Highschool Seniors

Curriculum for Students Entering Grade 12 (Seniors)

Differential Calculus
Note: A diagnostic exam will be administered to determine whether students will be assigned to Differential Calculus or Pre-Calculus.

This course is a study of functions using the derivative, which is the rate at which a function is changing. Geometrically this is the slope of the tangent lines to graphs of functions. In order to understand the derivative, we first must study limits of functions. After completing our study of limits, we will learn how to determine the derivative of a variety of functions using the standard methods (product rule, quotient rule, chain rule, implicit differentiation).The course will conclude with the key applications of the derivative - curve sketching and optimization.

Pre-Calculus
This course is a review of basic concepts, logarithms, functions and graphs, inequalities, polynomial functions, complex numbers and trigonometric functions and identities.

Seminar in English: The Personal Essay
In this class, students will produce a personal essay suitable for a college admission application. In order to achieve that goal, students will read a series of essays on American higher education that both describe and critique the university context. The class will discuss what the essays say about American universities and how they say it. Students will learn to notice exactly which words, which images and which sentence structures expert writers choose in order to create clear and effective works.

SAT Preparation
The SAT Classroom Course will provide students with key content and strategies that will enable test day success. The course will include diagnostic testing, four full-length practice exams, eight structured class sessions, online-resources, Lessons-on-Demand make-up sessions, emails to parents on their child's progress, and a full set of homework materials. The program offers a readiness, satisfaction, and higher score guarantee for those students who work hard and follow the program requirements.

Master Student Workshops
Students will attend six sessions designed to introduce them to techniques and strategies required to be successful in college. It will emphasize their role and responsibility in their own learning process.

Projects
Students will choose one three-week project that will serve as an introduction to the computer science and business administration majors offered at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. The project will provide students with an opportunity to apply analytical concepts and problem-solving strategies to real world problems.

Project #1 - Computer Science
The CS project will introduce students to the "Science" of Computer Science using a Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Approach. The study of HCI or how humans interact with various devices is essential to developing computer programs that are usable and smart. In this project students will learn HCI techniques for system design, and implementation of a prototype system using Java Programming language. Student groups are expected to design, implement and test a working prototype of a cell phone application of their choice.

Project #2 - Business Administration
The Business Administration project will give students an opportunity to work in teams, applying concepts and techniques learned to the operation of business. This simulation will enable students to experience the responsibilities and challenges that business executives encounter in the real world.

Project #3 - Information Systems
The Information Systems (IS) Project will introduce students to components of this major that are used to organize and generate information required for effective management decision-making. As time permits, the project will explore some of the organizational, technological, economic and societal aspects of IS. Students will gain an understanding of the importance of IS training in shaping our information-based world.

Tentative Weekly Schedule with Pre-Calculus

Tentative Weekly Schedule with Calculus