Connecting Calculus 2 Curriculum with Career Skills

Students connecting Calculus 2 with career skils.

Student group projects will focus on concepts of the Calculus II course, especially topics relating to finding the volumes of a revolving solid and surface areas and using integration techniques to evaluate integrals. From my teaching experience, students often have difficulty understanding the concepts behind these topics and cannot make connections between what they have learned and real-world careers. Therefore, for student projects, we will implement CalcPlot3D to deepen students’ understanding of these concepts and how to connect them to their future careers. CalcPlot3D is a recently developed JavaScript, a free online visualization app designed to explore concepts of multivariable calculus and those in many other higher-level mathematics courses.

Students will present their group projects incorporating hands-on activities in a pencil-paper format and via CalcPlot3D. The purpose of the group projects is to provide an innovative learning environment connecting directly to the concepts of Calculus II that students learn in class. By the completion of the projects, students should have developed specific fundamental skills (e.g., the skills of collaboration, leadership, time management, etc.) that they need when pursuing careers. To accomplish the purpose of the projects, students will be provided with step-by-step instructions, such as how to approximate the volume of a solid, as well as rubrics for the projects so that students understand what the expectations are. In conclusion, the group projects will bring interactive visualizations through CalcPlot3D to collaborative learning, thus not only promoting students’ understanding through engagement but also strengthening students’ skills of collaborating with their peers.

Student Speakers

March Student Speakers

Mahir Huq

CS Major student.

Justin Lopez-Braganza

York College student pursuing a Pharmaceutical Sciences degree, hoping to find work as a pharmacy tech at a hospital in the future.

I appreciate and understand Calculus' vast importance in explaining the world around us, allowing us to estimate and quantify the specific changes in the world. Finding the volume of a solid revolved around the x-axis of a cartesian plane.

Zainab Gedel

Junior at York College majoring in pharmaceutical science with a minor in chemistry, sets to graduate in 2027. Passionate about science, and continuous learning, and look forward to applying her skills in meaningful ways.

Dr. Yonghong McDowell