Part of these materials have been expanded into a text that is currently being used in a stand alone calculus course that presents vector-calculus from the beginning. Diablo Valley College is a large community college in the San Francisco bay area. Its Special Intensive Program for Scientists and Engineers has been in operation for 4 years and has significantly increased the success rate in the physics and calculus sequences without decreasing content or expectations. I course with a new introductory physics course of our own design, and semester two combines vector calculus with mechanics. While standard texts are used, topics are radically resequenced so that the two subjects mesh.
Students collaborate in regular study groups that are integral to the program.
The University of Puget Sound is a four year liberal arts school. The program at Puget Sound targets first year students who have had calculus in high school and are ready for our second semester calculus course. We concurrently develop the concepts of mechanics first in one dimension and then in two and three dimensions.