This report details the importance of professional development and training for graduate student teaching assistants (GTAs) in in the teaching of calculus. Findings from a large, national study in the United States show that GTAs are teaching a large percentage of Calculus I students (either as the primary teacher or as a recitation leader),…

In July 1982, a conference was held at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, to discuss the need for more discrete mathematics in the first two years of the core undergraduate mathematics curriculum. This paper reviews the recommendations that were made during the conference, the progress that has been made in the implementation of…

The so-called discrete approach in calculus instruction involves introducing topics from the calculus of finite differences and finite sums, both for motivation and as useful tools for applications of the calculus. In particular, it provides an ideal setting in which to incorporate computers into calculus courses. This approach has been…

An experiment at Boston University was designed to demonstrate that the computer can be successfully integrated into the traditional introductory calculus course. Over half of the students in an introductory course in 1976 voluntarily participated in a programming project involving applications of the concepts to be studied during the semester.…