
Dr. Michael Coons
- Email: mjcoons@csuchico.edu
- Website: https://mcoons-math.github.io/
Research Interests:
- Aperiodic Order
- Fractal Geometry
- Number Theory
CURE-E Course: Analytic Geometry and Calculus (MATH 120)
Project Title: Application of calculus within students’ disciplines
As part of the course assessment, there will be a two-part assignment that aims to help the student understand how calculus is applied in the student’s discipline. In the first part of the assignment, the students will articulate problems/situations in their discipline to which calculus can be applied. In the second part, the students, in small groups (2-3), will produce a 2 page paper/report that will not only describe the problem in the context of their discipline from part 1, but will describe a solution including pertinent examples.
The purpose of this course is to introduce calculus via analytic geometry for future use in the students’ disciplines. The inclusion of the CURE-E project will increase student awareness of the necessity of mathematics—specifically, calculus---within the students’ disciplines, which hopefully leads to both better understanding/appreciation of mathematics and higher student performance in first-semester calculus.
