Mathematics Faculty Profile
Dave Dwyer
Professor of Mathematics, Department Chair
Mark Gruenwald
Professor of Mathematics
For Dave Dwyer and Mark Gruenwald, both professors of mathematics at the University of Evansville, receiving a $150,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop a new calculus textbook will allow them to address the need for a mastery of calculus by students in a growing number of disciplines. "Historically, calculus was a tool used primarily by mathematicians, physicists, engineers, or high-level researchers in other areas," Gruenwald said. "Today, it is used extensively — even at the undergraduate level — in chemistry, biology, environmental science, and economics."
The grant will support the development of their project, Resequencing Calculus, which will serve as the cornerstone of a revised three-semester calculus sequence. The first two semesters will be appropriate for students in the life sciences, economics, and general chemistry. The addition of the final semester will strengthen the full sequence for math, physics, professional chemistry, and engineering majors. "To accomplish this task will require a large-scale reordering and modification of the topics found in the traditional treatment of calculus. By front-loading the calculus sequence with material most likely to be applied to the real world, we believe we can make calculus more accessible for our students. Because there are no existing textbooks that take this approach, we are creating our own," stated Dwyer.
Gruenwald and Dwyer will start testing their new curriculum in Fall 2010. In addition to their project Resequencing Calculus, Dwyer and Gruenwald have co-authored a series of college textbooks including College Algebra, College Algebra and Trigonometry, and Precalculus.
