• Allow your students to effortlessly switch among visual, numerical, and algebraic representations of calculus concepts.
  • Shift emphasis from manipulative skills to fundamental calculus ideas.
  • Improve students’ engagement and concept retention by exploring more realistic problems earlier.
  • Introduce your students to professionally developed, rigorously tested, and fully documented mathematical modeling software that will help them throughout their studies and careers.
  • Communicate mathematical ideas using a single notebook that includes explanatory text, formulas, pictures, as well as MATLAB commands, outputs and graphics.

Some Benefits of Using Computation in Calculus Courses:

Research shows that the thoughtful inclusion of computation in calculus courses (Murphy, 2006) provides a dynamic, hands-on, learning environment (Vasquez, 2015), promotes concept understanding (Awang, Zakaria, 2013, Leng et. al. 2009), keeps students engaged (Colonna, Easley, 2011), and increases their competence and confidence (Merriweather, Tharp, 1999).


Free Course Materials:

Texas A&M University (symbolic, using Early Transcendentals, 8th edition):

University of Maryland (symbolic):

University of Ohio (mixed symbolic and numerical):

Redwood College (mostly numerical):

Other Calculus course materials (numerical):




Video Lectures:

Pre-Calculus and Algebra Lectures:

Calculus Lectures:

Note: since “inline” will be discontinued, to follow through the videos in the links below replace function definitions like “f=inline('sin(x)/x','x');” with function definitions like “syms x f(x); f(x)=sin(x)/x;”

Differential Equations and Linear Algebra:



MATLAB Documentation and Examples for Calculus:

An introduction to Symbolic Math Toolbox utilities for calculus:

Common calculus topics in the Symbolic Math Toolbox documentation:

Other Symbolic Math Toolbox examples:

Numerical functions commonly used in calculus:


More MATLAB Information:

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  • MATLAB Onramp, a free, interactive tutorial (and other self-paced courses)

Free Auto Grading:

MATLAB in Industry:

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