Would it harm my later in life to take calculus 1 online?

[andrewkg]

So this summer I was planning to take calc 1 at a school, but they canceled it. Very aggravating. But I can take the course online somewhere, so will it hurt me later on to take it online? Also does anyone know of good accredited places that I could take calc 1? I was thinking BYU or I don't know some other place, but most are expensive which I would enjoy to avoid.

 

[bossman27]

I'm assuming you want to get credit for the class, so first of all check with your school's policies regarding transfer credit and make sure they will count it. Rules about external/online class credit can vary from one school to another, so PF members won't be able to answer that for you.

IMHO, the biggest advantage of a regular lecture class isn't that someone lectures the material to you, it's just the fact that you have a professor and probably TA's that you can go to when you need to ask questions or make sure you're understanding something correctly. I had a mediocre professor for my first college calculus course, and ended up learning most of the material from the textbook anyway, so I wouldn't worry to much about it hurting you later on to take calc I online; just as long as you make sure to keep up with the material and work at understanding it, not just passing the online quizzes and whatnot.

In short, you should be fine as long as long as you study well. Just look for a course that (1) your school will give you credit for, and (2) ideally has a some kind of class discussion board, or at least gives you the email addresses of the prof/TA's, so that you can have your questions answered when the need arises (or you can just ask them on PF :tongue:).

 

[funcalys]

Have a look at this http://www.infocobuild.com/education/audio-video-courses/mathematics/math210-calculus-one-umkc.html.
Also check the thread https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=349631, which should include many more.

 

[andrewkg]

Well credit for transfer isn't really all that necessary because I'm just dual enrolled at the university and high school so they will allow me allowing me to take latter math courses and allow it as my prereq to calc 2 if I say I already took the class. And I will probably take them again in college so no need to consider transfer of credits.

 

[dustbin]

I took calc 1 online and I have no regrets. It was actually a fairly rigorous first course with high expectations. I feel that I actually learned more as well, because I had to learn the material thoroughly on my own.

 

[andrewkg]

Ok well I think I'm going to do it online, quick question though so do you guys think that 5 months is enough time to learn calc 1 and 2, I will have 5 months online for Independent study and as far as asking question I have a good family friend who is a math professor that offered to answer any math questions I have + PF. Also I have an extreme desire to learn and will put in as much time as is required.

 

[hsetennis]

Ok well I think I'm going to do it online, quick question though so do you guys think that 5 months is enough time to learn calc 1 and 2, I will have 5 months online for Independent study and as far as asking question I have a good family friend who is a math professor that offered to answer any math questions I have + PF. Also I have an extreme desire to learn and will put in as much time as is required.

I don't suggest it, unless you're willing to spend many hours a day on it. Being mostly an autodidact myself, I can attest that it can be very mentally draining at times. Perhaps if possible, a good idea would be to see if you can pick up Calc 1 in the first 3 months, and then register for Calc 2 (which has a milder learning curve than Calc 1). Of course, there are LOTS AND LOTS of excellent resources on the internet regarding Calc 1 and 2, so this may facilitate your process.