The Applied Mathematics Department is dedicated to making mathematics accessible to all students in its classes. Nationally about 40% of all students who take Calculus I fail it at least once. In an attempt to increase the percentage of students who pass Calculus I (currently about 30% fail in APPM 1350), instructors and teaching assistants offer Calculus I students the opportunity to participate in small group oral reviews (referred to as “orals”).
Any student in APPM 1340 may take an oral on the Monday and Tuesday before each of the three written midterm exams, after signing up in advance. These orals generally have 5 students and a facilitator. An oral takes 50 minutes. The facilitator asks students conceptual questions about the main topics that will be covered on the written exam. Students are expected to explain concepts verbally, draw graphs to support their reasoning, and negotiate understanding with the facilitator and with the other students in the group.
These oral reviews are optional and are not graded. They are meant to help students develop a deeper understanding of important concepts which in turn will help them be more effective in deciding what procedures and problem solving techniques are appropriate for given problems. Orals seem to be most helpful to students who have studied for the exam before taking the oral.
Since 2003 orals have been made available to APPM calculus classes. Analysis of data from previous years showed that in all categories of assessment exam scores, students who took orals did significantly better on the midterm exams than comparable students who did not take orals. The orals helped the students to clear up misunderstandings and to pinpoint areas where they needed to do further studying before the written exam. Students who attended orals averaged 6-10 points higher on each midterm exam than students with comparable assessment exam scores who did not use orals.
All orals will be given on the Monday and Tuesday before the written midterm exams:
Oral exams may take place at one of these locations:
The Discovery Learning Center (DLC) is the building north-east of the Engineering Center at the corner of Colorado and Regents Drive. The 2nd floors of the two buildings are connected by a bridge that you may have walked under. DLC 207 is a room ON that bridge.
Go to the website for the Oral Exam Scheduler.