My son is a college freshman and his major requires Precalculus and Calc 1. Because his ACT math score was high his advisor placed him in Calc 1, not realizing he hadn’t fulfilled Precalc. . By the time the error was realized it was too late to switch.
The problem is my son has never been good at Calculus. In high school he got an A in Precalc but had to drop AP Calc. At the time the school was changing curriculum so we attributed some of his issues to that as half the class had to drop as well. But we still knew Calc for him was a weak area.
So now in college he is failing Calc 1 and is going to withdraw and take it later. He felt his failure was due to having to catch up all semester on Precalc that he never learned. He wants to take Calc 1 again in the summer as an online class when he’ll be able to focus all of his time on one class.
The issue is we want to make sure he will have the right foundation to be able to pass Calc 1 so he decided to bite the bullet and just take Precalc in the spring. He was confident in that decision until last week when he took the Precalc CLEP test and passed it. Now his Precalc requirement is fulfilled so taking the actual Precalc class is technically redundant and unnecessary. However, just because he passed the CLEP doesn’t magically give him the foundation necessary to pass Calc 1.
What would you do? Should he just go ahead and take Precal anyway or would there be another way for him to be prepared to pass Calc 1? He registers for his Spring classes next week. Advice is appreciated.
He should take a look at the textbook used in the Precalc class, and see what is covered that he’s not sure about. He also should speak with the Precalc and Calc instructors. They may have their own placement exams that are distinct from the CLEP. If his CLEP score means that he doesn’t need to take Precalc, but the faculty determine specific areas of weakness, he could focus on those issues with the tutors in the Math tutoring center, and get ready for Calc in the summer.
Take the precalc class. A single test can not cover all aspects of the subject and so it can give a false reading on his understanding of the material.
Math builds on itself and so you need a good understanding of the subject before moving forward.
Reading ahead before each lecture is important to getting the most out of those lectures. A study group where the material is further discussed is also important.
If he feels not ready, he should definitely just take the class. And be extremely proactive about any concepts that feel shaky. Attend those office hours.
That said, the fact that he got an A in pre-calc in high school but dropped calc now twice would give me pause. I would want him to know that math is an incremental skill that needs to be worked at every day to keep things fresh. I’d be worried he’d been faking it to this point and not needing to do the work. You very quickly can get behind and lost in calc, especially at the college level.
Another vote to just retake pre-calc. I would also set up tutoring proactively.
A note of caution that some of my D’s friends got burned taking summer classes. The pace was much faster than the semester long classes and for students already struggling with a subject, it made it 10 times worse.
I also would be concerned about an online class for someone who has previously struggled with the material. There was a recent study based on random assignment where online teaching was just as good for high achieving students but led to a worse outcome for low achievers, which in this subject it sounds like your son is.
Is there community college near you? A face to face class where you can get help from instructor and peers would better.
I am also against summer classes for this reason especially online classes. Retake the class but get help and be confident going into Calc 1, which at some colleges is harder then it needs to be. Have him go to tutoring, office hours, study groups whatever. The pace in the summer is not for someone that needs help. My son took Calc 3 in the summer and the pace was twice as fast and a 4 hour class several times a week. It was not easy at the least and the kids in the class were from all the leading engineering school around the US just home for the summer. It was a very tough class.
I’m in calc 1 right now, and it’s not a particularly difficult class, in my opinion. The real difficulty is studying properly and enough. If you move on from one concept without fully mastering it, it’s impossible to be successful. At my school (UF), there’s in-person or online tutoring for free. If your son is willing to study, then there shouldn’t be issues. If you want, you can have him message me through this forum (don’t give me any personal information, obviously) and I can answer some questions. However, like I said, if your son is willing to seek it out then he should have no problem finding free tutoring at his school.
I know that for me, when I started calc, the trigonometric formulas were the worst part; I ended up getting a 50/80 on the first exam. I studied trigonometric formulas more and then, on the second exam, I got an 86/80.
Go ahead and retake Precalculus and practice a lot. Probably the main problem causing students not to do well in Calculus is poor algebra/function skills. The fact that he has some working knowledge of Precalc has apparently not been enough for him to get through Calculus. (I’m assuming this is a “Business Major Calculus” type course?). More practice improves skills which is never redundant or unnecessary.
I guess I’ll be a dissenter. He had Precalc in HS and got an A. Then took the CLEP and passed it. He has the foundation. Send him into Calc and have him get a good tutor in the Student Aid center.
I actually agree this would definitely be preferable to taking it as a summer class. The one benefit I can see with doing precalc again is getting used to the pacing and work load of a college math class while hopefully working mostly review concepts.
Regardless, I absolutely agree a summer class online especially is not great for a struggling math student. I have math/comp sci degrees and have taught/tutored math FWIW.
Maybe he should talk to both the precalc and Calc professors and get some perspective on this? Maybe Calc 1 or with office hours, peer to peer math lab will be enough?
After gaining confidence in passing the precalc clep test, can he now do the problems or tests comfortably in the Calc class he was going to drop? Does you son’s major (or intended) require math courses that are more advanced than Calculus 1? If so, then perhaps take precalc to build a good foundation.
Thanks for all of the advice! Part of his problem was that he did not have enough mastery of trigonometric functions (taught in Precalc). By the time he caught up he had already failed one exam and got a D on another along with two quizzes. He went to the student tutoring center and got a B on the following quiz but it was too late to raise his grade sufficiently. He has decided to go ahead and take Precalc in the Spring and not risk having the proper foundation for Calc 1. Then he is considering taking Calc 1 at the local community college for the summer (instead of online).
Sounds like a plan. Would definitely consider per-arranging a tutor over the summer. Don’t want to let this drag on and become an issue if the requirements you mentioned for Calc1 as a pre-req aren’t met and he ends up ineligible to take classes he needs in the proper sequence down the road.
Could he consider taking precalc online? This way he could work quickly on the areas he’s mastered, and spend more time on the areas he’s weak in. Then, take the Calculus class at a local college (rather than online).
Does his major require more math than calc 1?