VOL

AMS / MAA SPECTRUM 6 AMS / MAA SPECTRUM VOL 6

Changing the way students learn calculus

Student
was the goal of five mathematicians
at New Mexico State University. In the
Spring of 1988, Marcus Cohen, Edward

Student Research Projects in Calculus

Research Projects
D. Gaughan, Arthur Knoebel, Douglas S.
Kurtz, and David Pengelley began work
on a student project approach to calculus.

in Calculus
For the next two and a half years, most
of their waking hours (and some of their
dreams) would be devoted to writing
projects for their students and discov-
ering how to make the use of projects in Marcus Cohen, Edward D. Gaughan,
calculus classes not only successful, but Doug Kurtz, David Pengelley, Art Knoebel, and Ed Gaughan
practical as well. A grant from the National
Arthur Knoebel, Douglas S. Kurtz,
Science Foundation made it possible for this experiment to and David Pengelley
go forward on a large scale. The enthusiasm of the orig-
inal group of five faculty was contagious, and soon other
members of the department were also writing and using
projects in their calculus classes. At the present time, about
80% of the calculus students at New Mexico State University
are doing projects in their calculus courses.
Teachers can use their methods in teaching their
own calculus courses. Student Research Projects in Calculus
provides teachers with over I 00 projects ready to assign to
students in single and multivariable calculus. The authors
have designed these projects with one goal in mind: to get
students to think for themselves. Each project is a multistep,
take-home problem, allowing students to work both indi-
vidually and in groups.
Marcus Cohen and one of his
The projects resemble mini-research problems. Most of
students, Patti Rubenak
them require creative thought, and all of them engage the
student's analytic and intuitive faculties. The projects often
build from a specific example to the general case, and weave together ideas from many
parts of the calculus. Project statements are clearly stated and contain a minimum of math-
ematical symbols. Students must draw their own diagrams, decide for themselves what the
problem is about, and what tools from the calculus they will use to solve it. This approach
elicits from students an amazing level of sincere questioning, energetic research, dogged
persistence, and conscientious communication.
Each project has accompanying notes to the instructor, reporting students' experiences.
AMS / MAA PRESS

The notes contain information on prerequisites, list the main topics the project explores,
and suggest helpful hints. The authors have also provided several introductory chapters to
help instructors use projects successfully in their classes and begin to create their own.

4-Color Process 225 pages on 50lb stock • Spine 7/16" • Trim size 6.5 x 9
STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
IN CALCULUS

Marcus S. Cohen
Edward D. Gaughan
Arthur Knoebel
Douglas S. Kurtz
David J. Pengelley
 SPECTRUM SERIES

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All the Math That's Fit to Print, by Keith Devlin

Circles: A Mathematical View, by Dan Pedoe
Complex Numbers and Geometry, by Liang-shin Hahn
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From Zero to Infinity, by Constance Reid
I Want to be a Mathematician, by Paul R. Halmos
Journey into Geometries, by Marta Sved
The Last Problem, by E.T. Bell (revised and updated by Underwood Dudley)
The Lighter Side of Mathematics: Proceedings of the Eugene Sirens Memorial Conference on Recreational Math-
ematics & its History, edited by Richard K. Guy and Robert E. Woodrow
Lure of the Integers, by Joe Roberts
Mathematical Carnival, by Martin Gardner
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Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science, by E.T. Bell
Memorabilia Mathematica, by Robert Edouard Moritz
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Out of the Mouths of Mathematicians, by Rosemary Schmalz
Polyominoes, by George Martin
The Search for E. T. Bell, also known as John Taine, by Constance Reid
Shaping Space, edited by Marjorie Senechal and George Fleck
Student Research Projects in Calculus, by Marcus Cohen, Edward D. Gaughan, Arthur Knoebel, Douglas S.
Kurtz, and David Pengelley
The Trisectors, by Underwood Dudley
The Words of Mathematics, by Steven Schwartzman

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 10.1090/spec/006

Spectrum Series

STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

IN CALCULUS

MARCUS 5. COHEN
EDWARD D. GAUGHAN
ARTHUR KNOEBEL
DOUGLAS 5. KURTZ
DAVID J. PENGELLEY

M.AA
SPECTRUM

Published and Distributed by

THE MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
 @1991 by
The Mathematical Association ofAmerica (Incorporated)
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-62052

ISBN 0-88385-503-8

Printed in the United States ofAmerica

Current printing (last digit):

109876543
Preface

You are reading this preface because you are curious about student research projects
in calculus. Thus you are a member of our intended audience: that growing group of
people sincerely interested in improving their students' knowledge of calculus. As you
read on, you will discover new ways to challenge your students and stimulate their
interest in calculus, as well as yours.
The introduction gives a brief description and the guiding philosophy of student
research projects in calculus. Chapter 1 is devoted to the history and evolution of our
program. In Chapter 2, we discuss our evaluation of the effects of the program over
the past several years. Chapter 3 is devoted to the logistics of using projects in the
classroom. In this chapter we summarize our experiences of the past years and point
out those strategies that work and those that do not work. After reading these chap-
ters, we hope you will get into the spirit of the movement and, not only will you want
to try projects in your calculus classes, you will want to try your hand at creating some
projects of your own. Chapter 4 will offer some advice about how to write projects.
Read on, anticipate, and let your enthusiasm grow.
The second part of this book is a compendium of projects, most of which have
been class tested. You have our permission to reproduce any of these projects for
classroom use. Each project includes a commentary and some additional information
concerning that project. The "Guide to the Projects" section gives you information
about using the project section of the book and the related index.

V
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

One worries a bit when starting to thank those who contributed to a book. Some in-
clusions are obvious, but there is always a danger that someone may be overlooked.
We apologize in advance to anyone we may omit by accident.
First of all, we must thank Louise Raphael of Howard University, who was our
program director at the National Science Foundation in the spring of 1988. Without
her untiring guidance through proposal and budget revisions, our program and this
book would never have seeri the light of day. We owe her much. Our thanks also go to
the National Science Foundation for the funding of our Calculus Curriculum Grant.
In planning our proposal to the National Science Foundation, we decided to ex-
periment with projects at some neighboring schools. The results of our experiment
were skewed by the fact that we chose faculty who are very interested in good teaching
and are outstanding teachers. Initially, we referred to them as "teaching consultants,"
thought of them as "trainees," and, after they had a semester of experience, we came to
consider them as equal partners in our endeavors. Their experiences and contributions
were very valuable. We wish to thank: David Arterburn of the New Mexico Institute
of Mining and Technology, Adrienne Dare of Western New Mexico University, Carl
Hall of the University of Texas at El Paso, and Richard Metzler of the University of
New Mexico.
Over the past three years, a number of graduate students have been our willing
assistants and collaborators. They have contributed much to our program and we hope
that we have offered them some unique teaching experience. They suffered through
crowded labs, patiently counseled impatient students, and participated in our post-
project discussions. We wish to thank: Randel Combs, Larry Hughes, Gamal Hussien,
David Ruch, Christopher Stuart, and Cynthia Woodburn.
The evaluation chapter was written by Marsha Conley and Carol Stuessy. Marsha
was a member of our faculty and was assigned part-time to our project to assist in the

vii
viii STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS IN CALCULUS

gathering of data. Carol is on the faculty at Texas A & M University and has been our
faithful evaluator from the beginning of our project. Further evaluation was provided
by Gabriel Lampert, a statistical consultant at New Mexico State University, during
the summer of 1991. We extend them our sincere thanks for all their efforts.
Our colleague Jerry Ladder is the author of two of our projects, The instantaneous
value of the bending ratio (#34) 1 and Estimating bounds for the bending ratio (#35).
Two colleagues in other departments, William Boecklin in biology and Barry Kurtz
in computer science, helped create a half dozen of the projects, some of them using
computers. We thank them for their contributions and enthusiasm.
We also wish to thank Spectrum editor James Daniel and the reviewers for their
excellent and thoughtful suggestions and advice. Our thanks also go to Donald Albers,
Chair of the Committee on Publications, for his interest in the manuscript and his
guidance that brought this book to publication.
Finally, we must thank our Department Head, Carol Walker. Without her sup-
port, advice, and interest, our task would have been almost impossible.

1 The project number refers to the "List of Projects."

Contents

Preface ....... .. . . ........... . .. ... . ..... . ... ....... ...................... ..... v

Acknowledgements .... ....... .. . .. . . .......... ... .......... . ...... . ..... . .. . . vii
Introduction ..... . ..... . ... . . .. . ..... . .. .... . .. .. . ........ ... ...... .. ... ....... 1
Part I
History ...... ..... . .. .. ... ............... ...... . ......... . ..... ..... .. ......... 7
Evaluation ............. .. .................................................... 17
Logistics: Ideas for Using Projects Successfully ........ .... . .... ..... ....... .. .. 31
Creating Projects ...... ...... ................. ... .................. .. ..... . ... 47
Part II
Guide to the Projects .................. . . . . .. . ..... ... ..... . .................. 57
List of Projects . . ...... ... .... ... . ........ .. . . ..... .. . . ............... .. .... .. 59
Projects ...................................... .... .............. .... .......... 63
Index . .... ... ................... ...... . ....... . . ... . ... ..... ..... . ... . . . .... 215

ix
 VOL
AMS / MAA SPECTRUM 6 AMS / MAA SPECTRUM VOL 6

Changing the way students learn calculus

Student
was the goal of five mathematicians
at New Mexico State University. In the
Spring of 1988, Marcus Cohen, Edward

Student Research Projects in Calculus

Research Projects
D. Gaughan, Arthur Knoebel, Douglas S.
Kurtz, and David Pengelley began work
on a student project approach to calculus.

in Calculus
For the next two and a half years, most
of their waking hours (and some of their
dreams) would be devoted to writing
projects for their students and discov-
ering how to make the use of projects in Marcus Cohen, Edward D. Gaughan,
calculus classes not only successful, but Doug Kurtz, David Pengelley, Art Knoebel, and Ed Gaughan
practical as well. A grant from the National
Arthur Knoebel, Douglas S. Kurtz,
Science Foundation made it possible for this experiment to and David Pengelley
go forward on a large scale. The enthusiasm of the orig-
inal group of five faculty was contagious, and soon other
members of the department were also writing and using
projects in their calculus classes. At the present time, about
80% of the calculus students at New Mexico State University
are doing projects in their calculus courses.
Teachers can use their methods in teaching their
own calculus courses. Student Research Projects in Calculus
provides teachers with over I 00 projects ready to assign to
students in single and multivariable calculus. The authors
have designed these projects with one goal in mind: to get
students to think for themselves. Each project is a multistep,
take-home problem, allowing students to work both indi-
vidually and in groups.
Marcus Cohen and one of his
The projects resemble mini-research problems. Most of
students, Patti Rubenak
them require creative thought, and all of them engage the
student's analytic and intuitive faculties. The projects often
build from a specific example to the general case, and weave together ideas from many
parts of the calculus. Project statements are clearly stated and contain a minimum of math-
ematical symbols. Students must draw their own diagrams, decide for themselves what the
problem is about, and what tools from the calculus they will use to solve it. This approach
elicits from students an amazing level of sincere questioning, energetic research, dogged
persistence, and conscientious communication.
Each project has accompanying notes to the instructor, reporting students' experiences.
AMS / MAA PRESS

The notes contain information on prerequisites, list the main topics the project explores,
and suggest helpful hints. The authors have also provided several introductory chapters to
help instructors use projects successfully in their classes and begin to create their own.

4-Color Process 225 pages on 50lb stock • Spine 7/16" • Trim size 6.5 x 9