Derivatives 1:Calculus Videos and Practice by WOWmath.org

great but lets get them integrals now                 SWEET

I love this It is the exact lessons from our online AP class which is an amazing resource for us because we have no teacher sitting in front of us                 Love it

Very helpful                 Math

The topics are well organized and the videos are very helpful Great app and it was free                 Great app

Awesome Cant wait for more                 Awesome

Very clear Easy to repeat lesson then practice                 wow math wow

Great way to review and master deriving Cant wait for integrals                 Awesome

Need integrals Help              Suggestion

Lame too basic     Stupid

The app has some interesting advantages The videos are probably helpful for students who have no one else to help them in a timely manner The examples are useful and the fact that they are worked in detail is probably helpful I see however a big problem with the approach and it is apparent from the very first example For most students Calculus is a terrible thing because they see it as a mountain of formulas and tricks that need to be memorized and mastered Worse they think that calculus makes no sense except as a ritualistic practice for the initiated This app encourages this view When students have some understanding of the mathematics formulas come easy or easier In the first example the power rule is used to find the derivative of a polynomial Why would anyone want to use the power rule to find the derivative of the constant term Sure the formula works by cleverly seeing 6 as 6x0 but that is just ridiculously unnecessary if you know that the derivative measures the slope of the tangent to the graph of the function Obviously no formulas needed the derivative of the constant term 6 must be 0 Likewise the derivative of a linear term is equal to the coefficient that is if y3x y3 it is the slope The tangent is the line itself Why would students need to see 3x as 3x1 and then apply the power rule Following that logic they should be applying the product rule to find y when y3x and few teachers would do that By using formulas for trivial or simple cases when common sense and basic understanding would be more helpful we only convince students that mathematics is stupid and boring There is no way that this app would change anyones mind about that Having said all this this app will probably be useful for the many students who have terrible teachers for whom memorizing formulas is what matters understanding be damned These students will do better on their tests and will forget calculus as soon as they can afford it As soon as they forget the power rule they wont even be able to find the derivative of y6     Why make derivatives difficult