Date:

To:
From:
Subject:

March 06, 2016

Cal Poly Mathematics Department
Hser Poe <hppoe@calpoly.edu>
Recommendation Report for a Calculus Website

Attached is the study for my proposal, Creating a Convenient Website for Cal Poly Students in
Calculus. I noticed that Cal Poly does not have a website where students can access for
supplemental support in calculus. The website would consist of course materials such as
worksheets with practice problems, equation sheets, and lecture videos. I introduced two
proposals a website with course materials and tutor accesswhere I outweighed the pros and
cons supported by the results I gathered. The purpose of this report is to have every Cal Poly
students have access to supplemental work, if they are unable to attend supplemental workshops
or afford tutoring.
To carry out these tasks, I performed a primary research. I conducted an interview with Professor
Gervasi to understand his stance on this recommendation, and remarked the suggestions he gave.
Additionally, I conducted a survey for students to take in order to gather a poll of how beneficial
a website such as this would be for them.
From the results gathered, Professor Gervasi showed a strong support for this website, and he is
willing to provide his course materials to upload, if this website were to be implemented. Due to
time constraint, I was able to get ahold of one professor. The survey showed a strong skew in
favor of this website. With limited amount of time, I was able to gather a few suggestions on
tutor access. If I had more time, I would have gathered more data for this additional resource.
From the results gathered, there is a strong desire for a convenient website that would
supplement calculus courses. I highly recommend Cal Poly Mathematics Department to be in
support of this website to ensure that students are having as many resources as possible available
to them. It would benefit the many students who take advantage of the resources available on the
website, and those who cannot attend supplemental workshops or affording tutoring.
I want to thank you for your time and consideration in reviewing my recommendation report. I
look forward to hearing from the Mathematics Department. If you have any questions or
concerns, please contact me at hppoe@calpoly.edu or (661)578-3240.

Creating a Convenient Website for

Cal Poly Students in Calculus

Prepared for:

Mathematics Department
Morgan, Livingston

Prepared by:

Hser Poe

March 06, 2016

Table of Contents
Page
Introduction.

Context....

Background.

Solutions..................

Purpose ...

Methods...

Interview.

Survey.....

Results.

Conclusion..

Recommendation

Work Cited.

INTRODUCTION
Context
Cal Poly has about 47% of students in engineering and math and science department from 2014
[1]. These students are required to take the Calculus series which consist of Math 141, 142, 143,
and 241. There are additional resources such as supplemental workshops and tutoring being
offered on campus, however, some students dont have the time to attend the workshops or
unable to afford tutoring.
A student-run website with supplemental resources organized by specific topics in each calculus
course (math 141, 142, 143, 241) will be convenient not only for students but for professors and
tutors as well. Students who cannot attend workshops or afford tutoring will be able to save time,
and professors and tutors will have the convenience of referring their students to the website for
additional help.
Background
Currently, Cal Poly doesnt have a website where students can navigate to find supplemental
work that focus on specific topics Cal Poly professors cover. There are websites that contain the
help students need, which I find them difficult to navigate and comprehend.
Students have the inconvenience looking for topics that supplement their work from various
websites, and sometimes they dont get the information they need. Some of the popular websites
are Khan Academy and Chegg where they provide instructional videos and step-by-step
homework solutions to help students understand difficult topics in simple terms. Though they are
useful resources, students still spend time searching for topics that may or may not help them
with their homework or midterms.
With finals on the way, students are more likely looking for convenient ways to find help such as
lecture videos or helpful worksheets, if they dont have the time to attend office hours or afford a
tutor.
Solutions
My first solution is to propose a website that will contain all the topics that are required to be
covered by Cal Poly math professors. In each topic, there will be specific information such as
equation sheets, practice problems, and lecture videos that would complement the course.
My second solution is to provide tutors that have taken the courses. Students will be able to
provide reviews for their tutors for others to see their credibility and reliability. Along with this,
tutors will have the option of setting a profile for other students to see with information such as
pay rate, completed calculus courses, and availability

Purpose
The purpose of this recommendation report is to propose a convenient website for students who
are struggling with calculus and are looking for convenient ways for help. Students and
instructors can refer to the website for lecture videos, worksheets, or equations in their respected
course.
Students will be able to find reliable tutors from campus with knowing their background through
the reviews. This will be a resource students will be able to take advantage of by making the
most use of their learning and knowing the cost and reliability of tutors beforehand.

METHODS
The following section covers the primary research I conducted. I created a survey to determine
how many students would find a supplemental website for calculus helpful. Additionally, I
interviewed a calculus professor to understand his position on this potential website.
Interview
I interviewed a calculus professor with Polyratings of 3.0 or higher. One professor, I had contact
with was Professor Gervasi who teaches Math 142.
I presented my proposal idea to him with the goal of finding topics he covers and worksheets he
provides to his students. Additionally, I wanted to know some of the common struggles that
students encounter in his course and see if he would be willing to provide the worksheets and
videos for his lectures.
Survey
I conducted a student survey to determine how convenient a website such as this would be if it
were to be implemented. In addition to this, I provided an option for students to suggest
supplement work they would want to have on the website.

RESULTS
Interview
Professor Gervasi thought the website would be a great resource for Cal Poly students to access,
and he would be willing to support it any way he can. From the interview, he recommended that
I organized the supplemental resources by professors to ensure that students are learning from
the same style of teaching. He will provide his lecture videos and worksheets that he has for his
students if this website was to be implemented.

Survey
100 students participated in the survey. 95% of Cal Poly students voted in favor of having a
website that complement their course as shown in Figure 1, while 5% of the students opposed.
Students who took the survey range from those who have taken Calculus and who are
taking/planning to take Calculus.

FIGURE 1: The purpose of this poll is to determine how many students would find a simplified and compiled
website helpful.

When students were asked to give suggestions to how the website would be useful to them,
popular recommendations included having practice problems and lecture videos as shown in
Figure 2. Some of the other suggestions included having access to tutors for students.

Figure 2: A small collection of comments that students recommend to have on the website.

CONCLUSION
As students of Cal Poly, everyone deserves to be successful by having access to all the resources
that should be available to them. We are here to support one another and share our knowledge for
others to see. To introduce a website for this opportunity, many students will be more confident
in what they are learning, and Cal Poly may see a higher success rate in Calculus.
From the result gathered from FIGURE 1, it is evident that students are finding this future
website to be helpful in their learning. With resources such as videos and worksheets disperse
everywhere, sometime it is difficult to search for topics students need. Though its a small
sample size, the data shows a strong skew in favor of this website.
A problem may arise if the style of teaching is different from the professor or tutor. If the
materials are not being updated, students may be learning from what they assume to be from the
older materials. This may conflict with their courses, if professors do choose to add more
materials or avoid covering past topics.
In FIGURE 2, many of the similar suggestions students made were to have lecture videos and
worksheets with practice problems that gear towards Cal Poly math courses. This is why its
imperative to have the math department implement this website in their system. Its unfair to

have some students attending supplemental workshops and tutoring, while some may not have
the finances or time to do so.
From my second solution, I proposed to have tutors on the website, however, there were only a
few comments that made the suggestion. If time wasnt an issue, I would have added an
additional question in favor of this resource, and the data may show students in support of it. The
fact that students made a suggestion for this shows a need for it.
With the two solutions I proposed, I would want to have the website primarily focus on
organizing course materials as suggested by Professor Gervasi and many other students. The
least the website can do is alleviate the problems that students encounter by having as many
resources as possible made available for them to access.
If Professor Gervasi is supporting the website, the other professors may be in support of this
recommendation as well. The goal is to have as many students succeed as possible, which would
benefit the math department and Cal Poly in return.

RECOMMENDATION
Based on the results, I recommend the math department to support my proposal of creating a
website that would compile course materials for all Cal Poly students. Course materials would
consist worksheets with practice problems and equation sheets, and practice problems. If
implemented, professors and tutors will be able to refer to the website for their students.

WORK CITED
[1] Student Profiles [Online]. Available: http://admissions.calpoly.edu/prospective/profile.html