compiled a few suggested study strategies to help you succeed.
Take notes on the various terms, practices, and theories as you read. This can help you differentiate and contextualize concepts and later provide you with a refresher as you study.
As you progress through the materials, take time to test yourself on what you have retained and how well you understand the concepts. The process of reflection is important for creating a memory of the materials you learn; it will increase the probability that you ultimately retain the information.
If a video lecture stops making sense to you, pause it (this is a luxury you only have in a course of this nature!) and return to the readings to get up-to-speed on the material. Remember to make a note of the time at which you paused the video lecture in case your browser times out. Try to take notes on there sources, writing down any formulas or other information you need to know. These notes will be useful as you prepare and study for your final exam.
Pay special attention to Unit 1, as it will lay the groundwork for understanding the more advanced, explanatory material presented in the latter units.
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
Throughout this course, you'll also see related learning outcomes identified in each unit. You can use the learning outcomes to help organize your learning and gauge your progress.
In order to take this course, you should: