Mailman 3 January 2006 - Edu-sig

Python-Only Moodle?
by kirby urner Jan. 29, 2006

Jan. 29, 2006

Here's an idea. Given a lot of us teach Python, plan to, or have ideas for doing so, if we had shared access to a Python Moodle someplace, we could develop open source courseware, either as individuals or in teams. The Algebra with Python stuff I'm doing could be cloned to the new site. I'm pretty sure the backup zip I'm able to create through the interface, will restore to another Moodle. I could easily transfer the content in that case. Others could roll their own. Seems like a good idea (didn't someone already propose this?). I'm sure there are plenty of alternatives to Moodle, but so far it seems like a pretty workable solution to a problem. It's more vertical market than Plone, i.e. is built from the ground up with distance education courseware in mind. I don't have the server or the time to get a Moodle up and running. But if someone in the Python community does, and wants to use edu-sig as a staging ground and talent pool, I bet we could go places with it. Lots of new tutorials, useless python and vaults of parnassus type stuff could be recast in a more distance education friendly format. Kirby 4D/OCN

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Fwd: Starting Python
by kirby urner Jan. 28, 2006

Jan. 28, 2006

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: kirby urner <kirby.urner(a)gmail.com> Date: Jan 27, 2006 5:15 PM Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Starting Python To: adam <adam(a)monkeez.org> I think the Python curriculum for children that young is still in its infancy, yet we've already seen many promising developments, Pygame being one of them (although the package by itself is quite low level -- best to start with working code, as Adam is doing). I've had some success with Madlibs at that age, i.e. fill-in-the-blank stories, where the reader/user supplies the missing nouns, verbs and so on. After playing user for awhile, you get to pop open the source and change the story itself, preserving syntax. I'm teaching 8th graders once a week this year, and learning a lot doing it. That's a little bit older than 12 though, more like 15. In the meantime, I'm working on a moodle to define a Algebra with Python course that isn't overly age/grade specific, i.e. an adult could use it. It's directed primarily at teachers, but I expect some of the more curious students will find it and flip through it, just for kicks. My hope is to get a guest password for members of this list, so other teachers can eyeball my latest and greatest math/cs hybrid (yes, it's basically more of the same). Kirby On 1/26/06, adam <adam(a)monkeez.org> wrote: > > Catherine, > > > Adam > > > > I'm an old COBOL programmer/analyst that have moved on to other areas > over > > time. I'm trying to get my 12 year old interested in computers instead > > of > > just playing games. I've gone through a number of the tutorials > available > > on the internet but haven't come up with suitable examples that would be > > suitable for a 12 year old to try. He can enter the instruction in some > > of > > the tutorials but he can't comprehend how he might use python. Have you > > > come across any simple exercises for kids. > > > > Catherine > >

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Cut and paste from Moodle (apologies if formatting messed up)
by kirby urner Jan. 28, 2006

Jan. 28, 2006

1Introduction to CS201<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=78> What this course is about: learning enough Python to make your explorations of algebra concepts more enjoyable and self-informative. Getting Started<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=79> Some brief remarks about getting going in Python How to Think Like a Computer Scientist<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=80> The Python version of Allen Downey's open source book, with Jeff Elkner. Introducing Sequences<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=81> A first look at sequences as a stepping stone into various algebra topics. On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=82> Enter the beginning terms of your sequence and see if there's a corresponding sequence in the database. Pythonic Mathematics<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=84> I wrote this PDF for Europython 2005, held in Gothenberg, Sweden. This PDF summarizes a lot of my thinking at the time, and likely reflects a lot of my thinking to this day. I also have an accompanying PowerPoint version<http://www.4dsolutions.net/presentations/pythonicmath.ppt>(shared with my audience in Sweden). This course needs DVD clips<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=98> I think a lot of this material would be much more accessible if we had an easy way to pull up relevant short clips, such as we find on Sesame Street about the letter A or number 5, except about other topics (the ones studied here). The emergence of video.google.com is an exciting development in this regard. Classroom Infrastructure<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=99> A posting to the Math Forum about new technology I'd like to see in the classroom. 2Prime and Composite Numbers<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=100> Let's review what we know about the positive integers: they break down into roughly two sets: the prime and the composite. The numbers 1 and 0 don't really belong to either group. Basic Operations in Python<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=101> In this curriculum segment, we investigate primitive numeric operations, plus we import some functions from the math module. Euclid's Algorithm for the GCD<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=87> Euclid's algorithm is one of the oldest on record. We don't think Euclid invented it, any more than we suppose Plato first discovered the five Platonic solids. However, Euclid, like Plato, helped ensure this valuable method remained available to subsequent scholars. Functions and Looping<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=102> Here we look at control structures within the body of a Python function. We also take a look at how to set default arguments. Generators and Pascal's Triangle<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=120> The concept of a generator is not unique to Python -- I believe it was inspired by a feature in Icon, another language, just like list comprehension syntax was inspired by Haskell. A generator is like a looping function with state, i.e. it remembers local variables from one cycle to the next. Dot Notation<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=121> Common to many object oriented languages is dot notation, a way of using the period to gain access to an object's properties and methods. 3Triangular and Square Numbers<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=89> Let's write Python functions to return the Nth term in the Triangular and Square number sequences. Tetrahedral and Cubic Numbers<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=90> Now let's use Python to generate these polyhedral number sequences. Cuboctahedral and Icosahedral Numbers<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=91> Finally, let's explore this important number sequence, and where it takes us in molecular biology, crystallography, chemistry, and architecture. Python and Mathematics (PyCon 2004)<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=96> Note: I was unable to actually present this paper owing to sudden news of family illness. I was in DC for a symposium on Buckminster Fuller, on a panel with E.J. Applewhite and others. Then I helped Blaine D'Amico with a science workshop for kids (we built at octet truss out of toothpicks). After that, I flew home. Microarchitecture of the Virus<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=114> The icosahedral numbers thread turns into the geodesic spheres thread, leading to microbiology (virology), architecture (Tacoma Dome etc.), and chemistry (buckyballs, nanotubes). Prototyping Shelters<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=115> This is a sidebar on pioneering work in the world of shelter design. Fuller called them "environment controls" in an effort to counter our prejudicial imaginations, which a very biased towards a particular concept of "home". Perhaps these prototypes are for vacation or resort villages, or for disaster relief. 4Types of Object<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=105> Now that we've learned about controlling flow using functions, it's time to package our functions, as methods, into objects. Objects maintain state and allow us to organize our thinking using metaphors that remind us of our real world experience, of objects with properties (e.g. color) and behavior (e.g. wags tail). Playing with Robots<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=110> Ideally, this curriculum segment will benefit from marketplace innovations in the "programmable robot pet" genre. This course would especially benefit if the control language were Python. 5The Rational Number Type<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=106> Let's develop a Rat class (or name it something else if you're afraid of rats). The Polynomial Type<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=107> Polynomials have degree and coefficients. In this module we develop a compact way of expressing polynomial objects, such that we may multiply them together. Dividing one polynomial by another is not guaranteed to give you a new polynomial however. Polynomials form a Ring (see future module). Vector Type<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=108> We're going through these in fairly quick progression. This is a preview course. We go back and dissect and embellish in more detail in follow-up courses. This is all about whetting the appetite and providing overview. A Quick Dive into Fractals<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=113> When two complex numbers multiply, the Argand Diagram shows a rotation and magnitude effect. An iterative approach (start with any complex number on the plane and keep plugging back in) will give a divergent or convergent result, with the rate of divergence driving a color wheel mapping. Fractals with Python and PIL<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=116> PIL is Python's Imaging Library. Using PIL, we're able to control the individual pixels on a canvas object, allowing us to publish the visual representation of a fractal, once we've chosen a color scheme. Python Code for a Vector Class<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=117> No need to reinvent the wheel. Start with working code, tweak to taste. Python Code for Talking to POV-Ray<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=118> Python is a good glue language. What does that mean? In this module, we translate "vector talk" (is in coords.py) into "scene description language," the native language of POV-Ray <http://www.povray.org/>. Replace "html" with "py" in the URL for a plaintext version. A Shapes class<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=119> This may be more source code than you want or need. Many will call my approach idiosyncratic, in that I make use of quadrays, a type of simplicial coordinate system, plus calibrate my volumes to match those of the concentric hierarchy in synergetics. These are somewhat esoteric features that only a few teachers will probably care for, at least initially. 6Modulo Number Type<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=109> This class allows us to set a class variable (new concept in this context), namely the Modulus N for all the objects. These objects, basically integers, will then perform arithmetic operations modulo N. GCD and Relative Primality<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=86> If two integers have no factors in common other than one, we say their relatively prime, or coprime. Some people call them "strangers." They have no common denomintor. Our GCD function will therefore tell us about the relative primehood of any two integers. Euler's Totient Concept<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=88> The totient of a positive integer N is the number of smaller positive integers that are relatively prime to N. For example, the numbers less than 12 with 1 as the only common factor are: 1, 5, 7, 11. Therefore, the totient of 12 is 4. 7Properties of a Group<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=85> A review of Group Theory concepts covered so far. Vegetable Group Soup<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=97> This demo uses vegetables in place of integers in Z(6). The supplementary reading is somewhat technical for early algebra students, but the demo itself should prove fairly digestible. Properties of a Ring<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=92> The algebraic structure known as a Ring introduces and second operation, in relationship to the first. We have full group properties for the first operation, but not the second. Properties of a Field<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=93> Fields have two operations, both with full group properities, plus the distributive relationship between them. 8Polyhedra and Symmetry Groups<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=94> Polyhedra may be categorized according to what kinds of rotational symmetry they support and their various axes. For example, the icosahedron is 5-fold symmetric around its vertex-to-opposite-vertex axes: if you rotate it 1/5th of a complete rotation around such an axis (72 degrees), it ends up looking unchanged. Symmetry: A Unifying Concept<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=95> by Istvan and Magdolna Hargittai 9Fermat's Little Theorem<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=103> Fermat's Little Theorem defines a condition that's always true for prime numbers, but is also true for some composites. By tweaking the condition, we're albe to filter out almost all composites, but not all of them. Euler's Theorem<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=104> Euler's Theorem is actually more general than Fermat's Little Theorem, i.e. once we prove Euler's is true, we get Fermat's as a consequence. Crypto 101<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=112> A short introduction to the history of cryptography, with special attention to the symmetric secret key system versus the public key system. This is how we pay them back for slogging through some of those number theory segments: RSA will be somewhat comprehensible. 10Topical Review and Class Party<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=111> This might be some multi-media blow-out, where we recap a lot of content visually, with allusions to future possibilities, but let the students have fun, let off steam, stage a dance, invite a band, whatever. ------------------------------ You are logged in as Kirby Urner<http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/user/view.php?id=13&course=19>( Logout <http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/login/logout.php>) CS201 <http://winterhaven.teacherhosting.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=19>

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Off-topic query for rur-ple users
by Andre Roberge Jan. 27, 2006

Jan. 27, 2006

Please, accept my apologies to bring this slightly off-topic question. This is the only way I know to reach RUR-PLE users. How important is it to have a browser included within rur-ple itself? Would there be any objections in eliminating the browser, and using your favourite browser (firefox, etc.) to read the lessons in a separate window? You may want to send your reply directly to me (return address should be part of the message; if not: andre dot roberge at gmail dot com) so as to not "pollute" induly this list. Thanks, André ==== P.S. Just a note about the fact that this is not *completely* off-topic for this list: the PLE in RUR-PLE stands for Python Learning Environment. It is designed for learning Python for people that don't know anything about programming (hence the post to the python-tutor list). It has been used by some teachers in a classroom environment (hence the post to the edu-sig list). It has been very strongly inspired by Guido van Robot (hence the post to the gvr-devel list) and has served as the basis of the world-builder module now included with GvR.

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Re: [Edu-sig] Starting Python
by Andy Judkis Jan. 27, 2006

Jan. 27, 2006

Hi Andrew, I would have a look at RUR-PLE, at Livewires, and also the book Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Michael Dawson. RUR-PLE is great for a little while, it's a little robot on the screen that can be programmed to move around mazes and so forth using a very limited set of instructions. It's quite an eye-opener to kids to see how a few simple constructs can lead to all kinds of unexpected behavior. Go to http://rur-ple.sourceforge.net/ I think that the Livewires stuff (http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/pyBiblio/livewires/course/) is a good follow-on to RUR-PLE. It's very well organized as a Python module built on top of pygame plus a set of instructional material and game-oriented challenges. I found that even these simple challenges are too hard for my kids (15 and 16 years old) to understand without a lot of additional hand-holding. Beware of assuming that things that are obvious to those of us who are experienced programmers are going to be obvious to kids who've never programmed at all. The idea that someone with no previous exposure will find Python "readable" seems pretty optimistic to me -- I'm sure there are kids like that but I haven't had any in my classes. Something as trivial as for val in range(10,0,-1): print val print "Blastoff!" is not self-explanatory to normal people! We're about to start a Python club of our own here at my school, perhaps we can trade notes, maybe have our kids email one another? A bunch of the kids here are excited by the prospect of a regional programming competition for high-schoolers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (http://cs.njit.edu/contest/) It's limited to Java and C++ this year but they said they'd consider expanding that list for next year. . . Regards, Andy Judkis Academy of Allied Health and Science Neptune, NJ

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Pre-announcement announcement
by Arthur Jan. 25, 2006

Jan. 25, 2006

I will going out with the PyGeo1.0 alpha release within the next few days. There has been about as much attention to detail connecting to this release as I am capable. Tested on WindowsXP with Python2.4 and ubuntu Linux and Python2.3. Nonetheless, there is the having left home and forgotten something important, I'm not sure what, kind of feeling.. My intention is to promote PyGeo mostly outside the Python community. And if I have any success it will be the first exposure by some folks to Python. So it would nice if I got it nice. The site is http://pygeo.sourceforge.net with downloads available on sourceforge. My impression of how impressions are formed on projects such as this is on the weakest link in the chain So frank feedback from anyone willing to take some time and have a look is appreciated. Art

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Re: [Edu-sig] Europython Monday 3 July to Wednesday 5 July 2006
by Laura Creighton Jan. 23, 2006

Jan. 23, 2006

In a message of Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:21:08 +0100, Grégoire Dooms writes: >Laura Creighton a écrit : > >>In a message of Fri, 20 Jan 2006 13:14:48 +0100, Grégoire Dooms writes: >> >> >>>I have been using Python for 3 years for one of our AI courses at >>>UCLouvain. The software is based on Peter Norvig's AIMA python code, bu >t >>>I've also developped a few puzzles and games for weekly assignments. >>>This course also features an agent development contest where groups of >>>students compete in a championship. >>>I am considering preparing a talk about this experience. >>> >>>All the best, >>>-- >>>Grégoire Dooms >>> >>> >>Sounds cool. Do you compete with other schools? >> >> >No, not yet :-). This competition is one assignment out of 7 (of a 5 >ECTS course). >I am thinking of giving students the agents of the year before to see if >they can come up with ways to enhance the results. >This will be for next year. > >Is there a CFP for Europython ? What is the deadline for submitting a >paper/talk ? Not yet, and not set yet. Laura > > >Best, >-- >Grégoire > >_______________________________________________ >Edu-sig mailing list >Edu-sig(a)python.org >http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig

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Re: [Edu-sig] Europython Monday 3 July to Wednesday 5 July 2006
by Grégoire Dooms Jan. 23, 2006

Jan. 23, 2006

Laura Creighton a écrit : >In a message of Fri, 20 Jan 2006 13:14:48 +0100, Grégoire Dooms writes: > > >>I have been using Python for 3 years for one of our AI courses at >>UCLouvain. The software is based on Peter Norvig's AIMA python code, but >>I've also developped a few puzzles and games for weekly assignments. >>This course also features an agent development contest where groups of >>students compete in a championship. >>I am considering preparing a talk about this experience. >> >>All the best, >>-- >>Grégoire Dooms >> >> >Sounds cool. Do you compete with other schools? > > No, not yet :-). This competition is one assignment out of 7 (of a 5 ECTS course). I am thinking of giving students the agents of the year before to see if they can come up with ways to enhance the results. This will be for next year. Is there a CFP for Europython ? What is the deadline for submitting a paper/talk ? Best, -- Grégoire

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Re: [Edu-sig] Europython Monday 3 July to Wednesday 5 July 2006
by Laura Creighton Jan. 20, 2006

Jan. 20, 2006

In a message of Thu, 19 Jan 2006 20:36:06 EST, Arthur writes: > > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: edu-sig-bounces+ajsiegel=optonline.net(a)python.org >> [mailto:edu-sig-bounces+ajsiegel=optonline.net@python.org] On >> Behalf Of Laura Creighton >> Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 7:43 PM >> To: edu-sig(a)python.org >> Subject: [Edu-sig] Europython Monday 3 July to Wednesday 5 July 2006 >> >> Ok, now that EuroPython is no longer in my home town in >> Gvteborg, I am more free to organise things around here. >> (The last 2 years I have been more involved with making sure >> that everything works ok, in the way that a co-chairman can only be.) >> >> This means that I have only done a minimal job of getting US >> the Europython we want. >> >> This year I will have more time. >> >> Ok gang, its our conference. We have a budget to invite some >> people we like ... and Kirby > >Glad there was more to the sentence. ;) > >Art I am never going to live this down, I know it, I know it I know it,. Kirby, forgive me. Laura >

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Starting Python
by Andrew Baisley Jan. 20, 2006

Jan. 20, 2006

I have just started a Python club after school, presently I have 15 members 14 - 17 yrs old. None of them has any programming experience. We have Python 2.4 installed on our network. I am looking for good ideas/resources to capture their imagination and get them going. Any suggestions gratefully received. Yours, Andrew Baisley Haverstock School Camden London UK -- Yours, Andrew Baisley

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