AP Calculus

Overview of the course

In our first year introducing the AP Calculus AB course, we address every subject item listed in the Calculus AB topic outline described by the College Board. The stated goals for the course are that students perform well on the AP Calculus AB exam in May and are well prepared for subsequent mathematics courses and careers. We balance the understanding of concepts, skills, use of technology as a tool to enhance learning and its usefulness in real-world applications.

The course teaches all topics involving functions, graphs, limits, derivatives, and integrals as described in the Calculus AB Topic Outline within the AP Calculus AB Course Description.

How is the teaching adapted to suit the needs of Chinese students?

The course needs to be very similar to how it is taught in the US, but extra emphasis is placed on the meaning of terms and understanding applications since English is not the students' native language.

Resources

The primary text book for the course is 'Calculus Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic' by Finney, Demana, Waits and Kennedy (published by Prentice Hall, copyright 2003 ISBN#: 0130631310). Another resource is the most recent edition of 'Cracking the AP Calculus AB and BC Exam' by Princeton Review (published by Random House Inc, copyright 2008, ISBN #: 978-0-375-42885-2)

All students in the course also have their own graphing calculator (TI-89) and TestGen 7.2 (a CD with assessment tools matching AP Calculus AB learning)/outcomes with the AP Calculus AB exam-formatted learning outcomes).