Best way to teach myself Calculus over the summer?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I need to Ace Calculus I next semester. What is the best way to teach myself Calculus?
Should I learn from the Book? </p>

<ul>
<li>I tried ocw.mit.edu but some of the videos weren't even the correct ones, and I tried working the examples, but they seemed to require a more in depth knowledge than discussed in the lectures. I'm not sure if I want to waste my time with OCW if it isn't going to give me an accurate representation of Calculus. </li>
</ul>

<p>-What about teaching myself out of a book? I have a copy of Stewart's early transcendentals but if you guys say another book it better let me know, ASAP</p>

<p>-Khanacademy? I hear it offers decent explanations but no practical understanding. What do you guys think?</p>

2

<p>Get a book designed for the self learner, like a Barron’s book, and go through it, doing all of the problems and redoing the ones you get wrong.</p>

3

<p>Try this. I relearened calc 2 so I could help my son.</p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“http://patrickjmt.com/]PatrickJMT[/url”&gt;http://patrickjmt.com/]PatrickJMT[/url</a>]</p>

4

<p>Both good ideas, I think I’ll be okay. Thanks.</p>

5

<p>Buy “The Calculus Lifesaver” from Amazon. That’s how I learned Calculus and got an A. It’s like $15.</p>

6

<p>thanks, Did you use it for college or for high school?</p>

7

<p>I found “A streetwise guide to Calculus” to be a great intro book and did a better than most explaining the theory behind calculus. Combine that with khanacademy and you will be good to go. (The Calculus Lifesaver is also a great book)</p>

8

<p>My son loves learning from Khan Academy, he’s a junior transitioning to senior this year. But he said lots of the Khan Academy stuff on Calculus was a little harder to learn. He got into a summer program at a CC and he’s learning via a computer based program. He says its working really well. You might want to check out the CC its Canada College in CA, find out what computer based program they are using. But anyways after going there for a week he’s learned alot, and it’s self paced.</p>

9

<p>In High School, but one of my cousins used it in his first year of college and he said that it was helpful. Buy it, I recommend it, but get another book to practice some problems before a test.</p>

10

<p>I’m loving all of these tips because I’ll be trying to learn Calculus this summer to prepare me for my first semester of college. Thanks!</p>

11

<p>I taught myself pre-calc with this book:</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> PreCalculus the Easy Way (Barron’s E-Z) (9780764128929): Lawrence Leff: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/PreCalculus-Easy-Way-Barrons-E-Z/dp/0764128922/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339741740&sr=1-2]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/PreCalculus-Easy-Way-Barrons-E-Z/dp/0764128922/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339741740&sr=1-2)</p>

<p>I taught myself calculus with this book:</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Teach Yourself Calculus (9780071421287): Hugh Neill: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Calculus-Hugh-Neill/dp/0071421289]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Calculus-Hugh-Neill/dp/0071421289)</p>

<p>And then moved on to this book:</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Calculus of a Single Variable (9780618503032): Ron Larson, Robert P. Hostetler, Bruce H. Edwards: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Single-Variable-Ron-Larson/dp/061850303X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339741772&sr=1-2]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Single-Variable-Ron-Larson/dp/061850303X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339741772&sr=1-2)</p>

<p>I got all A’s in my math classes because I DID EVERY PROBLEM in the first two books and select odd-numbered problems in the third book, and then if I got one wrong I did it again until I got it right. Take it from a great math student and a former math tutor, the secrets to doing well in math are:</p>

<p>–study every day, going through the book’s examples and explanations. Take your books and go to McDonald’s or a park or something if you need to force yourself to study in a distraction-free environment. Don’t take a laptop or smart phone or any procrastination tools with you if you can’t resist them</p>

<p>–do the problems and correct your answers</p>

<p>–do the practice exams or chapter reviews in the book</p>

<p>–if the teacher hands out a practice mid-term or practice final exam, DO IT, MAKE TIME FOR IT, and fix your mistakes</p>

<p>–to prepare for a final, re-do your mid-term</p>

<p>–use a graphing calculator to become intimately familiar with the behavior of the various functions: polynomials, logarithms, trig (I’m assuming you have trig down pat or you wouldn’t even be attempting calculus), exponential, etc.</p>

<p>To do well in calculus you must grasp the following concepts. Note: I said grasp the concepts, I’m NOT talking about memorizing the formulae (which you will do anyway):</p>

<p>–the limit concept
–the derivative and how it comes from the slope-secant line using the limit concept
–rates of change, what it means when a change in one variable means a change in another
–understanding how the integral is like adding up a bunch of infinitesimally tiny things</p>

<p>Just remember this later as you cover these concepts.</p>

12

<p>I myself am using Khan Academy to freshen up/learn Calculus over the summer before my first year in college, as I feel I did not learn what I needed from the Calculus course I took my senior year. I think that it’s an excellent program and can teach you everything you need to know. I do understand how you may have heard that some people think Khan Academy doesn’t offer a more practical understanding of things, but I personally like the way it’s taught. Sometimes, I like learning from more of a theoretical standpoint. He breaks everything down into the basic building blocks of what it is. Also, in my experience, he IS actually quite practical. However, I won’t speak for the entire Calculus course outline just yet, as I haven’t finished it all. What I have seen (including other things besides Calculus), Khan Academy will give you a very solid foundation. Plus, Khan is somehow very enjoyable, not to mention extremely knowledgeable. Ultimately, it comes down to how hard you study and how much you put into it.</p>