It’s a program hundreds of Brock students take every year, and now Math 1P97 — better known as Calculus with Applications — will be available online as of January 2017.

The online approach offers students opportunities to test their knowledge with randomly generated questions and fully interactive, hands-on explorations. Students from a wide variety of disciplines — such as business, biology or health sciences — will be able to access the course using their smartphone or tablet, where they can join chat rooms, discussion boards, and have access to an online teaching assistant.

The new online Math 1P97 was developed by a team with more than three decades of experience in teaching calculus, curriculum design and using computer algebra systems. The team from the Department of Mathematics includes Professor Bill Ralph, instructor Dorothy Levay, online course developer Mark Willoughby and PhD candidate Jesse Larone.

“Students are constantly engaged in a rich online culture, and this course gives them the opportunity to access their education in an environment in which they’re comfortable,” said Ralph on behalf of the development team. “The material is written in a friendly conversational tone that sets it apart from a traditional textbook presentation.”

Brock is known for its Mathematics Integrated with Computers and Applications concentration, which teaches the applications of computer programming for mathematics and introduces interesting investigations that can’t be done by hand. In keeping with this design philosophy, the online course will be divided into short interactive modules, which will deliver course material and immediate feedback on students’ progress in the form of guided exercises.

The online format will allow students to traverse these modules and assessments at their own pace.

All of the online course material will be made available upon registration.