Calculus texts?

[HeidiD]

Do you have particular favorite to recommend (preferably with a complete answer key)? :)

[Jane in NC]

Does your student plan to take the AP exam? If so, you might want to examine the recommended texts on the College Board site.

 

My son used the Larson text. The student manual has the odd numbered problems worked out in it.

[HeidiD]

Does your student plan to take the AP exam? If so, you might want to examine the recommended texts on the College Board site.

 

My son used the Larson text. The student manual has the odd numbered problems worked out in it.

 

Maybe, but we'll have to see how it goes. :)

 

Jane, are you familiar with James Stewart's text (Multivariable Calculus, Early Transcendentals), and if so, what do you think of it?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Multivariable-Calculus-Early-Transcendentals-Stewarts/dp/049501172X/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296583024&sr=1-9

[Jane in NC]

Jane, are you familiar with James Stewart's text (Multivariable Calculus, Early Transcendentals), and if so, what do you think of it?

 

 

Heidi,

 

I have heard positive things about Stewart but I have never had any of his texts in my hands so I cannot provide a real report. Sorry about that.

 

Jane

[In The Great White North]

Ds used Foersters and we had a separate Solution Manual to go with it. We also had the Houghton Mifflin DVDs (I think they go with Larson) but he didn't like them.

 

I have heard good things about Stewart also, but mostly from math/physics majors who used it in college after a first calculus course in high school.

[8filltheheart]

Maybe, but we'll have to see how it goes. :)

 

Jane, are you familiar with James Stewart's text (Multivariable Calculus, Early Transcendentals), and if so, what do you think of it?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Multivariable-Calculus-Early-Transcendentals-Stewarts/dp/049501172X/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296583024&sr=1-9

 

I know nothing about it myself. I do know that I pd for it, though. :lol: Ds used an earlier ed in his cal course at uni. He was well prepared for all his engineering courses if that means anything.

[Kathy in Richmond]

I tutored a college girl from William and Mary this past fall who was using the Stewart calculus textbook. She had an introduction to calculus in high school, and still found this text to be challenging. I liked it a lot, FWIW. Tons of problems and didn't skimp on the theory side.

[HeidiD]

Ds used Foersters and we had a separate Solution Manual to go with it. We also had the Houghton Mifflin DVDs (I think they go with Larson) but he didn't like them.

 

 

 

I'll look into that one. :)

[HeidiD]

I know nothing about it myself. I do know that I pd for it, though. :lol: Ds used an earlier ed in his cal course at uni. He was well prepared for all his engineering courses if that means anything.

 

I paid for it too, which was why I was asking about it. :lol:

 

One of my kids used it in college last year and it's sitting on the shelf. I'm thinking of recycling it. I would love to know how it compares to Larson's book.

[HeidiD]

I tutored a college girl from William and Mary this past fall who was using the Stewart calculus textbook. She had an introduction to calculus in high school, and still found this text to be challenging. I liked it a lot, FWIW. Tons of problems and didn't skimp on the theory side.

 

Would you use this as an intro to calculus, then? Or do you think it moves too quickly?

 

We've been using Saxon and "Fred" up to now - definitely very different in style. :)

[Joan in GE]

I thought my son was going to go with Foerster because he had liked Foerster's Precalculus.

 

We sat down with about 4 calculus books since I already had them...

 

But then he ended up choosing Larson.

 

We do not have Stewart. We have an older Thomas which has good explanations but it is not geared to the AP. As Jane said, it is important to determine if your student is going to do the AP.

 

Some things I've recently learned...that I had been looking at the wrong list when it comes to AP recommended texts. There is a huge list which has all kinds of resources. Then there is a much smaller one that meets the curricular requirements (this one is for the AB - there's another for BC).

 

Another thing is that you don't need the largest Larson if you are doing the AP Calc AB. Here's Larson info just in case..

 

Calculus with Analytic Geometry - has all three books in it I, II, III

 

Calculus of a Single Variable is I and II

Multivariable Calculus is Calculus III

 

Then there is just

Calculus I

Calculus II

 

Or Precalc + Calc I together in another book.

 

It can be very confusing.

 

I do not think it hurts to have several books around though. I wouldn't recycle a book til there aren't any more possible students. There are times when he doesn't understand in the one book and we go to another. And he has liked the Foerster Explorations in the Instructor's Resource Book. Now that I've studied them all a lot more, there are things I like about the Foerster book myself. I thought it was important that he chose (from preselected books) so that he was more invested.

 

These are only small details and I do not know that much about Calculus per se.

 

Joan

[kiana]

Stewart is a perfectly reasonable book and very popular book. We teach out of it at my university and I learned calculus from it myself.

 

I'd see if Stewart works for you before buying more. You can get the student solutions manual which provides solutions for all the odd problems, but all the odds is plenty of practice for most students imo.

[memphispeg]

Joan - My dd used Foerster's pre-calc. as well and has taught herself. She liked the explorations, especially when she felt shaky on the ideas presented in the lesson. I am thinking of Larson as well, looks like there are good used ones available at good prices (always a consideration). I think I'm going to spring for the big text as she may need to take more calc. in college. That way she'll have a text that she is familiar with if she needs it.

I am also thinking of getting an AP BC Review Guide and then one of those "Calculus for the Forgetful"/"Quick Calculus" books as well.

NROC suggests Larson Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions for their AP calc BC course. Stewart is also on the list. My eldest dd used that one in her ps calc. BC course. She got a 5 on the AP exam. Alas, the youger dd is a different ball of wax

[HeidiD]

I do not think it hurts to have several books around though.

 

I agree, and my bookshelf can attest to that. :)

 

Now that I've studied them all a lot more, there are things I like about the Foerster book myself.

 

Can you tell me what you like about it? I'm considering all options at the moment.

[HeidiD]

Stewart is a perfectly reasonable book and very popular book. We teach out of it at my university and I learned calculus from it myself.

 

I'd see if Stewart works for you before buying more. You can get the student solutions manual which provides solutions for all the odd problems, but all the odds is plenty of practice for most students imo.

 

Yes, there are certainly MANY practice problems in that particular book. :)

[HeidiD]

"Calculus for the Forgetful"

 

That's exactly what I need, haha!

 

This book is handy to have around, also.

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Mathematics-K-Stroud/dp/0831133279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296605605&sr=8-1

[Kathy in Richmond]

Heidi -

 

Yes, you can use Stewart for a first-year calculus course. My student just went to a very weak local high school; she was really starting from scratch this year.

 

Be sure to get the solutions manual if you go with Stewart. My student had a copy and it was well-done and helpful.

 

It will be a change from Fred or Saxon, though!

 

And...I actually own a "Calculus for the Forgetful" book. My dd is a big-picture learner, and found it very helpful to read that first before tackling problem lists in a "fat" calculus textbook. :)

[Joan in GE]

I think I'm going to spring for the big text as she may need to take more calc. in college. That way she'll have a text that she is familiar with if she needs it.

I am also thinking of getting an AP BC Review Guide and then one of those "Calculus for the Forgetful"/"Quick Calculus" books as well.

NROC suggests Larson Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions for their AP calc BC course. Stewart is also on the list. My eldest dd used that one in her ps calc. BC course. She got a 5 on the AP exam.

 

Just FYI - the big Larson Calculus is the same as the Early Transcendental Functions one. According to the Larson text it says that the difference is that in the ETF edition, they introduce the transcendental functions early in the calculus course. So it seems to just be a different order. But then maybe the review problems have those type of questions earlier on as well. AND there is a Calculus of a Single Variable ETF version that has only Calc I and II in it. There are so many different books related to this same edition. Eg. I've now found that the one I have (which has for Advanced Students on the cover), the ISBN doesn't even come up on the publishers website. The cover looks the same as the I, II, III one and it has 15 chapters. When I compare them on the website the list of topics is the same as the I,II,III one, but it says Analytic Geom on the inside cover.

 

Can you tell me what you like about it? I'm considering all options at the moment.

 

First, I am no expert at all. Kathy in Richmond, as well as many other moms know much more than I. I'm not in a position to tell you that one book is better than another book. I can just tell you something that I liked about it or add to your information in some way.

 

Since I have only one Calculus class under my belt in university days, and have completely forgotten it, the Foerster book helped me see what the AP goal is of understanding things graphically, numerically, algebraically, and verbally because at the beginning of each chapter, it gives a mathematical overview (at least in the 2nd edition book) which shows the the topic in each of these four areas. (Here I will insert that their idea of "verbally" is different than other people's idea of verbally. It is also a smaller more manageable book than the Larson. And like Peg said about Precalc explorations by Foerster, the explorations from the Instructor manual are presented in a way that is easy to use and my son said "fun". It is not hard to match the topics but it was easier with the textbook to look in the index to find the chapter as there is not a detailed index in the Instructor's Manual.

 

I think what my son hadn't liked in Foerster Precalc was the huge jump sometimes from the initial presentation to some of the questions and even one of the questions on a test, which had not been covered at all. So that might have added to his hesitation. He did seem to get a good grasp - but I'll be more sure once the Math Level 2 SAT results come back - his practice exams went well. The end result is what counts and I'm trusting the SAT and AP to measure that.

 

We are using the Chalkdust CD's for lectures - they're linked with the Larson book. My son had completely rejected them when he did Precalc, so surprise, surprise, he's using them for Calculus. Maybe it is due to his sense of need for more help and an AP exam to face. Maybe it helps that they are linked to the book he is using. Trying to mix and match takes a big effort.

 

I also try to occasionally give problems from other texts so that my son has experience dealing with the problems from a different angle or a different presentation method. And you can get older books and solution manuals quite cheaply.

 

When researching the subject last spring, I think I got frightened of the Stewart book because I thought the level would be too high and I did not order it to even look at. So it is interesting to read the comments on this thread. If you have it in your hands, then your student can see how it goes.

 

Heidi, if you want even more ideas:001_smile:, you can also look at the sample AP syllabi here and see the texts they are using and their syllabi. I got some good ideas for extra activities.

 

Joan

Edited February 4, 2011 by Joan in Geneva

[HeidiD]

 

 

It will be a change from Fred or Saxon, though!

 

It's funny, when my son was using it and got hung up on something, he always reached for the Saxon. They're similar in a lot of ways (although Stewart's is far prettier :)). Fred, however, is definitely in a class of his own. :)

 

And...I actually own a "Calculus for the Forgetful" book. My dd is a big-picture learner, and found it very helpful to read that first before tackling problem lists in a "fat" calculus textbook. :)

 

So glad you mentioned that - I just assumed the "Forgetful" the book was written for people (like me) who have trouble remembering their tables. :lol: Now that I've actually looked at it online, I can see it's a concise overview - perfect for my big-picture learner (and I also have a left-brained learner who plugs along nicely but I think he would benefit from an injection of right-brained thinking in this subject.:))

 

Another overview-type book I like for the same purpose - Mathematics in 10 Lessons - The Grand Tour:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-10-Lessons-Grand-Tour/dp/1591026865/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1296661250&sr=1-1

[HeidiD]

Since I have only one Calculus class under my belt in university days, and have completely forgotten it, the Foerster book helped me see what the AP goal is of understanding things graphically, numerically, algebraically, and verbally because at the beginning of each chapter, it gives a mathematical overview (at least in the 2nd edition book) which shows the the topic in each of these four areas.

 

That sounds very helpful. We used Foerster's for Algebra II Trig but went back to Saxon for precalc. Foerster's had more graphing practice than Saxon.

 

 

We are using the Chalkdust CD's for lectures - they're linked with the Larson book.

 

I'll definitely check those out.

 

When researching the subject last spring, I think I got frightened of the Stewart book because I thought the level would be too high and I did not order it to even look at. So it is interesting to read the comments on this thread. If you have it in your hands, then your student can see how it goes.

 

Well, I tried to use it before and found it was awful without the solutions manual, but once I got the solutions, it was much easier to proceed. No way I could use it otherwise. :tongue_smilie:

 

Heidi, if you want even more ideas:001_smile:, you can also look at the sample AP syllabi here and see the texts they are using and their syllabi. I got some good ideas for extra activities.

 

 

Thanks so much! I appreciate all the great suggestions. :)

[Scotia]

Has anyone used the LOF Calculus book? Does it prep for AP at all? We are on the Fred train right now and it is going so well, I fear shifting back to the real world. :tongue_smilie:

[Joan in GE]

(For people just coming onto this thread, this is a review from AP Central of the Life of Fred Calculus book, about using LoF for AP prep)

 

There are two questions that still nag at me.

 

 

1. Will students read this text any more than they would a typical calculus text?
   
2. Is this an appropriate text for an AP Calculus course?
   

 

My answer to the first question is, probably yes. I found myself being intrigued by the twists and turns in Fred's life. One should note, however, that the text contains very few of the pedagogical features of current standard textbooks - such as highlighting with color (terms are identified with bold print) and slickly produced graphs and charts.

 

 

 

My answer to the second question is even less certain than the first. I believe this text could be used in an AP Calculus course, but that an instructor for the course would need to provide much supplemental material. It is clear that the text is not aimed for an AP course. Not only would there be a need to supplement content, but also problems. There are types of problems on the AP exam that one just doesn't encounter in this text.

 

 

 

Finally, I must point out that one can only really know a calculus text by having used it. I haven't had that experience with this text, but would be tempted to try it under certain circumstances.

 

 

 

Here's the whole page. It's not on their short list, just in their supplemental teacher's resources. (ETA - I don't really understand their system now that I have looked at it more. There are textbooks listed on the Course information page that are not listed in the teachers' resources, but some of them are. And some of the textbooks that are just listed on the separate resources page get a high rating but are not listed on the other page. So I cannot quite figure out their system.)

 

 

Joan

Edited February 4, 2011 by Joan in Geneva
add info

[Scotia]

Thanks Joan. I am still pretty new at this high school thing and don't think I would have every found that page!

[Teachin'Mine]

It's funny, when my son was using it and got hung up on something, he always reached for the Saxon. They're similar in a lot of ways (although Stewart's is far prettier :)). Fred, however, is definitely in a class of his own. :)

 

 

Heidi since you're familiar with Saxon calculus, is there any reason this can't be used on its own? Does it cover less than Stewart's and the others? They say in the description that it contains all the topics on the AP AB and BC exams. From Saxon's website:

 

Calculus is designed for prospective mathematics majors and students interested in engineering, computer science, physics, business or the life sciences. The program covers all topics in the Advanced Placement Calculus AB and Calculus BC syllabi. Instruction takes full advantage of graphing calculators, using them for visual demonstrations of concepts and confirming calculations.

 

I'm asking because I've been following this thread and am wondering whether it's comparable to the others. Our plan, as of now, is to use Saxon Calculus because we're familiar with the layout and their texts have worked very well so far. If it does cover everything on the AB and BC, is it just Calculus I, or does it go beyond that? What would be a good follow up text?

 

Thank you!!! :)

[emubird]

This is the book we used:

http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Graphical-Numerical-Franklin-Demana/dp/0201324458/ref=pd_sim_b_3

 

It gets so-so reviews, but if you throw out the ones from high school students who just hate their calc class, and the ones from the people who think you can't have a calc book without tons and tons of proofs, the reviews aren't so bad.

 

The thing I liked about this book is that it was very trimmed down. Not too many confusing proofs and it only really covered the topics that were going to be on the AP test. If your goal is the AP test, a stripped down, not so distracting version might be what you'd want.

 

Also I liked that there was a solutions manual rather than just answers. (We also have the test bank book which is really fairly useless.)

 

My daughter used this one for the AP test, placed into Calc III in college and got one of the highest grades in her Calc III class.

 

I figured that a less comprehensive book would probably be a good way to start. For myself, I can never understand proofs until I know how to work the problems anyway, so there's not much point for me (or my kids) to try to "learn" the proofs until we actually understand the workings of things.

 

This may rub math teachers the wrong way, but I've also seen that those students who "know" the proofs on their first go-round tend to only be able to regurgitate the steps.

 

 

However -- my take on most calc books is that they're all pretty much the same, when you get right down to it. If you get one with a good solutions manual, you'll probably be ok.

[HeidiD]

Heidi since you're familiar with Saxon calculus' date=' is there any reason this can't be used on its own? Does it cover less than Stewart's and the others? They say in the description that it contains all the topics on the AP AB and BC exams. From Saxon's website:

 

[b']Calculus is designed for prospective mathematics majors and students interested in engineering, computer science, physics, business or the life sciences. The program covers all topics in the Advanced Placement Calculus AB and Calculus BC syllabi. Instruction takes full advantage of graphing calculators, using them for visual demonstrations of concepts and confirming calculations. [/b]

 

I'm asking because I've been following this thread and am wondering whether it's comparable to the others. Our plan, as of now, is to use Saxon Calculus because we're familiar with the layout and their texts have worked very well so far. If it does cover everything on the AB and BC, is it just Calculus I, or does it go beyond that? What would be a good follow up text?

 

Thank you!!! :)

 

I love Saxon, and it covers essentially the same material as Stewart. My two oldest kids have done very well with it, and my son who used Stewart in college thinks Saxon presents the material more clearly than Stewart. It seems like Stewart is one of the omnipresent texts on college campuses though, so I was thinking it might be worth using it for homeschool since it's lying around here anyway. If my younger kids end up taking calculus again in college, they'll already be familiar with the style (more wholistic than Saxon, which presents the topics in a more discrete format, so might be harder to grasp the big picture) . My next student in line has a very different learning style than the older two, which is why I've been casting about for various options to consider. :)

 

I don't know if you would need a follow-up to Saxon. Since it covers the same material that would be studied in calculus I and II, that might be enough. We've never done AP before, though, so I'm not sure. I would probably choose a second text to use along with Saxon, and dip into it for practice.

[Teachin'Mine]

Thank you Heidi! :)

[eumyang]

This is the book we used:

http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Graphical-Numerical-Franklin-Demana/dp/0201324458/ref=pd_sim_b_3

 

It gets so-so reviews, but if you throw out the ones from high school students who just hate their calc class, and the ones from the people who think you can't have a calc book without tons and tons of proofs, the reviews aren't so bad.

 

The thing I liked about this book is that it was very trimmed down. Not too many confusing proofs and it only really covered the topics that were going to be on the AP test. If your goal is the AP test, a stripped down, not so distracting version might be what you'd want.

 

Also I liked that there was a solutions manual rather than just answers. (We also have the test bank book which is really fairly useless.)

 

My daughter used this one for the AP test, placed into Calc III in college and got one of the highest grades in her Calc III class.

 

I figured that a less comprehensive book would probably be a good way to start. For myself, I can never understand proofs until I know how to work the problems anyway, so there's not much point for me (or my kids) to try to "learn" the proofs until we actually understand the workings of things.

 

This may rub math teachers the wrong way, but I've also seen that those students who "know" the proofs on their first go-round tend to only be able to regurgitate the steps.

 

 

However -- my take on most calc books is that they're all pretty much the same, when you get right down to it. If you get one with a good solutions manual, you'll probably be ok.

 

I have to disagree. As a math teacher, this certainly does rub me the wrong way. This book is rather poor in my opinion. It is rather lacking in explanations. The material presented is low-level, avoiding even remotely complicated reasoning. A colleague of mine currently teaches the 3rd edition (2007) and she does not like it.

 

(There is also a Precalculus book by 3 of the same authors, of which I am currently using in my Precalculus class. It's also quite lacking, topics are often presented out of order, and the examples are either too hard or too easy.)

 

And while the Calculus book is thin, it is NOT cheap. In fact, the Calculus book is more expensive than the Precalculus book, according to the publisher's catalog. And the Precalculus book is thicker!

 

----

 

To answer the OP, I'm rather partial to Larson myself. When I learned Calculus for the 1st time in high school, I used Larson, 3rd edition. (Now it's at the 9th edition.)

[memphispeg]

I am going for Larson. It seems to be the best-supported and most widely available. Dd likes teaching herself math. I'm going to have a tutor "on call". The "Calculus for the Forgetful" book seems to be a nice concise supplement for the whole picture.

[dragon_horse_0002]

I tutored a college girl from William and Mary this past fall who was using the Stewart calculus textbook. She had an introduction to calculus in high school, and still found this text to be challenging. I liked it a lot, FWIW. Tons of problems and didn't skimp on the theory side.

Hi Kathy,

 

Stewart has a couple of Calculus books (Calculus, Concepts and Contexts, Transcendental). Which one are you using for tutoring that you like?

 

Thanks,

 

Liem

[Kathy in Richmond]

Hi Liem,

 

This is the Stewart text that I used. Ha! I didn't realize that it was his "slimmed-down" edition. 'Only' 850 pages and 2/3 the size of his other texts...all the modern calculus books seem so huge to me!:glare:

[Joan in GE]

It seems to be the best-supported

 

Support is a very important point for people who don't have much experience with the subject (like myself), or enough time to develop their own materials, etc.

 

As a "nonmath" mom, I'm completely dependent on the tests developed by the publisher, as well as the solutions.

 

Larson is well-supported as is Foerster. I'm sure there are others that have the tests available as well. So that is a question for Kathy and others...Do Stewart and others have test banks available? Or are they for more recent versions?

 

ETA - not trying to divert Stewart interest here - just trying to alert to the need of testing (for those like myself who see a need for it).

 

Joan

Edited February 14, 2011 by Joan in Geneva

[Kathy in Richmond]

I see a test bank and lots of other support materials on the Stewart Calculus textbook website, but I have no idea how difficult it is to purchase from Thomson Higher Ed as homeschooler (I've never tried). My student brings her copy of the student solutions manual along, and I can tell you that it is very well done.

[emubird]

If you have money to burn, you might find that the Thinkwell Calculus lectures are helpful. He doesn't (as far as I can tell) do much in the way of proofs, except in a sort of hand waving fashion, but he does get at the ideas without too much of the serious math nomenclature that confuses so many kids when they first see it. This might be helpful for some kids. Or not. My daughter is finding the lectures helpful, but I still need to go to a book to get more problems and for a bit more explanation.

 

He does seem to do a fair number of examples.

 

However, the quiz questions following the lectures don't impress me. They seem to try to make things hard by dumping algebra intensive questions on the students from the start, which obscures the point the lecture was trying to make. Also, there are often quiz questions that have nothing to do with the lecture and never do get covered --meaning you'd have to go to a book to figure out how to do them. And it's not obvious to the student that this is what is happening. As the homeschool parent, I find I have to watch the lectures along with my daughter to see what she still needs to cover and to weed out those quiz questions that are just ridiculous. Otherwise, she would just get frustrated.

 

But the lectures aren't bad if you're looking for an easier approach than reading through a calculus tome (you might have to go to the calc tome after the lecture, though.)

 

Also, the Khan Academy might be helpful (it's online somewhere).

 

My worry about Stewart (and others of that ilk) is that it's TOO comprehensive and a self learner might have trouble figuring out where to start and what's important. One of my kids used Stewart in her Calc III (after using that "lite" version I mentioned in an earlier post). She found it very difficult in Stewart to find what she needed when she needed an explanation. She kept going back to her "lite" text. She's now in the 4th semester of math (which is covering more calc topics beyond the III course among other things) and finds that she's way better prepared than all the kids who took calc only at college (some with that Stewart book). So I'm not convinced that a really rigorous, proof heavy book is really the thing for the first pass through for most students. It may work for some.

 

Some things work for some students/teachers, some for others. But while I understand teachers wanting a complete and rigorous book, I'm not sure they always see how the kids are responding to it.

 

Our best solution, in fact, has been to have a number of calc books around, so if something doesn't make sense in one, we can look it up in another. You can get very cheap used books that just aren't the current edition, just to use as additional resources.

 

And whichever book you use -- you really, really need a good, complete solutions manual. I think that matters way more than which book you get, although I'd probably want to at least get a book that was recommended on the AP calc site (to avoid a book that's called "calculus" but really isn't what a regular calc course would use).

 

And my experience with test banks for a lot of these calc books is that you might not want to bother -- a good AP prep book may give a lot better test type questions than some of those test banks, even if one is not intending to do the AP test. I don't have the specific names of the ones I've looked at, but the few I've seen were pretty unimpressive. (There may be some good ones out there.)

 

A lot of books have review problems at the end of the chapter. You might find those are more useful for testing purposes than a test bank. Or you might use the even problems if the student has worked the odd ones (and if you have solutions for the even ones). And there's no reason why you can't give the student a problem on a test that they've seen before.

[Joan in GE]

emubird,

 

I can see your point about using prep books for tests, but it is not always as easy as that. You need to have the book match the chapter material that you are covering exactly if you do not know Calculus yourself. If you know Calculus yourself, then you can identify the types of problems covered and the level at which they were covered. If you do not, you are quite stuck.

 

For example, I use the FRQ book which has problems from previous AP exams. My son had finished "related rates", so I went to the problem index and chose one labeled for related rates. The problem was that it was way too difficult for the material he had covered, even though it was a related rates problem. Then I cross checked another FRQ source and found an easier related rates problem which he was able to solve. But that took a certain amount of effort and providential "other source".

 

So for the inexperienced, I think having tests that are directly related to the text being used is the most reliable.

 

(ETA - I do not mean to imply that one should not use the AP test prep books. We have several that we'll use as review and ds even dips into them from time to time for some problems or understanding. I only meant that for testing during the regular chapter studies, IMHO the tests that go with the book work best).

 

There's a recent study showing that the best way to learn is to take a test (not sure about this study's reliability, but it certainly seems true with my son)

 

Last year I was using an "old" math book and using the end of chapter tests that were in the book itself. But I thought the level of the problems was too easy.

 

Not all test banks are the same I've found - even for the same text. I ended up with two for Larson by mistake. One is in the Teacher's Resource book and the other is actually called a Test Bank...

 

The one in the Teacher's Resource Book has 5 different tests for each chapter - 3 MC and 2 open answer. Each of those has one where a calculator is not permitted. That is quite handy.

 

The Test Bank is different from my Bio test bank in that the answers are all at the end instead of under each question (much handier). And they are all in order like the book sections. So if I want to give cumulative tests, I pick a few from each section in each chapter that he has covered. I find that very convenient.

 

It would be much harder for me to navigate just the prep books...

 

Joan

Edited February 16, 2011 by Joan in Geneva

[dragon_horse_0002]

Hi Kathy,

 

Does it cover only single variable calculus or both single and multi-variables?

Steward has so many versions for Calculus. Some have over 1300 pages and some less than 900 pages. I just wonder if one covers both single and multi-variables and the other covers only single?

Modern calculus books nowadays are over 1000 pages. I tempt to agree that seems too much for me. For I believe math language is accurate and concise.

 

Thanks,

 

Liem

 

Hi Liem,

 

This is the Stewart text that I used. Ha! I didn't realize that it was his "slimmed-down" edition. 'Only' 850 pages and 2/3 the size of his other texts...all the modern calculus books seem so huge to me!:glare:

[eumyang]

I know the question wasn't directed to me, but according to the table of contents (I "clicked-to-see-inside" from the Amazon page), that version has single-variable and multi-variable.

 

Yes, Stewart does have a lot of versions. So does Larson. So does Thomas. And so does other authors. It's quite annoying.

 

 

69

[Kathy in Richmond]

I know the question wasn't directed to me, but according to the table of contents (I "clicked-to-see-inside" from the Amazon page), that version has single-variable and multi-variable.

 

 

What she said. The last four chapters are: Vectors and the Geometry of Space, Partial Derivatives, Multiple Integrals, and Vector Calculus.

[memphispeg]

I am looking into calculus texts for next year as well. NROC has AP calculus courses with a list of syllabi and some testing. If you need to check on what a textbook covers (if it is too little or too much) you could probably run down the list of their topics and then compare to the t of c of the text. They have recommendations for texts too, complete with the ISBN numbers.

[eumyang]

I know the question wasn't directed to me, but according to the table of contents (I "clicked-to-see-inside" from the Amazon page), that version has single-variable and multi-variable.

 

Yes, Stewart does have a lot of versions. So does Larson. So does Thomas. And so does other authors. It's quite annoying.

 

What she said. The last four chapters are: Vectors and the Geometry of Space, Partial Derivatives, Multiple Integrals, and Vector Calculus.

:blink:

 

Last time I checked, I was a he. :D

 

 

69

[Kathy in Richmond]

Oops!! :blush:

 

Sorry, it's so easy to just assume on these boards.:)

[Guest salamander]

If you do buy a textbook without an answer key, you might want to check out slader.com, which has answers (with explanations) to pretty much any calculus book you would buy.

Edited October 1, 2011 by salamander