Mailman 3 July 2007 - Edu-sig

Python in Secondary Schools
by Sven Forum July 18, 2007

July 18, 2007

Yup, I'm a student at the Erasmus High School in Brussels. In about 1 year I'm going to graduate as a teacher in mathematics, history and informatics. I 'll give math and history to children between 12 and 15 years old and informatics to those between 14 and 18(+) years old. This is the Belgian model ... informatics just starts in the third year of secondary schools. It's a course of 1 or 2 hours (~50 minutes) a week. The emphasis is on Microsoft office packets Word, some Excel and a little Access, ... programming happens in Pascal (most of the times), a language I personally despise, and the pupils need to know a little about networking, the www (some html), new thingy 's, ... and some other bits. #Q1: What model does your country use? Before I graduate, I, of course, have to write a graduation paper (~correct term?). Now, I fell madly in love with Python. So I want to write my paper about teaching Python in secondary schools ... I'm thinking about a textbook from the third year up until the last year, teaching basic concepts using this beautiful language. On top of that I'm also a great fan of Free Software and Open Source ... My favorite sources for Python are: * How to Think Like a Computer Scientist, Learning in Python * Dive Into Python * The Livewires Python Course #Q2: What should a graduated student (18y) need to know or, perhaps better, where should I stop? Which books are recommended? --- Values, Types, Expressions, Statements, Operations, Procedures, Functions --- Strings, Lists, Dictionaries, Tuples --- Logics and Conditionals --- Loops, Recursion, Iteration --- Classes and Objects, methods and attributes, Inheritance, Overloading --- ADT: Stacks and Queues, Trees, Linked lists Getting blurry now ... --- Files, Pickle, Error Handling --- Sockets, Server, Client --- ??? --- Using a database --- CGI --- HTTP, html, xml handling --- GUI programming --- ??? #Q3: If I copy-paste the GPL and GFDL into (respectively) the examples and my textbook, is that enough to make it Free (as in Freedom)? Or do I have to register somewhere? Motivation is important. The students need to see and feel the use of programming. For instance, making a pacman-game (Livewires) will give students enough motivation. Or making a little script to rename all photos from some holiday ... Or making a small and raw server-client chat program ... Or a simple webserver in Python and then go from there to set up your own WAMP/LAMP. #Q4: What little chores did you solve using Python? What would interest you as a 14-18 year old? When did you think like "Man, if I only knew how to start solving this problem... how does this works?" I know these are some big questions, but I hope you can help me out of your own experiences ... Regards, Sven

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Session One: Pythonic Math sa: 8144
by kirby urner July 17, 2007

July 17, 2007

So this was the first of four sessions, each 3.5 hours long. This is the curriculum module for "algebra only" kids I summarize in my CP4E slides for Vilnius: MVC paradigm, using string.Template, with two maybe three Views out the back (Python the Controller, standard vector math for the Model): POV-Ray and VPython, with X3D if we have time. Since I'd just returned from Vilnius, I spent some time briefing 'em on the conference itself, with Saturday Academy's blessings and encouragement. That meant showing Flickr slides of the venue, as well as my CP4E talk itself, with much of the time on the __rib__ syntax slides, as we'd already started our Tk-based Python shell session as follows (after the intial history lecture): (1) first ** for exponentiation, explaining how ^ is what many languages use (kudos to the student who guessed we'd use ^ -- I constantly poll the class with questions, elicit lots of participation). Then: 2**100000. Not every calculator can do that! (2) then, after a little dinking with "Python the calculator on steroids", we go: >>> dir(__builtins__) # car engine, but how does it work, what does it do? [discussion] >>> dir(1) # any integer -- it's the *type* that matters [more discussion] >>> dir('cat') # str type >>> dir([]) # getting in to more data structures >>> dir({}) # one of the most important ones Pause for them just to play around in discovery learning mode, with lists and dictionaries, while I struggled to solve the projector puzzle (it's another new room, lots of good equipment, but no remote for the ceiling mounted projector -- solution: stand on a chair). Now, with Ubuntu running (Beryl for session manager -- a student clued me how to boot Beryl, after the boot process decided not to, given feedback from the projector (the one other Ubuntu user in the room, far as I could discern)). I then reviewed: (a) interactively reconfiguring IDLE (we'd done alittle already, converting to shell mode boot up vs. the text editor default set by the Vpython installer), (b) then played and projected in earnest re those data structures, talking most especially about lists today, as in mylist.append, mylist.pop and indexing (zero-based). Then, in response to a student question, I did a somewhat detailed account of: (c) import random and using randint as an example of what's going to be central in Python: importing, from the Standard Library, from 3rd parties with different release cycles. More on lists and dictionaries tomorrow, and probably every day (I talked a lot about the difference between recall and recognition learning, which they well understood). Finally, after all this hard work, it was time to reiterate the overall structure of the class (MVC with various Views), then kick back to watch 'Code Guardian' (about 10 minutes?) by Marco Spitoni (c) 2007. We'll do 'Warriors of the Net' tomorrow. One point of showing 'Code Guardian' is it's an example of render-time movie making, versus runtime game making (the latter a big focus at Europython I discovered, somewhat to my surprise -- Argentina stands out in this regard). RenderTime versus RunTime is a big theme of this course. See Aug 2006 SciAm for more on their possible future convergence (with RPUs instead of just GPUs for hardware). I had them test boot POV-Ray in anticipation of tomorrow, close everything, logout. Class dismissed! Looks like we're ready to roll. More tomorrow then. Kirby

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New: 'Python for Math Teachers' on showmedo (series of 5 so far)
by kirby urner July 16, 2007

July 16, 2007

In line with Jeff's suggestion, I've got some new screencasts at showmedo.com. My 'Python for Math Teachers' series. They're far from perfect, my first experience making such screencasts. In one of them I say "curly braces" when talking about parens. But I'm getting some positive feedback from viewers. Plan to add more down the road. Packing my suitcase to head home from Vilnius now. S'been a really good time in beautiful Lithuania. Gotta get back to Portland to actually start teaching my sa: Pythonic Math class. Then Ubuntu conference followed by OSCON. Very busy July! Stuff about EuroPython in my blogs FYI, e.g: http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2007/07/europython-day-1.html http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2007/07/connecting-dots.html (my talk) http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2007/07/few-photos.html (more in Flickr **) http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2007/07/version-control.html http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2007/07/python-in-control-room.html http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2007/07/concluding-europython.html Kirby ** mostly just Vilnius itself (still adding to this set): http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315@N00/sets/72157600695798539/

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a non-rhetorical question
by Andy Judkis July 14, 2007

July 14, 2007

I've just completed my 6th semester as a teacher, teaching 2 sections per semester of a 10th grade course that includes a 4 week introduction to programming in Python. Here's a question from one of my exams: Write Python code that will ask the user how who is the best looking teacher in the school. The program must loop until the user responds either "Mrs. McGrath" or "Mr. Judkis". If the use responds "Mr. Judkis", the program must print out "Excellent choice." If the user responds "Mrs. McGrath", the program must print out "Also a fine choice." If the user responds with anything else, the program must print out "Wrong, sorry." and ask again. Rather than catalog my frustrations, let me just pose a question to you all -- how much Python exposure do you think it should take before a student should be able to answer this question? If a student can't even answer this, is it reasonable to say that they have learned any programming at all? (I know that they might have learned something -about- programming, but that is not the same thing.) Thanks, Andy Judkis (By the way, anybody out there going to be at CS4HS next week at CMU? If so I'd love to get together with you . . )

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Re: [Edu-sig] a non-rhetorical question
by Laura Creighton July 13, 2007

July 13, 2007

In a message of Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:20:15 EDT, Jay Bloodworth writes: <snip> >I'm just not sure that geometric models are likely to help with >the difficulties struggling students often have. Two examples: > >* It's like pulling teeth to get students to respect order of operations >and remember consistently that -3^2 = -9. Where's the geometric model >for that? > >* (a + b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2, not a^2 + b^2. Here there is the >standard geometric area model for multiplication. Sometimes I present >multiplication with the model, sometimes not. It doesn't seem to change >the error rate. <snip> >Jay Something I have had success with is dividing what I am teaching into a) universal truths about the way the universe works vs b) notational conventions which are true because we all agreed on it. using '+' for add instead of '!' is notation. using ( ) to group things and not {} is notation. but given that we have agreement, the reason that (a + b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2 is because that is _really the way the world works_. Having a computer helps. You write code and try it yourself for a lot of values of a and b, and can really prove that (a + b)^2 != a^2 + b^2 to your own personal satisfaction. Which is why I want geometry first, to give students a whole lot of exposure to geometric proofs of geometric truths. Laura

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Crunchy release 0.9.1
by Andre Roberge July 13, 2007

July 13, 2007

Crunchy 0.9.1 has been released. It is available at http://code.google.com/p/crunchy Note that, if you have downloaded version 0.9 or version 0.9.0.1 you likely will not need to download this latest version.... Then again, for people on this list, there is a significant new addition. What is new since version 0.9? * Possibility to log selectively part of a session (as instructed by a tutorial *writer* such as a teacher who may want to evaluate students). This experimental feature is the main reason to have a new release. It should be of particular interest for people on edu-sig. * Bug fix (0.9.0.1): Output containing <....> was not displayed in version 0.9 * Support for generation of image files is now done through threads (rather than subprocess) and addition of a "load image" button, which prevents from having to generate the image twice. * A windows installer version is available. * Minor experimental cosmetic additions. * Improved "readme" file. Bug reports, comments and suggestions are always welcome. André, for the Crunchy team. ====================== What is Crunchy? Crunchy is a an application that transforms html Python tutorials into interactive session viewed within a browser. We are not aware of any other application (in any language) similar to Crunchy. Currently Crunchy has only been fully tested with Firefox; we know that some browsers simply don't work with it. Crunchy should work with all operating systems - it has been tested fairly extensively on Linux, Windows and Mac OS. What is new since a few months ago? Crunchy has been rewritten from scratch from the previous version (0.8.2), to use a custom plugin architecture. This makes easier to extend and add new functionality. Rather than list the differences with the old release, it is easier to list the essential features of this new version. 1. Crunchy can work best with specially marked-up html tutorials. However, it can now work with any html tutorials - including the official Python tutorial on the python.org site. Html pages can be loaded locally or remotely from anywhere on the Internet. Crunchy uses a combination of Elementtree and BeautifulSoup to process html pages. Non W3C-compliant pages can be handled, but the visual appearance is not guaranteed to reproduce that normally seen using a browser. 2. Crunchy can insert a number of Python interpreters inside a web page. In the default mode, it does that whenever it encounters an html <pre> element which is assumed to contain some Python code. These interpreters can either share a common environment (e.g. modules imported in one of them are known in the other) or be isolated one from another. 3. Crunchy adds automatic css styling to the Python code - you can look at the official Python tutorial using your browser (all Python code in blue) and compare with what Crunchy displays to give you a good idea. 4. Instead of inserting an interpreter, Crunchy can insert a code editor that can be used to modify the Python code on the page and execute it. The editor can be toggled to become a fairly decent syntax aware editor that can save and load files. 5. Crunchy has a "doctest" feature where the code inside the <pre> is taken to be the result of an interpreter session and the user has to write the code so as to make the interpreter session valid; this is useful in a teaching environment. Messages from the Crunchy's doctest are "friendlier" for Python beginners than the usual tracebacks. 6. Crunchy has a small graphics library that can be imported, either inside an editor or an interpreter, to produce simple graphics (even animations!) inside the browser. 7. For the user that needs better quality graphics, Crunchy supports programs (such as matplotlib) that can create image files; by executing the code, the image produced is loaded inside the browser window. In this capacity, Crunchy could be used as a front end for libraries such as matplotlib. 8. Crunchy supports code execution of files as separate processes, making it suitable to launch gui based application from the browser window. 9. Crunchy's interpreter has an interactive "help" feature like many python-aware IDEs. 10. Crunchy includes a fairly comprehensive tutorial on its own use, as well as a reference for tutorial writers that want to make their tutorials "crunchy-friendlier". 11. As a security feature, crunchy strips all pre-existing javascript code from an html page before displaying it inside the browser window.

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Re: [Edu-sig] a non-rhetorical question
by Richard Guenther July 11, 2007

July 11, 2007

Thanks Kirby, what a link! I think taking on a project like that with a group of my brightest students would be a great alternative to going through a more traditional curriculum. I have the luxury of working with a club of voluntary membership, so I don't have to "play" by the traditional rules. Guiding them through an extended activity like that would be great for having them think through 1) "what do we need to do next?", and 2) "how can we get Python to do that for us?" Richard ----- Original Message ---- From: kirby urner <kirby.urner(a)gmail.com> To: Richard Guenther <heistooheavy(a)yahoo.com> Cc: Jay Bloodworth <jbloodworth(a)sc.rr.com>; "edu-sig(a)python.org" <edu-sig(a)python.org> Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 5:37:23 AM Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] a non-rhetorical question Check this out! http://codegolf.com/polynomial-division Kirby On 7/10/07, Richard Guenther <heistooheavy(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > One thing that always comes up when our math department discusses > non-standard algorithms is long division of polynomials. Doesn't seem like > any non-standard algorithm is easily applied there. > > Changing the focus a little: I've been thinking of the importance of student > motivation in learning a programming language. I've always found The Python > Challenge to be quite motivating to get me writing code and learning more > about Python. I don't know how it could be done, but could a similar > approach be used to supplement a middle or high school programming class? > Any ideas? > > Richard > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Jay Bloodworth <jbloodworth(a)sc.rr.com> > .... > > * (a + b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2, not a^2 + b^2. Here there is the > standard geometric area model for multiplication. Sometimes I present > multiplication with the model, sometimes not. It doesn't seem to change > the error rate..... > > > > ________________________________ > Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows. Yahoo! Answers - Check it out. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545469

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Re: [Edu-sig] a non-rhetorical question
by Richard Guenther July 11, 2007

July 11, 2007

One thing that always comes up when our math department discusses non-standard algorithms is long division of polynomials. Doesn't seem like any non-standard algorithm is easily applied there. Changing the focus a little: I've been thinking of the importance of student motivation in learning a programming language. I've always found The Python Challenge to be quite motivating to get me writing code and learning more about Python. I don't know how it could be done, but could a similar approach be used to supplement a middle or high school programming class? Any ideas? Richard ----- Original Message ---- From: Jay Bloodworth <jbloodworth(a)sc.rr.com> .... * (a + b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2, not a^2 + b^2. Here there is the standard geometric area model for multiplication. Sometimes I present multiplication with the model, sometimes not. It doesn't seem to change the error rate..... ____________________________________________________________________________________ Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos new Car Finder tool. http://autos.yahoo.com/carfinder/

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Looking for Python curriculum developer to help us!
by Clare Richardson July 10, 2007

July 10, 2007

Hello all, I recently joined this list, and I'm very excited to be a part of such a great resource. I'm working on a high school program at Girlstart to prepare and encourage girls for technical majors and careers. Girlstart is a non-profit in Austin, TX, committed to engaging girls in math, science, and technology. Next school year, we will introduce our high school girls to programming through creating educational games and activities with Python and Pygame. I will definitely be pinging this list for advice in the future! Girlstart is looking to contract out a curriculum developer position for July and August to work on Python/Pygame lessons for our high school program, Project IT Girl. See the job ad below. Applicants need not be in the Austin area. Thanks! Clare Richardson Technology and Program Coordinator Girlstart www.girlstart.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Wanted: Contract Curriculum Developer to create lessons for Girlstart's Project IT Girl program to introduce high school girls to programming through Python and Pygame. Ideal candidate must have a strong background in computer science and programming, and the ability to explain programming concepts to novices in innovative and exciting ways. Ability to adhere to a tight timeline is a must. For a full job description go http://www.girlstart.org/jobs.asp. To apply, please submit a cover letter, references, resume, and hourly rates to Zakiyyah at Zakiyyah(a)girlstart.org. No Phone Calls.

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Re: [Edu-sig] a non-rhetorical question
by Jay Bloodworth July 10, 2007

July 10, 2007

On Sun, 2007-07-08 at 21:46 +0200, Laura Creighton wrote: > > Do you have many students who are good at geometry and still rotten > at algebra? Also what do they say when you ask them 'what don't > you understand here?' I wouldn't say rotten, but it's not unusual to have students who do significantly better in geometry than algebra. Again, it could just be a year of brain maturity that makes that so. "What don't you understand?" Usually if a kid can answer that they don't have a problem: Ex: 2x + 3y + 5x = 7x + 3y Kid 1: "Why don't you understand?" "Where did the 7x come from?" "From combining like terms. I added 2x and 5x." "What are like terms?" "Terms with the same variables to the same powers. 2x and 5x both have x to the first power and no other variables." versus Kid 2: "Why don't you understand?" "I just don't get it." Not a great example, because most students can do a little better with like terms than Kid 2. But the point is that the "don't get it" kids I'm talking about can't really tell you what they don't get. They see a string of symbols on line one and another on line two and claim to see no connection between them. And though I can often ask a series of questions to determine what they don't get and to explain it - "Do you see where the 3y comes from? Good. How about the 7x? Okay, do you see the 2x and 5x? etc." - they'll still say they don't get it. That was probably a longer yet less complete answer than you were looking for. Nonetheless, I hope it helps. Jay

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