Talk:MAT1133

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Zach's Responses

"Derivative Properties" refers to all of the techniques for finding derivatives, and could be renamed "Techniques for Finding Derivatives," except that this also includes other topics. Maybe you should replace "Derivative Properties" with the following list:

  • Techniques for Finding Derivatives
  • Derivatives of Products and Quotients
  • The Chain Rule
  • Derivatives of Exponential Functions
  • Derivatives of Logarithmic Functions

It may instead be preferrable to replace "Techniques for Finding Derivatives" in the list of prereqs with the explicit list "constant rule, power rule, constant times a function rule, and sum-or-difference rule." As in:

  • constant rule*
  • power rule*
  • constant times a function rule*
  • sum-or-difference rule*
  • Derivatives of Products and Quotients
  • The Chain Rule
  • Derivatives of Exponential Functions
  • Derivatives of Logarithmic Functions

where these each topic with '*' link with to the page for "Techniques for Finding Derivatives"


Weighted averages are not used explicitly, but the concept of an average supports understanding average rate of change. We can just drop "weighted average" from the list of prereqs as long as "average" is still there.


The derivative at a point is number whereas the derivative of a function is a function. f'(a) vs f'(x).


"Tangent Lines and Derivatives" is the title of a section in the book, so that wording is not that important. This seems to be related to the previous question. The derivative at a point and the derivative as a function are two different (though obviously related) topics.

Maybe the two topics should be titled "Tangent Lines" and "Derivatives", with the several aspects of derivatives falling into the second topic. This would mean that the SLOs under each topic do not need to change.


The derivative as a rate of change is covered throughout weeks 3, 4, 5 and 6, though the phrase "derivative as a rate of change" isn't used. Every instance of "Apply understanding of derivatives to solve real world problems involving marginal C/R/P" is about the derivative as a rate of change.

Substitution here refers to solving an equation for one variable and then plugging that into another equation, i.e. systems of equations, which should be covered in 1053.


Demand Curves should be covered in 1053 when systems of equations are covered. I always briefly explain what supply and demand curves are, but I do expect students to have seen them at some point. Maybe this should be renamed "Supply and Demand Curves (systems of equations)."

Marginal Analysis is covered throughout weeks 4, 5, and 6. E.g. "marginal C/R/P" in week 4.