Mailman 3 October 2008 - Edu-sig

edu-sig page is orphaned?
by Jurgis Pralgauskis 24 Nov '08

24 Nov '08

Hello, http://www.python.org/community/sigs/current/edu-sig/ in Resources PyBiblio link leads to Error 404 IDLE "page" looks also strange (though I understand it doesnt have direct dependence from edusig page) Software Carpentry leads to old page (as I know http://swc.scipy.org/ is quite newer) PyGeo link is also error 404 http://pw1.netcom.com/~ajs/ in the editors section PyScripter is a must (it is the best opensource pyeditor I know on windows for intermediate students) - PyScripter http://wiki.python.org/moin/PyScripter - Crunchy http://crunchy.sourceforge.net/ is very nice project For more fun programming (somewhere close to PyGame): - PyGlet http://www.pyglet.org/ - MakeBot (http://mail.python.org/pipermail/edu-sig/2008-October/008808.html http://stratotools.python-hosting.com/browser/trunk/makebot/) - no mention of Turtle, why?!! now should be ;) http://bugs.python.org/issue1513695 http://www.geocities.com/jjphoogrp/clixtur.html and alongside I know a book, thtat uses turtle a lot http://www.briggs.net.nz/log/writing/snake-wrangling-for-kids/ edusig mailinglist addres could be at the top, as this is main spot of activity :) I hope, that smb, that is responsible for edu-sig page, could quite easily integrate (some of) these proposals :) -- Jurgis Pralgauskis Don't worry, be happy and make things better ;)

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More preaching to the choir...
by kirby urner 01 Nov '08

01 Nov '08

Here's a pointer to some related writings @ Math Forum, which I used to tell Arthur S. (this archive) was more like "center ring" in my circus, i.e. where math teachers meet irrespective of caring about geek subculture, computers etc.: http://mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=1845616&tstart=0 Re planets in orbit, another interesting implementation, already field tested, multiplies complex numbers of unit radius, begetting rotation, then scales appropriately. Of course these orbits are merely circular, so not that realistic, so apply some field distortion if wanting elliptic (not something we tried). Here's some code: http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/python/orbits.py Kirby 4D

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Data Mazes!
by kirby urner 22 Oct '08

22 Oct '08

Here's an admittedly somewhat odd-ball pass time: create a generator that hides in "x" in some deeply nested data structure, then come up with a key for retrieving that "x" (might be a buried treasure!). For example: If: x = "Yes!" maze = [(),(),{'a':0},([[{'a':1,'b':{('a','b'):{('a','b'):[[{'a':1,'b':{('a','b'):[(),(),{'a':0},([[{'a':1,'b':[[{'a':1,'b':{('a','b'):x, ('c','d'):2}},0],(1,)]},0],(1,)],)], ('c','d'):2}},0],(1,)], ('c','d'):2}, ('c','d'):2}},0],(1,)],)] then: maze[3][0][0][0]["b"][("a","b")][("a","b")][0][0]["b"][("a","b")][3][0][0][0]["b"][0][0]["b"][("a","b")] would be a solution. Another example: >>> maze = [[{'a':1,'b':[[{'a':1,'b':[(),(),{'a':0},([(),(),{'a':0},([(),(),{'a':0},([[{'a':1,'b':[[{'a':1,'b':[[{'a':1,'b':[(),(),{'a':0},([(),(),{'a':0},(x,)],)]},0],(1,)]},0],(1,)]},0],(1,)],)],)],)]},0],(1,)]},0],(1,)] Solution: >>> maze[0][0]["b"][0][0]["b"][3][0][3][0][3][0][0][0]["b"][0][0]["b"][0][0]["b"][3][0][3][0] 'Yes!' OK, I warned you this was dumb. The fun part was writing a generator to spit out maze/solution pairs. Kirby

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BOF at SIGCSE 2009
by Richard Enbody 21 Oct '08

21 Oct '08

Greetings, I am putting together a proposal for a Birds-of-a-Feather meeting at SIGCSE 2009 on use of Python in CS1 courses. There is a place for additional discussion leaders. Anyone interested in helping me lead a BOF? The deadline for the BOF proposal is Monday, Oct 27. Discussion leaders must commit to being at SIGCSE 2009 (March 4-7 in Chattanooga, TN http://www.cs.arizona.edu/groups/sigcse09/) My draft title is: "Is Python appropriate for CS1?" Contact me directly at enbody(a)cse.msu.edu, if you are interested. In any case, if this BOF happens, I hope that any Edu-sig folk at SIGCSE will attend and add their $0.02 Cheers, -rich enbody(a)cse.msu.edu

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More on namespaces and dot notation...
by kirby urner 21 Oct '08

21 Oct '08

In preparing for this IEEE talk I'm delivering on Nov 4 (USA election night) @ Armory, venue for this play I'm involved with, I'm looking at "namespaces" and "dot notation" as integral concepts within contemporary philosophy (where I have much background). For example, early in the 1900s, the academic community was in much ferment over this idea of a "fourth dimension", with many fringe elements, esoteric think tanks etc., entering the fray. Linda D. Henderson did a good book on this, spun as art history, includes characters such as Claude Bragdon, P.D. Ouspensky among others. Roll the tape forward, and we have two different, yet well established namespaces wherein a "fourth dimension" occurs, one associated with Minkowski, later Einstein, another associated with sphere packing, e.g. (0,1,0,0,0,0) would be the center of a sphere, with (1,0,0,0,0,0) a neighboring sphere in n-dimensional space, the n relating to n == len(coord_tuple) being a true statement. So, using dot notation, we might write einstein.4d to signify the relativistic imaginary time literature championed in our time by Stephen Hawking, and exyz.4d to signify a fourth dimension per extended Euclideanism, well explained in that book by Sloane and J.H. Conway, published by Springer-Verlag (the exact title escapes me at the moment). Of course given the content of the IEEE talk (the play), I'll be adding yet another namespace into the mix, talking about fuller.4d, maybe changing exyz.4d to Coxeter.4d for this audience, for arcane historical reasons. The names we give namespaces is itself part of the namespace e.g. 'import math as toolbox' (except at my grunch.net/synergetics which is like an old museum exhibit by this time, and through which many people find me). or whatever. For purposes of discussion, and apropos edu-sig, you could look at all of the above as branching off 'import this' and wanting to explain *exactly why* Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those! Kirby

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Re: [Edu-sig] school physics/math courses
by Daniel Ajoy 21 Oct '08

21 Oct '08

On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:00:03 -0500, <edu-sig-request(a)python.org> wrote: > From: roberto > > hello > (i am rather new in python ...) > > i am about to start a course of physics and math for students aged > 14-17 (high school) > and i am deeply interested in the possibilty of teaching fundamental > concepts of these subjects via teaching programming; > i chose python (i won't change my mind ...) > > so i am looking for resources on how to deal with these topics via > this great programming language; concepts like: * methods for solving triangles (53-64) * parabolic movement (69-72) * derivatives (75-76) can be presented by asking the students to draw the corresponding figures in this page: http://neoparaiso.com/logo/ejercicios-de-geometria.html using the turtle module. Daniel

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school physics/math courses
by roberto 20 Oct '08

20 Oct '08

hello (i am rather new in python ...) i am about to start a course of physics and math for students aged 14-17 (high school) and i am deeply interested in the possibilty of teaching fundamental concepts of these subjects via teaching programming; i chose python (i won't change my mind ...) so i am looking for resources on how to deal with these topics via this great programming language; i need some help from you and moreover if you are aware of books already covering these need thank you in advance -- roberto OS: GNU/Linux, Debian

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Re: [Edu-sig] [Tutor] school physics/math courses
by Edward Cherlin 20 Oct '08

20 Oct '08

On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 9:06 AM, bob gailer <bgailer(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Edward Cherlin wrote: >> >> [snip] >> >> As a teacher, I know very well what it means. Some representations are >> easier to understand, or easier to work with, or easier to learn from. >> Various thinkers, including Babbage, Whitehead, and Iverson, have >> commented on the effects of the way we represent problems on our >> ability to think about them, and not only they but luminaries from >> Fibonacci to Einstein have labored to invent or teach new notations >> and representations. >> > > I'm glad to see Iverson amongst Babbage and Whitehead. Turing Award lecture, Notation as a Tool of Thought. > In 1974 I was > introduced to his invention: APL. That transformed how I thought about > problems and expressed algorithms. I still wish for some way to bring some > of that magic into Python. See NumPy and SciPy, which used APL for some design ideas. If we can get some people together on this idea, we can add more APL to Python. Perl6 will have some of this, but that's a knotty business that I am staying out of. I'm working on getting a GPLed APL for the OLPC XO. Arthur Whitney is writing one. I was the founder of I-APL, Ltd, and Managing Editor of APL News for Springer-Verlag. I have the copyrights on Iverson's textbooks for Arithmetic, Algebra, and Calculus, and intend to put them out under Creative Commons licenses. I need to recruit more people--mathematicians, teachers, APLers, and others--to work on these projects. > I found it interesting to hear (in the migration to Python 3) that the > Python reduce function was not used a lot or well understood. I certainly > use and understand it. > A brief tutorial for any who have read this far and are curious: In > Python one may combine the elements of a list using sum() (if the > sum is desired). For other functions one uses reduce. To get the > product of the elements of a list Y: reduce(operator.mul, Y). In APL > reduce is / and multiply is x so one writes x/Y. (Classic APL had only > upper case for names). And underscored upper-case. Y̲ The XO has a ×÷ key, so we can write this correctly: ×/Y ÷/3 4 0.75 > I can write and comprehend x/Y much faster than the wordy equivalent. > > And Y can be an array of 0 or more dimensions. +/Y computes the "row sum" > giving an array of one less dimensions*. So if Y were: > 1 2 3 > 4 5 6 > the row sum is 6 15. > * if the number of dimensions is 0 (a "scalar" value) the result is the > scalar value unchanged. We also have primitives for matrix products, evaluating polynomials, matrix inverse, least squares, and a good deal more. Most people hate APL, because it exposes the math inherent in programming, and most people assume that for that reason they cannot learn APL. However, Iverson wrote his Arithmetic textbook for an IBM-funded experiment in using APL as the math notation in an elementary school. > -- > Bob Gailer > Chapel Hill NC 919-636-4239 > > When we take the time to be aware of our feelings and needs we have more > satisfying interactions with others. That's what we call meditation in Buddhism. > Nonviolent Communication provides tools for this awareness. > > As a coach and trainer I can assist you in learning this process. > > What is YOUR biggest relationship challenge? > > -- Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज ) is my name And Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination.

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Re: [Edu-sig] school physics/math courses
by michel paul 18 Oct '08

18 Oct '08

"We should abandon the vision that physicists seek an ultimate mathematical description of the universe since it is not obvious that it exists. The job of the physicist is that of modeling phenomena within the physical scales of observed events. For some systems, the modeling can be done more effectively using algorithms." This is very interesting. Thanks for sending it. On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 7:14 PM, Massimo Di Pierro <mdipierro(a)cs.depaul.edu>wrote: > Hi Paul, > > this is a document I write as a summary of a meeting I attended in 2006 at > Argonne National Laboratory about revising the Physics curriculum. If it is > of any use you can do anything you want with it. > > Massimo > > > > > On Oct 16, 2008, at 5:55 PM, michel paul wrote: > > This would be a great text for a high school math/CS class: Math for the > Digital Age <http://www.skylit.com/mathandpython.html>. > > - Michel > > On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 4:15 AM, roberto <roberto03(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> hello >> (i am rather new in python ...) >> >> i am about to start a course of physics and math for students aged >> 14-17 (high school) >> and i am deeply interested in the possibilty of teaching fundamental >> concepts of these subjects via teaching programming; >> i chose python (i won't change my mind ...) >> >> so i am looking for resources on how to deal with these topics via >> this great programming language; >> >> i need some help from you and moreover if you are aware of books >> already covering these need >> >> thank you in advance >> -- >> roberto >> OS: GNU/Linux, Debian >> _______________________________________________ >> Edu-sig mailing list >> Edu-sig(a)python.org >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> > > <ATT00001.txt> > > > >

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Re: [Edu-sig] [Tutor] school physics/math courses
by roberto 18 Oct '08

18 Oct '08

On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 3:10 PM, Ken Oliver <ksterling(a)mindspring.com> wrote: > For a starting place, you may want to look at "Mathematics for the Digital Age and Programming in Python" by Maria and Gary Litvin. ISBN 978-0-9727055-8-5 > > Both authors are very helpful and often contribute to math and CS electronic discussion groups. Communications possible through information below: > great, it seems that's a well focused book around my needs i'll send feedback to the authors (and the list as well) thank you > > -----Original Message----- >>From: roberto <roberto03(a)gmail.com> >>Sent: Oct 16, 2008 7:15 AM >>To: "edu-sig(a)python.org" <edu-sig(a)python.org> >>Cc: tutor(a)python.org >>Subject: [Tutor] school physics/math courses >> >>hello >>(i am rather new in python ...) >> >>i am about to start a course of physics and math for students aged >>14-17 (high school) >>and i am deeply interested in the possibilty of teaching fundamental >>concepts of these subjects via teaching programming; >>i chose python (i won't change my mind ...) >> >>so i am looking for resources on how to deal with these topics via >>this great programming language; >> >>i need some help from you and moreover if you are aware of books >>already covering these need >> >>thank you in advance >>-- >>roberto >>OS: GNU/Linux, Debian >>_______________________________________________ >>Tutor maillist - Tutor(a)python.org >>http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor > > -- roberto OS: GNU/Linux, Debian

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