Welcome to AP Calculus AB!

AP Calculus, Second Semester is the second half of a two-semester AP Calculus course. It is designed to prepare you for the AP Calculus AB exam and subsequent college-level math courses. Throughout the course we will focus on a balance of skills, conceptual understanding, and the use of technology.

Prerequisites

Prior to taking AP Calculus, you should have successfully completed four years of high-school math: two years of algebra, one year of geometry, and one year of pre-calculus that includes trigonometry. You should also have completed the first semester of AP Calculus AB or its equivalent before beginning this course.

Textbook

The textbook for the course is the seventh edition of Calculus of a Single Variable by Ron Larson, Robert Hostetler, and Bruce Edwards (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002; ISBN 0-618-14916-3).

Required Technology

You will need access to the following technologies for this course:

high-speed Internet connection (strongly recommended)
a graphing calculator (TI-89 strongly recommended)
a scanner, so that work can be submitted electronically. (Some cell phones include apps that allow the phone to work as a scanner, but be sure your phone produces readable scans.)

Course Design

To navigate through the course, you will primarily use the Modules tool. Within each module you will encounter objectives, reading assignments, discussions containing additional examples and explanations, and practice problems in the form of assignments to help you grasp the presented concepts. Each module ends with a quiz or test to determine if you have mastered the material.

You will not be permitted to work more than two assignments ahead of the last graded part of a previous module. For example, you cannot do Assignment 6 until everything in Module 4 is submitted and graded.

Evaluation

Final course grades are based upon:

30% Homework Assignments (6 Assignments - found in the Assignments page)

10% Quizzes (2 Quizzes, found in the Quizzes page)

40% Mid-course Exams (4 Exams, found in the Quizzes page)

20% Final Exam (found in the Quizzes page)

The grading scale for the course will be the following:

97 A-plus, 93 A, 90 A-minus; 87 B-plus, 83 B, 80 B-minus; 77 C-plus, 73 C, 70 C-minus; 67 D-plus, 63 D, 60 D-minus; 59 and below, F

Note: According to IU High School policy, you must achieve a D- (60%) average on the course exams (4 exams plus the Final) to pass the course.

Taking Exams

Exams in this course can only be taken once all previous assignments, quizzes, and exams have been taken and graded.

The exams for this course are all proctored exams and require an access code to open. The access code will only be sent to an approved proctor.

It can take several days for your examination request to be approved and your exam access code to be sent to your test site, so please plan ahead.

Acceptable proctors are:

- High School Principal, Assistant Principal, Guidance Counselor, or Administrative Officer of a high school or accredited college or university (e.g. a registrar)
- Librarian at a public library
- Proctor at the testing center of a college or university
- Director of a learning center like Sylvan or Huntington

Except for the Final, each exam is to be printed out and completed on paper. The completed exam should then be scanned, and the scanned file should be uploaded back into Canvas to be graded.
To request an exam, you must complete the exam application found in each exam review page. If you have questions about exam procedures, please refer to the Student Handbook link in the syllabus. If you have further questions about exam policies, please contact the IU High School office at 800.334.1011 and ask for the Exams Coordinator.

Final Exam

The Final Exam is designed to be similar to the AP Exam. It is a 30 question multiple choice exam, taken in Canvas. Because it is taken in Canvas, it is also possible to use Examity, the at-home proctoring option.

Schedule for Students Planning to Take the AP Exam

If you are planning to take the AP Calculus AB Exam in May, you should do your best to stick to the following schedule.

     Complete             By
Module 1               January 20
Module 2               February 10
Module 3               February 24
Module 4               March 16
Module 5               March 30
Module 6               April 13
Module 7               April 27

Note: There is an extra exam fee charged for ordering an exam after Nov. 15. You should order and schedule your exam as soon as you are sure you are going to take it.

Taking the AP Calculus AB Exam

For those of you planning to take the AP Calculus AB exam, it is typically administered nationwide at exam test sites in early May. Indiana University High School (IUHS) is not an AP exam test site. You will need to arrange to take the AP exam by doing the following:

Call AP Services at 609.771.7300 or 888.225.5427 no later than March 1 to get the names and telephone numbers of local AP Coordinators. Prepare a list of all exams you plan to take prior to calling so that the appropriate Coordinators can be identified.
Contact the AP Coordinators identified by AP Services no later than March 15. When calling Coordinators to arrange testing, be sure to provide them with the following information:

You are trying to locate a school willing to administer AP exams to homeschooled students or students from schools that do not offer AP exams.

You will use a different school code so your exam grade(s) will be reported separately from the school at which you test. (Homeschooled students will use the state homeschool code provided by the Coordinator on the day of the exam; IUHS students will use school code 150219.)

The exams you plan to take.

The IUHS online provider code is 435.

Once you locate a school willing to administer the exams, that school's AP Coordinator is responsible for ordering your exam materials, telling you when and where to appear for the exams, and collecting your fees, which he or she may negotiate to cover additional proctoring or administration costs. That school must administer the exams for you; it cannot forward them to you or your school for handling.

Contacting Your Instructor

The easiest and fastest way to contact me if you have a question or problem is by sending me an e-mail message at the e-mail address listed in the home page. Additionally, you should add my e-mail address to your regular e-mail program in case the Canvas site becomes temporarily unavailable. Finally, you can contact me via phone by contacting IU High School at 1-800-334-1011 and requesting to speak with me.

Tips for Success

Learning a new topic successfully on your own requires self-discipline. I recommend that you set aside a specific time each day to devote to working on this course, just as you would if you were attending a regular face-to-face class. Work all of the recommended problems and check your answers. And remember, you are not alone. Use the forums or chat room in the menu at the left to talk with fellow students in the course. By discussing problems with other students, you will become better at understanding the material yourself.

Getting Started

Go to the Modules link and click on the first module to begin the course.