Online Calculus Text Proves to be Easy Math

Mathematics professor Larry Gilligan faithfully pays his taxes...and that's paying off for students in the College of Applied Science.

Last spring, Gilligan, CAS mathematics chair, noticed that the Internal Revenue Service had its documents available on the Web, saving him a trip to the post office. And so, he began wondering why his department couldn't make textbooks available on the Web for students.

Gilligan teamed up with colleague Ed Turner, assistant professor of mathematics, physics and computer technology, and this quarter, about 50 students in two sections of Turner's Advanced Technical Calculus course are using an online textbook instead of a printed one. The effort is helping students save a little money while they gain greater familiarity with computer technology.

Mechanical engineering technology (MET) majors Nasser Bekheet, 35, of Wilmington, and Craig Wolffer, 21, of Hamilton, both endorsed the idea even though it is the first time that either has gone without a hard copy textbook for a course.

Bekheet, who both works and attends school full time while supporting a family, said, "Eighty dollars (a typical price for a textbook) makes a difference for a student. I drive an hour each way to get to school, so transportation costs are a big concern for me."

The other advantage is the simplicity of the electronic text. "This text is very easy to follow and simple to understand," said Bekheet. "I also looked at other books for differential equations, and they were very complex and did not explain the material well."

In addition, Applied Science faculty can customize the Web texts for individual courses. Each text can be as specific as necessary, because faculty don't have to worry about finding a publisher who would, naturally, need to target a broader group.

The concept, which will be expanded, makes good sense in other ways. First, it's a means of getting students accustomed to technology that will benefit them in many other settings. Second, Web texts are much easier to update than a hard-copy version. "Curriculum changes are so much easier to incorporate to an online text than a hard-copy text. This way, there are no printing costs, no paper costs, no shipping costs, no warehouses. It's easy math," said Gilligan.

Next fall, a manuscript by several Applied Science faculty including Gilligan and associate professors George Marketos and Kim Myers will be available for students taking Algebra/Trigonometry I and Algebra/Trigonometry II. About 375 students are expected to use the Web text. It will be full color with animation rather than the typical black-and-white of a hard- copy text.