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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Calculus by The University of Sydney

4.8
stars
3,517 ratings

About the Course

The focus and themes of the Introduction to Calculus course address the most important foundations for applications of mathematics in science, engineering and commerce. The course emphasises the key ideas and historical motivation for calculus, while at the same time striking a balance between theory and application, leading to a mastery of key threshold concepts in foundational mathematics. Students taking Introduction to Calculus will: • gain familiarity with key ideas of precalculus, including the manipulation of equations and elementary functions (first two weeks), • develop fluency with the preliminary methodology of tangents and limits, and the definition of a derivative (third week), • develop and practice methods of differential calculus with applications (fourth week), • develop and practice methods of the integral calculus (fifth week)....

Top reviews

JP

Oct 9, 2023

Great course, the professor explains with excellent examples and the exercises really reinforce the material and are challenging. Thank you for offering this great courses from excellent universities.

AF

Apr 8, 2022

An excellent course, especially if like me you had done some calculus in the past and wanted a refresher. David is an excellent, clear, and attentive tutor. I can't recommend him enough. Many thanks.

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51 - 75 of 1,083 Reviews for Introduction to Calculus

By Diego R G

•

Jun 3, 2019

Excellent course! I learned so much in such a short amount of time. It's an excellent introduction to calculus and a good way to increase your mathematical skills. The lectures are great and the readings allow you to get all the information at your own pace and are a good way to get familiar with proper mathematical language and notation without being hard to read (if you have paid attention!). The quizzes and exercises are challenging enough to make you think and feel rewarded for being able to solve them, but not enough to make you want to quit them (in fact, I had a lot of fun doing them!). My advice to other people that want to take the course is not to rush it and to do all readings and exercises (try to get a perfect score in all the exercises and to understand all the questions before attempting each week's quiz). I am grateful to the University of Sidney and to professor David Easdown for making a calculus course of such high quality accessible to everyone. I feel more confident in my math skills and ready to keep learning more advanced stuff

By Carlos O

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Jan 24, 2021

Excellent course. Pertinent, interestingly related and (very) well explained topics; excellent support material with hundreds of exercises and more than fifty extra readings; Professor Easdown demonstrates his math passion as much as his interest in having student to actually think and learn. An inspirational educator.

The course itself covers the main Calculus themes which, in my case, I didn't have contact for more than 25 years, so, as refresher it was quite pertinent. Practical examples are given and can be extrapolated to several current issues (like Covid issues or growth of world population or even Bach, the theme for every video). Btw, the example using a real car trip was fantastic, there's only an issue I was unable to understand... in the end, was there a speed ticket? :)

Finally, I would like to thank you, Professor and team, for putting together and making available such quality course and materials. It made me curious and inspired for more. I am sure others students will also feel the same.

Wishing you all the best, Carlos

By Phil

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Apr 11, 2020

This is a very well-crafted course that builds in a very systematic way. The algebra also builds in complexity. The quiz's are challenging and prepare you well for the module assessments. The notes are well written and will serve as good references for me in the future. The delivery of the content is done with enthusiasm, clear mastery of the subject and clear diagrams and explanations of the key concepts. Thank you very much for a beautifully crafted course, I wish I had understood Calculus this well when I was in high school. Highly recommend the course. However, for me, I found I needed to spend much longer that what is estimated in order to fully grasp some of the more difficult quiz questions. The notes and the forums do fill in the gaps when you get stuck. I feel an enormous sense of achievement and confidence in the subject. Thanks Prof!

By Mohammad B S

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Jul 12, 2021

This is an excellent course. I highly recommend it. Nevertheless, I have one piece of advice for you: don't try to finish it in five weeks!

Mathematics is a subject that can not be digested in large chunks. You will do well if you would study for just one lesson a day. Watch the lecture, read the notes, and solve the quiz after each subject. Don't study for more than one lesson per day as you will be too exhausted to concentrate. If you study one subject per day, it will take you three to four months to finish the course. This is the normal time for a university-level course. Also, you would need a thick notebook and a pencil to solve the problems and exams given in the course.

Calculus is the foundation of many scientific and all engineering disciplines. I hope that you will also pass this course.

By Brian A

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Feb 2, 2020

This course was a ton of work and took me a lot longer than 5 weeks to complete, but I absolutely loved it! The material is presented by a fantastic, well-spoken professor with a contagious enthusiasm for the subject. The well-built user interface includes video instruction with accompanying notes and practice quizzes. The user forum is also super helpful where the professor offered help to students' questions along the way. I found the default deadlines helpful to maintain momentum, but appreciated being able to reset them in order to accomodate demands on my personal time. Altogether, this course is world class and well worth the effort. Thank you, Coursera and Professor Easdown!

By Michael C

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Aug 8, 2019

This course was exceptional as a refresher for someone (me) who hasn't engaged in calculus in over 13 years. Professor Easdown communicated concepts in a straight-forward, easy to understand manner. It shocked me how he introduced so much material, so quickly, so concisely, and so thoroughly. The readings followed and expanded on the videos exceptionally well and will serve me well as reference sheets for the future.

This summer, I attempted 3 other processes to learn Calculus, each leaving me more lost and frustrated than the prior method. I only wish I had found this course earlier! If any seek a good introduction/refresher to Calculus, I recommend this before anything else!

By An H

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Mar 8, 2020

I wanted to review pre-calculus and that's exactly what i found in this course.

David Easdown is a great lecturer and conveys the best attitude towards mathematics possible. It was so much fun to listen to him explain everything. Also he's very active in the forums for this course, answering pretty much any question arising which is great if one has trouble with the exercises for which he has also provided general hints in the forums.

This course was perfect for regaining all the knowledge i learned in school 15 years back. And this over a the course of 10 weeks spending just over 100 hours. (I was going a bit slower on my own terms)

By Adam R

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Feb 10, 2020

I used this course as a refresher (I took calculus ~6 years ago in high school) and it was very effective as such. I prefer written notes to video lectures, so I cannot speak to the quality of the videos, but I found the notes to be concise, effective, and easy to follow. They provided several interesting and informative proofs and derivations that I don't recall learning about originally. I would highly recommend this course to anyone mathematically minded, whether or not they have taken a calculus course before. Many compliments to Prof. Easdown, who was very helpful in the forums.

By Rukshan J S

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Sep 13, 2020

I enrolled in this course a long time ago and at first, I did not go through because I saw a lot of exercises. Little did I know that those exercises were very carefully created to cater to the best learning experience for the student. Prof. Easdown is the best Calculus teacher ever! If anything kept me going throughout this journey, it was his enthusiasm when teaching. Thank you soo much sir! "Please read the notes, and when you are ready, please attempt the exercises", the enthusiasm is priceless. Again, thank you, sir, and thank you Coursera!

By Chris A M

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Jan 18, 2020

The lessons were delivered clearly and explained the content thoroughly, delivering both mathematical methodology and history, allowing students to grow and develop an appreciation of the mathematical concepts. The tutor was superb with his teaching methods, and often replies to questions on the forums when a question seems to difficult to overcome.

Would definitely recommend to future students who are new to the concepts behind calculus, as the high quality of the content provided gives clear insights into what-seems-to-be difficult concepts.

By David N

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May 17, 2020

I can not rate this course highly enough. The instructor has this contagious enthusiasm and genuine love for his subject. The accompanying lecture notes are really helpful and the quizzes push you hard. I would love to see a course on more advanced calculus from him. Although being an introductory course, it does not shy away from slightly more complex topics and leaves the student with a broad understanding of calculus. These were four very enjoyable weeks and I am now eager to dig deeper into advanced mathematics. Thank you very much!

By Nick C

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Feb 17, 2020

This was a fantastic introductory course to the basic concepts of calculus. Dr. Easdown is an amazing teacher able to distill the most complex of topics into simple and easy-to-understand language. His passion for mathematics is palpable and infectious. I would highly recommend taking this specific course to those looking to get an introduction into calculus or even to those looking for a refresher in topics before more advanced study. It was well worth the effort over the five weeks. Thank you so much, Dr. Easdown!!

By Arthur S

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Jun 1, 2020

I would like to thank Prof. David Easdown for the very good presentation and lectures that he had given. I took this class to refresh me with fundamental concepts of Calculus as I have taken the Calculus courses more than 40 years ago. The presentation is very clear and the reading materials enhance the concepts that are discussed in the presentations and provide clear examples that I used as guides in reviewing and taking the chapter quizzes.

I look forward taking other courses from Prof. David Easdown in the future.

By Robbert W

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Oct 9, 2020

Great introduction course to calculus. I was looking for a course to freshen up my math knowledge from my high school time (20 years ago). This covered a lot of the key topics and went deeper into the reasons and proofs behind certain laws and rules. The pace is good and the setup allows you to skip ahead to quizes if you already have a good command of one of the topics. Only downside is that, due to nature of a digital platform, all quizes and assessments are multiple choice.

By Vikram C J

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Apr 23, 2020

Really thankful for this wonderful course. Prior to this course I never had the confidence over the concepts of calculus. During my school days all I was taught was "How to solve the differential equations, etc." with not even slightest of emphasis put on teaching us what we were actually doing and why we were doing it. This course gave me the understanding that I liked. Guess I'll be one of those now spreading "Math is fun". Thank you Coursera and especially Professor Easdown.

By Imam S

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May 18, 2020

This is the best calculus introduction course i've ever seen. The way David Easdown teach was very very good and easy to understand. He mixes history with concept of math so you don't just learn to use calculus techniques, but also understand the history and the concept behind it. Very very recommended for those who seeks an introduction to calculus. Though, a bit understanding of algebra will be helpful. Kudos to University of Sydney and David for making this course free!

By Nirosh S

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Jun 9, 2020

Great execution ! I deeply think that the math presented here are affordable for everyone and therefore is a great way to get initiated to the calculus. The teacher is great and the videos, the sheets and quizzes provided are really good to improve the understanding of each themes covered.

I'm starting new studies in mechanical engineering and it was really refreshing and educating to follow this course. Thanks a lot to provide such great content ! Definitely recommended.

By Anantharaman K

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May 14, 2020

The course is excellent on content and its Delivery. Mr. David's, the instructor, enthusiasm and energy is infectious (poor analogy given the time but still an absolute FACT). Covered pretty much the basics and introduction to calculus in a fun way. Content Delivery is awesome and extensive with range of examples. The course is designed like a continuous story, coherent with previous week's modules and his presentation is extraordinary. Please Keep up the good work.

By Светлана К

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Sep 12, 2019

It was my gretest pleasure to listen to the lectures of Mr. Easdown. I liked Math at school, our teacher was very knowledgable and passionate about the subject. I've met just a couple of such great teachers like him. Mr. Easdown now is one of them. Even though I started this course just to refresh logarithms, I could not resist to finish it and always looked forward to the next lecture. Moreover, I would love to attend another course made by Mr. Easdown!

By Jeffrey M I

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May 4, 2020

David Easdown is one of the best educators I have ever had the privilege to study with. His knowledge of the material is clear, but what is more remarkable is his ability to explain the advanced concepts in a clear and concise manner. Even more impressive and notable is his enthusiam for the subject - he has clear joy in studying the field, and he shares this almost mystical enthusiasm and wonder with his students. Thank you for the experience.

By Mohamed R A P

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Jun 14, 2020

One of the best course I have ever learnt from Coursera. David is an excellent instructor and explains the concepts thoroughly. The best part is that he himself answers all your doubts directly. If you want to have your basics strong in Calculus this course is for you. A very good course and I am pretty much sure that you won't be disappointed taking this course. Thanks a lot to Prof David and Coursera team.

Thanks & Regards,

Mohamed

By Gregory S

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Jun 1, 2019

Excellently presented course with a great instructor. David Easdown's enthusiasm for the subject helped keep me motiviated. It does require a lot of work per week to keep up with the suggested schedule of the course, but just keep in mind they are not hard deadlines and your progress is not lost if you do not meet them. If you want a great introduction into one of the most interesting and useful areas in maths, give it a go!

By Gilberto B

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Apr 20, 2022

The Calculus is a fundamental tool for engineers and is incredible the ways this teacher approaches this introductory course, it is highly recommended for begginers, as for engineers who wants to review the fundamental concepts of this important topic. It is remarkable the way he teaches the basic concepts of algebra to reach the calculus, is outstanding!! Thanks to Coursera and to Professor David for this opportunity.

By David G

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Mar 3, 2023

David Easdown was a very good instructor and provided excelllent support when needed. The course was set out very well and worked on a steady gradient of difficulty which made achieving goals and milestones worthwhile. I would recommend this highly to someone wanting to get a thorough grounding in Introductory Calculus. This has been a rewarding experience. Thanks to Coursera!

By Tomer P

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Aug 30, 2020

Marvelous and fascinating course. David is teaching this course with such passion and enthusiasm. Every small detail is explained with care and provided with examples which help students fully understand and experience why the theory behind works. The fully detailed reading notes and quizzes accompanied to each lesson are the icing on the cake. Highly recommended.