Thursday, October 20, 2005

Assignment: Favorite Functions Revisited

Now that we have explored the derivatives of functions, it is time to take another look at favorite functions. This time I want you to choose a function whose derivative function you like and explain why you chose it.

Mine is good old e to the x. You probably know why. Sure, it is its own derivative. Imagine that. A function whose rate of change is the same as the function itself. What a concept!

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Assignment: Plan, Do, Study, Act

At the end of WWII, General Douglas McArthur was placed in charge of the army of occupation in Japan and was tasked with rebuilding the country. He called upon the assistance of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a statistician whose methods had been shunned by American industry. As it turns out he was instrumental in getting Japan's industrial base back on its feet. In less than 50 years, Japan went from making cheap and low added value products to the manufacturing of the highest quality precision work in the world and we probably know the rest of the story as we look around to see Honda, Sony, Mitsubishi, et. al.

Deming is credited with developing a tool called the Deming Cycle also known as the PDSA Cycle. The cycle is a tool for continuous improvement. PDSA stands for Plan-Do-Study-Act. Deming maintained that as we go through life with all of its processes, we should strive for continuous improvement by applying the cycle.

Plan: Plan ahead for what we are going to do.
Do: Execute our plan.
Study: Study the results of our plan.
Act: Decide if we are happy with the results and then make changes as necessary.

The cycle is never-ending and should result in continuous improvement. As I have coached over the years I have urged my runners to analyze their performance by determining what they were happy with, what they were unhappy with and deciding how to change. As the first 6-week term ends, it is time for you to do just that. Please take some time to reflect back upon your experience in AP Calculus for the first term. What are you happy with? What do you want to change? How are you (we) going to change it?