My dept chair finally agreed to let me
have an hour to present Python to the math dept during our staff
development day last Friday. I knew that an hour wouldn't be enough,
so I wrote a manifesto : ) which is attached. <br><br>I instructed my colleagues to install
Python and download the manifesto on their laptops and bring them to my
room for the session. I didn't want to do it in a lab, as I didn't
want them to think of Python as something remote. I wanted them to see
how easily accessible all this is. When you run the manifesto, the
first thing that appears is a question asking, "How many digits of pi
would you like to generate today?" We decided on 1000, and as the
digits were printing I exclaimed, "You've NEVER seen this happen
before, have you?" That was fun.<br><br>Then I had them do some bare bones Shell interactions - 2**10000, etc.<br>
<br>I didn't dwell on Python exclusively - I showed various quotes from
the 2020 report a few years ago, the recently released final report
from the National Math Advisory Panel stating that research DOES bear out the usefulness of programming in math for concept formation, and an opinion piece from the
American Mathematical Society on the importance of open source vs.
proprietary software in mathematical discourse. I think that helped
shift the discussion to another level - it was clear that I wasn't
simply talking about just another kind of calculator.<br>
<br>It seemed to go very well - during the presentation I felt that my
message was getting across, and they even applauded at the end! So,
slowly, slowly, slowly, resistance is being overcome.<br><font color="#888888"><br>- Michel Paul<br>
</font><br>P.S. The reference to the colored text and "Go Normans!"
was kind of an inside joke. Black and orange are our school colors,
and at the end of all announcements the principle always says,
"Gooooooo Normans!"<br>