Calculus Help

[willagirl]

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Hi all! So I am finally in Calculus w/Analytical Geometry and I hate it. It has been so long since I have taken other math. Do any of you have any study guide/books you suggest that you used to help you get through this class?

I welcome the input! Thanks!👍

 

[DVMDream]

For my calculus course I just purchased the book that was required. I think you really need to just stay on top of it, that is what worked for me. I also went to the professor's office hours very frequently and also the review sessions that were held. I did well, but only because I put in the time and effort. It is a hard course (at least was for me and I am good with math) but it is manageable. Talk with your professor and seek out the assistance you need to get you through.

 

[Tigerlily7]

Calculus was terrible for me because my professor was bad but if you have a good teacher don't be afraid to bug them for help! You should also do extra practice problems if you have time. I wish I had taken more time for that because I might be retaking it to bring that grade up.

 

[Frozenshades]

For my calculus course I just purchased the book that was required. I think you really need to just stay on top of it, that is what worked for me. I also went to the professor's office hours very frequently and also the review sessions that were held. I did well, but only because I put in the time and effort. It is a hard course (at least was for me and I am good with math) but it is manageable. Talk with your professor and seek out the assistance you need to get you through.

Practice, practice, practice. Do the homework. Do any review problems your prof provides. Do practice work out of the textbook. Do the homework again.

 

[485501]

I found that often the examples in the books were for simple problems, and then the homework/practice problems were all complicated problems with odd tricks and obscure rules we'd only barely mentioned, so I asked some math-savvy friends to show me examples (not do my homework for me, mind) of problems that had similar tricks. I found that really helpful. Maybe your textbook has complicated examples, though. Also, you may wish to look up calc videos online - I know Khan Academy has some, but there are likely others as well.

 

[MarxistPreVet]

Everyone else has very good suggestions. Also, if there is a math tutoring center, go hang out there to work on homework, where help is readily available. Unfortunately, there is no easy button for Calc. Practice practice practice! It takes a significant time commitment to gain working knowledge of the concepts. I just finished Calc w/ Analytical Geometry with an A but there were lots of tears and frustration and late/sleepless nights to deal with over the difficult subject material.

 

[Frozenshades]

I found that often the examples in the books were for simple problems, and then the homework/practice problems were all complicated problems with odd tricks and obscure rules we'd only barely mentioned, so I asked some math-savvy friends to show me examples (not do my homework for me, mind) of problems that had similar tricks. I found that really helpful. Maybe your textbook has complicated examples, though. Also, you may wish to look up calc videos online - I know Khan Academy has some, but there are likely others as well.

Yeah mine was the opposite. The in class examples and homework were generally fairly basic to demonstrate the concept, and the problems in the book were often much more difficult.

 

[Cephal0pod]

Oh calc... I am so sorry. Haha, I just finished calc 2 with an awful prof and am still recovering from that trauma, so I feel your pain. I would like to strongly echo the suggestion of going to hang out in the math tutoring center if your school has one. I also ended up doing one-on-one tutoring every week. I had never had to utilize the tutoring resources before this semester so it was a new experience for me, but I cannot say enough just how much it helped me.

Also, I don't know if you are familiar with the beautiful thing known as Wolfram Alpha or not. If not, go here and behold the awesome: http://www.wolframalpha.com/ It will take derivatives, integrate, etc. If it's a derivative or indefinite integral, it will also (generally) give you a step-by-step solution of how to solve them.

Practice, practice, practice. When you get a problem right, don't just move on to the next one-- do it again to help seal it in your brain. Don't be afraid to go to your prof's office hours, don't be afraid to go to the math tutoring center, don't be afraid to scour YouTube for wonderful people like the guy who does the Khan videos (PatrickJMT is also fantastic). 👍

Best of luck!

 

[willagirl]

Thank you so much everyone!


I did not know about Wolfram, so I am definitely going to check it out!!!

 

[Lupin21]

I went ahead and paid for a subscription to Mathway. It can solve quite a few of the problems and shows you how they do it. I didn't attend class much, so it was a good investment and help me pull off the A. Also, FS is and others are right. Do as many problems as you can and make sure you learn the best way your brain does math. Doing enough problems leads you to knowing when an answer is not correct because it doesn't make sense. Once you have that ability, you have won most of the war and details are all that are left.

 

[dooleypuppy]

Might sound lame but those "organic chem for dummies" and "calc for dummies" books are really useful! They stick to the basics and are a good reference the rest of the year because they explain everything so well. Also, flash cards are your new bestie.