Calculus in high school over two years -- why?

[ucbalumnus]

<p>Regarding:</p>

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@starbright

The Rocky Transition From High-School Calculus

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<p>It is worth noting that [the</a> Mathematics department at UC Berkeley does not express much confidence in AP calculus scores of less than 5](<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/courses_AP.html]the”>http://math.berkeley.edu/courses_AP.html):</p>

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@UC Berkeley Mathematics department

While the Math Department has found that a score of 3 or 4 shows that a student is ready to take college calculus, it is not an accurate indicator of how a student will do in a college math course. High school calculus is not necessarily the same as college calculus. The professor’s expectations of what the students should know and have internalized (and not just memorized) can differ greatly from what high school students might expect.</p>

<p>Various factors such as the strengths of a student’s math background, the schedule for the first semester, and work, commute, and any other time commitments play a crucial role in determining how a student will do in his/her first math course at Cal. If you feel that your math background is not as strong as you would like, you may choose to take Math 1A even if your AP score could waive the requirement. The units will count as part of your minimum units required for the semester, but you will not receive units for both the AP scores and the class toward graduation.

</p>

<p>Regarding:</p>

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@starbright

The Rush to Take More AP Courses Hurts Students, High Schools, and Colleges

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<p>The proliferation of AP tests of dubious value in terms of university subject credit probably is not helping matters. For example, UC Berkeley’s policies on subject credit for some AP tests:</p>

<p>Chemistry: Nothing for Chemistry or Chemical Engineering majors, but gives one semester of chemistry course credit for other majors.
Physics B: Nothing.
Physics C: Nothing for Physics majors.
Statistics: Non-calculus statistics course. But many majors which require statistics, including Economics and Business Administration, require a calculus-based statistics course.
History (any): Nothing for History majors.
Economics: Need both micro and macro to count for an introductory economics course (minimum score of 5 for Business Administration major, 4 for Economics major).</p>

<p>For practical purposes, it may be better for students and parents to think of many of these AP courses as more advanced than usual high school courses, rather than university level courses. Although, as Oxtoby points out, they may need some changes to function optimally as high school courses giving the best preparation for university level courses.</p>