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AP® Calculus AB | 2023-24

Blue Tent Calculus AB

AP Calculus AB is a live online class for high school homeschoolers as well as other high school students who are supplementing their math skills.

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This year-long class covers the content equivalent to a first-semester college calculus course. It is taught at a pace that is a good transition for students taking their first college-level math class. The material will be conceptually challenging and will offer a firm foundation for the intellectual demands of future college-level math classes.

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There will be up to two live teacher-led meetings each week:​

  • Weekly: a live class led by the instructor and designed for active participation solving calculus problems similar to the concepts taught in the recorded instruction and practiced in the weekly assignments.

  • Periodic: live office hours--offered during exam weeks or by special request--designed to help students prepare for the upcoming chapter exam.

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Class Details​​

  • AP Calculus AB is a full-year class.

  • Tuition: $775

  • Instructor: Shin Yen

  • Dates: August 14, 2023 to May 2024 (the AP exam). 

    • See our FAQ for a complete list of days, times, and breaks.

  • Weekly Live Class: Friday | 2-3 p.m. Eastern

  • Optional Live Office Hours:

    • Wednesday | 2-3 p.m. Eastern (as needed, particularly around exam time to give students extra review and more detailed feedback on problems)

  • Prerequisites: Student should have successfully completed an honors-level or AP Precalculus class.

    • ​​For age/grade guidelines, prerequisites, and class-fit recommendations for all classes, please see our FAQ page.

  • Class Size: 30

  • Course materials are listed HERE.

  • Format: Zoom and an online classroom

    • Teacher-recorded instruction opens up each Monday. Live classes are held on Fridays.

    • Students who attend live classes are requested to keep their webcams on and participate.

    • Live classes will be recorded for those who miss classes or prefer to watch later.​

  • ​Please Note:

    • ​After registering, a diagnostic assessment will be requested from new math students to help assure families that the class will be a good fit.​ An email will be sent to registered students/parents with information.

  • This AP Calculus AB course complies with the AP course audit and has been approved by the College Board for the 2023-24 school year..​

    • On the 2022 AP Calculus AB exam, 83.3% of Shin Yen's students scored a 4 or a 5 (4=16.7% | 5=66.6%)

    • By comparison, the 2022 national average of AP Calculus AB students scoring a 4 or 5 was 36.5%.

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Foundational Elements

  • The classroom will open each week with:

    • Weekly announcements 

    • One or more weekly instructor-recorded lectures (typically 20-40 min each) for every textbook section covered during that week

    • Additional resources that will help students with the calculus content covered that week

    • Any quizzes or exams, if they are scheduled for the week

  • Recorded lectures:

    • Students will need to be disciplined about watching the pre-recorded lessons carefully at the beginning of each week in order to successfully complete the week's assignments.

  • Free response questions (FRQs):

    • ​Students will start learning to write answers to Free Response Questions (FRQs) from Chapter 1.  

    • All FRQs are graded by the instructor (not self-graded by the students) and detailed feedback is provided so the student can learn to write well thought-out responses to FRQs.

    • Test corrections are allowed to give students an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and earn points back!

  • Live class:

    • It is expected that students will work through each week's assignments prior to attending the live Friday class so that they can actively participate by asking questions and practicing the problems Dr. Yen presents. She will offer problem-solving approaches relevant to each topic.

  • During the week, students will be interacting with their classmates in discussion forums where they can post questions about assignments, answer other students' questions, or post solutions to problems.

    • Dr. Yen will be available to answer questions on homework assignments throughout the week via WebAssign, discussion forums, or messaging.

    • There will also be one or more TAs who will be available for help.

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Resources

The textbook for this class is Calculus for AP (either the 1st or 2nd edition) by Ron Larson and Paul Battaglia.

 

  • This is an excellent textbook designed specifically for the AP curriculum framework and exam.  While it carefully covers all the topics a calculus student will need to succeed in subsequent calculus courses, its emphasis is placed on AP exam material, and AP-style problem practices are provided in each chapter.

  • Students will be assigned weekly homework through WebAssign--an interactive platform with features such as Read It, Master It, and Watch it links that will direct students to the relevant section in the textbook (Read It), provide another version of the same problem, with step-by-step guidance (Master It), or offer a short video tutorial on the problem (Watch it).

  • An ebook of the text will be provided through WebAssign.

    • Optional: through the Blue Tent OnLoan program, students can borrow a hard-copy of the class textbook for use during the year and utilize both interactive and print resources in a manner that fits their learning preferences

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Dr. Yen has successfully taught AP Calculus AB and BC to many bright students over the years, and she looks forward to working with future students to nurture their interest in mathematics and prepare them for success.

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