← all courses

Calculus through Data & Modeling: Applying Differentiation

Johns Hopkins University · View on Coursera ↗

Taught by Joseph W. Cutrone, PhD

Math and LogicData Science

Coursera
4.7
headline rating
Starisk
4.5
Holds up
Small sample. Only 14 reviews were readable, so this score is a hint, not a verdict. Every other course page reads about 20 of the most-helpful reviews.

About the course

As rates of change, derivatives give us information about the shape of a graph. In this course, we will apply the derivative to find linear approximations for single-variable and multi-variable functions. This gives us a straightforward way to estimate functions that may be complicated or difficult to evaluate. We will also use the derivative to locate the maximum and minimum values of a function. These optimization techniques are important for all fields, including the natural sciences and data

The dissent

The most-upvoted critical review (1 vote, 3.0★).

“grading errors, plus not enough coverage of problems”

3.0 / 5

Read the full review on Coursera ↗

Coursera's 4.7 comes from 63 ratings. Of those, 1.6% are 1–2★.

Starisk reads the reviews learners voted most helpful, and weights each by the square root of its votes: a review with 80 upvotes counts about five times one with 2. Unvoted reviews are not skipped out of laziness — by this model they carry no evidence that other students endorsed them.

That measures what the most-endorsed reviews say, not “true quality.” The rating distribution above is the whole population, so you can see the sample next to it.

Reviews read on 23 Oct 2026.Read them on Coursera ↗