How is calculus 1 over the summer?

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

How is calc 1 over the summer? How should I prepare myself? I don't care what grade I get, as long I get a C or B. Any suggestions? Are there helpful websites that cane help me?

 

[micromass]

I would not recommend calculus 1 over the summer unless you already know the material.

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

My parents are wanting me to take it over the summer tho. I can do it, I just need to know what helpful website are there

 

[micromass]

If you care about understanding the material, then taking it over the summer is a horrible idea. If you do want to take it over the summer, start self-studying it now and make sure you know calculus 1 by the summer.

 

[symbolipoint]

My parents are wanting me to take it over the summer tho. I can do it, I just need to know what helpful website are there

BAD, BAD, BAD!

 

[KiggenPig]

I took high school calculus over a summer semester - 8 weeks - and it was bad news. Had I not self studied calculus for a solid year I wouldn't have been prepared for university. My classmates were often lost and hardly had time to get an understanding before we moved on. Then there were a few whose algebra was weak and they hadn't enough time to remedy that - they were lost in the dust.
This was only high school upgrading mind you, not university level calculus.
If you really wish to gain from your class, I would recommend not to take any math or physics courses over the summer.

 

[KiggenPig]

My parents are wanting me to take it over the summer tho. I can do it, I just need to know what helpful website are there

I would also suggest to get your hands on a textbook and work through, rather than relying on video lectures. But if that's what floats your boat, the MIT videos are okay. They also have problem sets I believe.

 

[Vanadium 50]

My parents are wanting me to take it over the summer tho

Are you an adult?

I can do it

How could you possibly know that? More importantly, the question is not whether you can cross the finish line with a passing grade. The question is whether you are building a good foundation for your next classes.

This is the same advice you got the last time you asked the question. If nothing has changed in the last few weeks, why would you expect the answer to be different?

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

Why calculus 1 over the summer bad? Is there something wrong with it? I really need to take it because, my dads university will only pay until I am 24. If I wait until fall to take calculus, that will set be back TWO more semesters.

I'm in a community college, and if I want to transfer I need to do it by fall 2017. I should be applying by fall 2016. Since Penn State has rolling admissions :)

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

some professors and I have noticed that I do much better with one subject. So I don't think taking ONLY calculus will give me a lot of problems.

 

[micromass]

some professors and I have noticed that I do much better with one subject. So I don't think taking ONLY calculus will give me a lot of problems.

Why did you ask if you got your mind made up already?

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

I just wanted suggestions.

 

[KiggenPig]

Our suggestion is that it is generally a bad idea. Particularly if you want to gain from the course and move into calculus II.

 

[micromass]

I just wanted suggestions.

If you really really want to make the course, then self-study it and make sure you understand everything before taking the course. That is in my opinion the only way to pass this course comfortably and be prepared for the new material that will follow later.
If you want suggestions, then just buy the calculus book that you will be using and work through it carefully.

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

Since summer session starts toward the end of May, and finals for spring 2016 end on May 12, I will have plenty of time to watch some videos of calculus. Will coursera be a good website to start right after I finish with my finals?
https://www.coursera.org/learn/calculus1

 

[Vanadium 50]

I just wanted suggestions.

Sounds like you want validation for a decision you already made.

 

[micromass]

No, it will not. Videos and online courses will not help you much. You need to get an actual book on the topic and work through it carefully.

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

i actually have some old calculus textbook. Should I start from there? Do I need some precalc background before I can read some of the topics?

 

[micromass]

Yes, start with those. It is not strictly necessary to know a lot of precalculus, most of it should be covered adequately by the calculus textbook anyway.
It is crucial to be solid in algebra, trigonometry and geometry though.

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

Where should I start from? What chapter? Limits? Derivatives.

 

[micromass]

You'll need to know limits and derivatives. Start reading from where you're comfortable. I don't know the specifics of neither the book nor you, so I can't suggest anything.

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

I have the old versions of calculus stewart. I think 3rd and 4th edition with one solution book

 

[micromass]

OK, that's good. Start reading it from the beginning then, skipping over anything you're really comfortable with. Bu the summer you should know limits, derivatives, rate of change problems.

 

[ogg]

Differential Calculus is USUALLY the course used to force you to mentally integrate all of your previous math learning. What students MIGHT be lacking is a solid knowledge of trigonometry. Only you can evaluate your knowledge of algebra, geometry, and trig. To answer your question, there is no reason that the FACTS you learn should take more than about a week or two. There is plenty of reason to believe that the SKILLS you should learn require a lot longer. Doing problems - as long as the answers are also given - might be ok. I doubt it, but its a start. I can remember from my first year of calculus on more than one occasion a problem taking the professor the whole hour to go over. That's not the type of thing you're likely to learn on your own, and it certainly will NOT be something that you can find in a book...and I'd doubt it likely that the superficial treatment they give in summer session will, either. Anyway, for the gifted, willing to study on their own in-depth and for the superficial who just want "the grade", summer school is adequate. For the weaker student (I include myself, I had an A average in high school through trig and calculus) I don't recommend it - IF you're going into the engineering or hard sciences or economics. Otherwise go for it. But you've obviously already decided "what"; the question you seem to actually have is "how". The answer to "how" is do enough problems so that you can pick up any textbook and do 8 out of 10 of any problem set. That requires spending the time to learn the SKILL and having several books with lots of problems and answers as well as lots of examples will be very important.

 

[micromass]

I agree with ogg. Problems are vital. If you don't do lots of problems, it's useless studying it now before the summer.

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

I already found a website where I can practice problems:) so I'm all set for summer.

 

[micromass]

Remember, practice problems means: reading the problem and solving it entirely on your own. No looking at any solution what-so-ever (except the final answer I guess).

 

[Geo_Zegarra2018]

So no getting help from someone? Try doing it by yourself the first try and see what you did wrong? I'm doing that with my intro to chemistry already. I'm thankful that I took a semester off from math. Learning chemistry made word problems much easy to understand. I used to hate word problems, but thanks to chemistry I am not that scared no more.

 

[micromass]

You can get help from somebody, but that doesn't mean that somebody tells you the entire solution while you read and try to understand it. That's not good. The somebody might give hints though.

 

[RaulTheUCSCSlug]

If you are a college student, then taking calc 1 over the summer isn't a bad idea if you want to graduate on time. Use khan academy and go through every video, and mathstockexchange for any questions you might have or thsese forums. Just need to be very disciplined.

 

[RaulTheUCSCSlug]

Also, if you are taking something over the summer (ten weeks or under) then I recommend doing or at least attempting all the homework the day it is assigned that way it mauls over in your brain over the next couple of days. Calculus online is very easy, at least the one offered for the UC (university of california) system was.

 

[Student100]

If you are a college student, then taking calc 1 over the summer isn't a bad idea if you want to graduate on time. Use khan academy and go through every video, and mathstockexchange for any questions you might have or thsese forums. Just need to be very disciplined.

Khan Academy videos are horrible, and videos aren't going to be that helpful in general. Like Ogg and Micromass have said, you need to do problems yourself. I could explain the entirety of the concepts from calculus one in ten minutes, that doesn't mean you'll actually be able to solve any problem yourself afterwards. It's the same with watching videos of others solving problems.

In short, watching examples may be helpful if you can't understand the same examples by reading them from the book- but it's no substitute to solving problem sets.

Calculus online is very easy

Calculus can be as easy or as hard as the professor makes it, your subjective experience is no guarantee the OP will find it easy or their class will be easy.

To agree with what everyone else is saying, to do it in the summer if you've never seen it before, have no idea what it entails, and need it for future classes is a horrible idea. Calculus one is completely foundation to every other class afterwards. You want a strong foundation, something that may or may not be obtainable in a shorter term. Tell your parents it's your education, and you want to be successful. Take GE in the summer.

 

[PhotonSSBM]

Do a search for threads/posts about taking classes like these over the summer and see how many of them did well. You'll see how right most of the people in this thread are.

I took my intro E&M over the summer over six weeks, and while it was easy, I didn't retain anything about it. The professor clearly made it easier than it should have been, and all I learned to do was use an equation over and over.

The reason I didn't learn the material and others here say YOU won't learn the material isn't because it's necessarily super hard conceptually, but because the reason people get GOOD at Calculus is because they grind problems into the ground for 14-16 weeks, as opposed to 6-10. It's like doing reps in the gym, you may look cool in your head doing curls or press really quickly, but you actually strengthen yourself when you do slow, controlled movements that get a proper range of motion. Your brain works in a similar way. When you stretch out the time you learn the material your brain gets better at processing the problems, and when you get to Calc 2 or 3 and you have to churn out a long derivative it takes way less time because you had a full 50-100% more time to study a section of the book (Supposedly you think you're good at math, so do it here).

Also if your parents are telling you to do this they clearly have an unhealthy image of what a good student is and you should not be taking advice from them. Just because they're your parents, and even if they've steered you right in a lot of ways, doesn't mean they're infallible.

 

[RaulTheUCSCSlug]

When I said it was easy, I meant that it was very arbitrary, like the problems that are shown in Khan Academy, did you also not see my other comments? I said to do the homework later on. Khan Academy helped me through Calc 1 Calc 2 on understanding things conceptually, not the problems. BUT... OP also said that he just needs to take calc 1 and did not mind getting a B or C, which means, it doesn't seem like he wants to continue to the rest of the calculus series. This all depends on where OP is at with school, whether he is in college or not, whether he would have the chance to retake the subject or not, and whether he wants to move on to higher math.

The truth is that OP will take the course over the summer if he wants to or if his parents want to and he should realize that there will be both positives and negatives to taking it over the summer. Also there are some that could be either or (perhaps OP just wants to get it over with as quickly as he can?)

 

[ModusPwnd]

I took Calc I over the summer and did great and got a lot from it. I treated it like a full time job though, and it was my only summer class. I spent many hours every day after class in the tutor center (4 days a week). I asked questions of my fellow students, tutors and professor. If you are motivated and have the time there should be no problem. After acing the class I was more than well enough prepared for further calculus and physics classes.

I know that other students did not do so good, but then, they didn't spend the afternoon in the tutor center every day. That is my advice to you, spend all day on it at the tutor center.