Calculus Support FAQ



The Diagnostic Test is a test given to all students taking a first semester Calculus course at SFU. It is designed to assess the student’s knowledge of the prerequisite material. All the material on the exam should be familiar to you from your previous mathematics courses.

All students taking Calculus I (Math 150, 151, 154, or 157) write the test. This includes students who have taken the diagnostic test previously.

An understanding of prerequisite material is essential for success in Calculus. Most often a student struggles with Calculus because their background is weak, so it is important to check your background to ensure it sufficient for Calculus. View the test as an advisory tool that will give you a good understanding of how well you are prepared for the challenges of Calculus.

On the Firday of the first week of the term (May 11, 2018). It is held during your regular class time, in your regular classroom.

It is a 40-minute, 30-question multiple-choice test designed to test your knowledge of prerequisite material.

This test helps to identify students likely to have trouble with Calculus, so they can be given extra support.

Calculus support accounts for 5% of your course grade. The diagnostic test is graded pass/fail. If you achieve a sufficiently high mark on the test, you automatically get this 5%. If you do not pass the test, you may get this 5% by participating in Calculus Support Sessions and Calculus Support LON-CAPA assignments. See questions below about Calculus Support Sessions.

Bring a pencil, eraser and your SFU student ID. You must answer in pencil on a Scantron bubble sheet. No calculators of any kind are permitted.

No. No formula sheet is permitted. No formula sheet will be provided.

You should not need to prepare for this test. If you do not understand the material well enough to pass the test without preparation, you probably will benefit from the Calculus Support Sessions.
That being said, you may want to refresh your memory of this material. You can do the Diagnostic Test in Stewart's Calculus (our course textbook), and/or try the practice Calculus Readiness Test, or download and try the assessment test offered by UNB.
If you find that you have to study really hard to re-learn this material then this is a strong indication that you are not yet prepared for Calculus and will benefit from the Calculus Support Sessions offered during the semester. It may also be an indication that Math 100 (Precalculus) would be a more suitable choice to bring your background up to speed.


Anyone who does not pass the test should complete the Calculus Support Sessions work. This includes any students who did not write the diagnostic test.

Yes. Although you will have access to the sign-up container in LON-CAPA, please do not sign up. You may go to a session, provided the session is not overfull. You may also do the LON-CAPA assignments if you wish. They will not affect your grade.

When the support sessions coordinator has announced that sign-up has begun, follow the instructions.

Each session runs for one hour each week. They start in the third week of classes. See the schedule of topics for details. LON-CAPA assignments start at the same time, and are due every week. Both sessions and LON-CAPA continue during midterm weeks, but not reading break.

You are welcome to attend a different session, provided there is sufficient space in the room. This will count for your participation in the usual way. You do not need to sign up for this alternate session, just go.

Everyone is welcome to sign up for any session. There is no difference.

If the support sessions coordinator has announced that sign-up has begun, try logging out then logging back in. If that doesn't work, try a different server (such as dalton.chem.sfu.ca, lewis.chem.sfu.ca, or nernst.chem.sfu.ca.)

There are a few things to try:
  1. There is a known bug that sometimes causes this problem. Try switching to a different server (such as dalton.chem.sfu.ca, lewis.chem.sfu.ca, or nernst.chem.sfu.ca.)
  2. LON-CAPA is fussy about some inputs. For example, "cos(0)" is the cosine function evaluated at zero, while "cos (0)" is a variable named "cos" multiplied by zero.
  3. Your answer may nonetheless be incorrect.

Participation in the sessions forms 3% of your grade. Participation means attending one session per week and working on the problems during the sessions. You may miss one session and still receive full marks. Weekly LON-CAPA assignments form the other 2% of your grade. Your Calculus class may also have LON-CAPA assignments. The Calculus Support LON-CAPA is additional work.