The Business Track primarily consists of two courses: an algebra course and an applied calculus course. Three of the CONNECT colleges (Bristol, Cape Cod and UMass Dartmouth) currently offer some version of these courses; Massasoit has similar courses under development; and Bridgewater State has no courses specifically designed for business majors.

Algebra Course

Spreadsheet comparing Algebra courses

There appears to be a great deal of disparity among the three colleges’ current offerings. For example, BCC’s course covers the basics of linear equations, linear systems, matrices, etc., while CCCC’s course does not. UMD’s course includes linear systems, but also incorporates linear regression and correlation, as well as quadratic and exponential regression. Both BCC and CCCC cover linear programming from a graphical perspective and include an introduction to simplex. Cape Cod covers quadratic functions, while Bristol does not. The curricula at all three colleges include an introduction to the mathematics of finance (interest and annuities), while CCCC and UMD introduce topics from basic probability and statistics.

BSC does not have dedicated courses for business majors; rather, they are required to take Math 100 (Precalculus I) prior to taking Calculus. That course is included in the Precalculus Track and will be discussed in that document.

Students’ level of preparation varies from school to school. For example, students may take this course at BCC with a 72 on the Elementary Algebra portion of the CPT; BSC business students take their classes if they achieve a 48 on the College Math test; CCCC requires an 82 on the Elementary Algebra test and a score of 40 – 62 on the College Math test. UMD has a unique prerequisite for their course: students must have a weighted score of at least 1320 when combining their CPT Elementary Algebra score with their Math SAT score.

Faculty members receive a textbook and listing of topics to be covered, and are generally not required to include technology into the courses. The only college to integrate technology is UMD, and they utilize TI-83/84 graphing calculators, SPSS and QM.

The makeup of the faculty teaching these courses varies from school to school, from as little as 20% adjunct at CCCC to 80% adjunct at UMD. It is unknown if these faculty members have had any course work or degrees in business or economics; perhaps this should be investigated. Such a background would positively augment the classroom experience for students.

Applied Calculus Course

Spreadsheet comparing applied Calculus courses

Typically, Applied Calculus courses differ from “traditional” Calculus courses in both content and rigor. Most notably, trigonometric functions are absent from such courses, and limits and continuity receive cursory coverage, if any at all. These courses also typically eliminate applications from physics in order to include more appropriate, business-oriented applications such as elasticity, marginal analysis and producers’ and consumers’ surplus.

That said, there still appears to be significant differences in the content of each college’s Calculus course. The most striking difference is the lack of a dedicated Calculus course for UMD’s business majors. UMD has decided to experiment with delivering that content within other courses (e.g., Economics). It remains to be seen whether that approach will be made a permanent feature of the UMD business major.

An additional difference is that BCC offers only one Applied Calculus course, while BSC and CCCC offer two (MCC has a course under development). Consequently, there are significant differences in content between the CONNECT colleges. For example, BCC’s coverage excludes exponential and logarithmic functions; further, it ends with an introduction to antidifferentiation, and that is the extent to which integration is covered there. BSC and CCCC students have a second course available for them, and these courses appear to spend a significant amount of time on integration techniques and applications of integration. BSC’s second Calculus course also introduces differential equations and their application, multivariable calculus, Taylor Series, and some probability distributions. Clearly, there are significant differences in the scope of these courses.

As with the Algebra course, the prerequisites vary by college and have been described above. Also, faculty members receive the materials mentioned above. The only college to integrate technology is UMD, and they utilize TI-83/84 graphing calculators, SPSS and QM. The adjunct/full-time rates are as mentioned above.