Rationale for the conference

During the last decade, calculus renewal efforts occured at all levels of post-secondary institutions as outgrowths of the Tulane Conference in 1987 and the subsequent national conference on Calculus for A New Century, hosted by the National Academy of Sciences. An MAA special report, Assessing Calculus Reform Efforts [1], estimated that “at least 150,000 students or 32% of all calculus enrollments in the spring of 1994 were in reform courses.” Since 1994, several reform calculus texts have been among the highest selling nationally, and the number of institutions utilizing one or more aspects of reform in their calculus courses continues to rise. The calculus renewal movement continues to have a significant impact on undergraduate mathematics education. Instructors have experimented with alternative teaching methods that included the use of technology, collaborative learning, and out-of-class projects. These methods were integrated into new curricula with an increased emphasis on conceptual understanding. Today, all new editions of calculus texts, even so-called traditional ones, incorporate significant themes and problems developed as part of the calculus renewal movement.