If there's any course where slower pace and careful explanation is key, it's calculus--especially Calc I.
Here's why:
1. Students naturally will be afraid of a new level of math and think it's hard. This is the same thing we see in Algebra I.
2. The thinking is the most abstract students have ever seen at this point.
3. Concepts from precalc and earlier math courses may have been forgotten and could need re-explained.
4. Problems suddenly become much more in-depth and require thorough, step-by-step instructions.
5. Not everyone will "get it" right away. Sometimes, it takes a while, and even at the college level, professors need to make sure the students understand a concept before moving on to the next one.
6. It's harder to relate calculus to real-life examples outside of math-intensive fields. A good professor will be able to do this.
This also falls on whomever is developing the curriculum and who's selecting texts. If you have a text where half the problems aren't demonstrated, you're asking for trouble. The scope and sequence must be manageable for a student of a certain age. Sometimes, it's best to have a class like calc four times each week rather than three.
Having writing in calculus is actually a good thing--if you can write about what you did, it shows an understanding of things. It may seem like a pain, whether it be proofs or paragraphs, but it actually does help to aid your understanding of a concept. Sometimes, I'll make the students I work with explain it in words or through annotated problems if it isn't either a proof or paragraph.
IIfx talks about math professors getting 1s and 2s (out of 5) on Rate My Professor. The difficulty of finding college professors is that many of them really aren't versed in the art of teaching. They're great at what they do, whether it be math, writing, psychology, chemistry, history, etc. They simply aren't good teachers.
For many of them, they entered a field like math because they've always been good at it--yet they have trouble explaining to others how to do it in simpler terms/steps as a result. Think about our old Macs on here. Let's say you encounter a person who has never used one before and needs to go as basic as the "Macintosh Basics" disk (or whatever tutorial based on the age of the Mac) that used to come with Macs--yet you don't have one and have to teach them yourself.
For some of us, it's going to be a nightmare to do this. We won't be able to explain the mouse in simplest terms. We won't be able to make the analogies between a folder and a real-life folder. If you're a teacher by trade, it's going to be a lot easier, and even then, I feel teaching is either something you're born with and have a lifelong passion for--or it's something you can develop to a reasonable level.
(This actually goes for anything--my vocational gift is teaching, and I know I would have been a terrible computer programmer because even though I was good at it, I had no passion for it and would have done a half-hearted job while dreaming about teaching instead).
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