The Principles of Calculus project builds upon the success of a previously-funded New Mathematics Gateway project, led by a faculty team at the University of Riverside in partnership with Yuba College and Saddleback College. As part of Learning Lab’s Calculus Grand Challenge cohort, the initial project aimed to reduce persistent equity gaps in STEM education through an innovative, research-informed calculus curriculum called Principles of Calculus (POC). Preliminary pilot data demonstrates improved student performance and reduced equity gaps among underrepresented students at the participating institutions.
While traditional calculus courses focus on procedural knowledge like evaluating limits or performing integrals, the POC approach orients students toward foundational concepts including function decomposition, symmetry operations, and approximation methods, equipping students with deeper mathematical understanding for tackling real-world STEM problems. The POC project has three goals: (1) build out the curriculum in a web-based platform as flexible Open Educational Resources that faculty can modify to align with departmental requirements; (2) develop an outreach plan for scaling adoption with focus on California Community Colleges, informed by faculty interviews; and (3) create and pilot outreach strategies including brief videos introducing the POC approach and benefits for students and faculty. Successful execution will optimize the potential for broadening faculty adoption and scaling equitable calculus instruction across California—particularly benefitting students at California Community Colleges where equity gaps in STEM fields remain most pronounced.