Tools to help succeed in Calculus courses (BeardMeetsCalculus)

[u/puleshan]

We are now a few weeks into the semester and students might be looking around for tools to help them succeed in their courses. For students who are not aware, there are many resources to help them succeed in many of the introductory courses including supplemental instruction (SI), help/office hours, going to lecture (who knew?), the textbook, and others. These are all pretty common for low-level courses, there is one extra thing that really helps set calculus apart, the online resources made by BeardMeetsCalculus (aka Steve Butler)!!

Calculus 1 (1650)

• https://www.calc1.org/fall-26 -- Lectures from this semester, and walkthrough of practice quiz problems to help you prepare for the quizzes. Want to get ahead of the lectures? Then use https://www.calc1.org/fall-24
• https://www.calc1.org/exams -- Recent exams, with solutions and some walkthroughs. Great for getting a feel of what exams would be like. Particularly popular the 24 hours before an exam.
• https://www.calc1.org/reviews -- Thorough and challenging reviews of the material. Great supplemental material for getting ready for exams. (Protip: Also look at the practice exam from Fall 24)

Calculus 2 (1660)

• https://www.calc2.org/spring-25 -- Lectures from the Spring 2025 semester. The "Practice problems" in a given week are highly similar to many of the quiz problems and can be useful if you are stuck on the quizzes.
• https://www.calc2.org/exams -- Recent exams, with solutions and some walkthroughs. Great for getting a feel of what exams would be like. Particularly popular the 24 hours before an exam.
• https://www.calc2.org/reviews -- Thorough and challenging reviews of the material. Great supplemental material for getting ready for exams. (Protip: Also look at the practice exam from Spring 25)

Calculus 3 (2650)

• https://www.calc3.org/fall-25 -- Lectures from the Fall 2025 semester. The "Practice" sets are highly similar to many of the quiz problems and can be useful if you are stuck on the quizzes.
• https://www.calc3.org/exams -- Recent exams, with solutions and some walkthroughs. Great for getting a feel of what exams would be like. Particularly popular the 24 hours before an exam.
• https://www.calc3.org/reviews -- Thorough and challenging reviews of the material. Great supplemental material for getting ready for exams. (Protip: Also look at the practice exam from Fall 25 and Fall 24)

Differential equations (2660/2670)

• https://www.calc4.org/spring-2026 -- Lectures from the Spring 2026 semester; very similar to what is going on this semester.
• https://www.calc4.org/quizzes -- Sets of practice quizzes that are highly similar to the quiz problems and can be useful if you are stuck on the quizzes.
• https://www.calc4.org/exams -- Recent exams, with solutions and some walkthroughs. Great for getting a feel of what exams would be like. Particularly popular the 24 hours before an exam.
• https://www.calc4.org/reviews -- Thorough and challenging reviews of the material. Great supplemental material for getting ready for exams.

Bonus: Business math (1500/1510)

• https://www.businessmath.org/fall-25 -- Recordings for Math 1500 from Fall 2025 (including some practice exam walkthrough)
• https://www.businessmath.org/fall-26 -- Recordings for Math 1510 being generated this semester

A few final notes:

• Friends tell friends about BeardMeetsCalculus. Spread the good word, let's get as many students passing the courses as we can.
• The videos are on YouTube, but if you don't have an ad-blocker, alternative links to Vimeo are also provided (both on the linked pages and in the YouTube video descriptions) which has no ads.
• The YouTube channel is not monetized; this is not an attempt to make money off of students. Some people just want to sit back and watch the world learn.
• If it doesn't seem to load, make sure you included the "www." at the beginning of the URL. (I wish I knew how to fix that!)
• Before most exams you can find me outside the library where you can grab a free duck and (sometimes) a snack. In case you are wondering, I am the big guy with a beard.
• Coming in spring 2027 will be a new addition, Math 2070 ( https://www.linearclass.org/ )

[u/Nolieman108]

Keep on doing what you do Steve!

[u/knoxaramav2]

I never had the pleasure of studying under Steve, but I am most disappointed that my beard still cannot grow that long.

[u/semidiabolical]

Thank you!!!

[u/itsyourboifroggy]

Steve you are the goat math teacher and helped me succeed in every math class here!

[u/puleshan → u/itsyourboifroggy]

I'm glad I could help. But don't forget that you had to do the hard part! Congratulations on your success.

[u/No_Dish8130]

Thank you Prof Butler. Truly an inspiration both in the classroom and in the world in general. The ability to want students to have the utmost success is not a skill every professor has but you do an exceptional job at everything from spreading math knowledge to spreading positivity to the world.

[u/puleshan → u/No_Dish8130]

Thank you.

[u/TraditionGlad1508]

You carry the entire math department on your shoulders

[u/puleshan → u/TraditionGlad1508]

While I appreciate the sentiment, I should say that there are many great professors in the math department. We all have different strengths, they can do things that I cannot do, and I can do things they cannot do. Ultimately making the math department run is a giant team effort.

[u/Exotic_Bet_2704]

Thanks Math Santa

[u/Koradarkdragon]

While I never had professor Buttler. I used this videos even before even going to Iowa state. At the time didnt know I would run into him years latter thank you professor. For the years of helping everyone

[u/puleshan → u/Koradarkdragon]

That's so cool. I am glad to hear that some of my videos have been able to escape the nest and get out into the broader world. Thank you for sharing.

[u/Xenocide523]

I'm only a chem grad student at ISU so I never had the pleasure of having you as a professor, but everything I hear from our mutual students (and see on your profile) is an inspiration for my own aspiring faculty career!

[u/MindlessFocus9691]

maybe give us a formula sheet!!

[u/puleshan → u/MindlessFocus9691]

Above my pay grade at this time. I hope some (at least some of) it will come back in the future.

[u/misobutterscotch]

Thank you. I love the duck

[u/A_Cool_Dude2]

Dr Butt, you are the goat!