On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 8:11 AM, Daniel Ford <dford@linfield.edu> wrote:
I met Maria Litvin at SIGCSE 2008 where she gave a very introductory workshop on Python and math based on this book. She is the coach of the high school programming team at Phillips Academy. She introduced me to JavaBat.com and was trying to persuade Nick Parlante and Stuart Reges to translate JavaBat and "Building Java Programs A Back to Basics Approach" respectively into Python. She was very approachable and can be reached via http://www.andover.edu/Academics/Mathematics/Faculty/Pages/MathematicsFacult....
Daniel Ford Linfield College
Good hearing from Linfield, thanks for writing. Our own Chris Brooks waved the Litvins text (paperback copy) at our planning meeting on Aug 7 of this year, Sherwood High School. I attended, with associate Lindsey Walker, from our Portland-based think tank at Linus Pauling property on SE 40st and Hawthorne (three-building campus with back parking lot, see Google Earth for more info). I've promoted this text a lot in this archive, nudging for a listing on the official Edu-SIG home page @ Python.org and was gratified to finally see that change, notified Chris of our Silicon Forest small victory (one small step for Python, one big step for more programming in mathematics classrooms). My own curriculum writing complements the Litvins quite a bit. I think we'll want to do more with the Decimal type and extended precision in general, given the focus on RSA. I've been spelling out this program on the Diversity list in more detail, given my interest in pilots around Southeast Asia, in connection with the upcoming ap.pycon. It's the convergent sequence and series stuff that grabs me the most, along with the chaos stuff more like Gregor was showing us in the last week or so. I look forward to continuing to promote the Litvins books as a valuable resource. I also like the Sandes one and its work the PyGame. We haven't seen a strong VPython text yet, though it has a strong web presence, thanks in part to my stickworks stuff. I count on Turtle Graphics and Turtle Art staying strong, both in 2D and 3D versions. Kirby Planning meeting, Aug 7, 2009 (more in this archive): http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2009/08/education-planning.html Meeting with Chris Brooks @ Bagdad
-----Original Message----- From: edu-sig-bounces+ford=linfield.edu@python.org [mailto:edu-sig-bounces+ford=linfield.edu@python.org] On Behalf Of Edward Cherlin Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 11:06 AM To: kirby urner Cc: edu-sig@python.org Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] poking some dying logs...
On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 4:36 PM, kirby urner<kirby.urner@gmail.com> wrote:
I'd like to make another plug for including this title on the edu-sig home page:
http://www.skylit.com/mathandpython.html
Ian thought it was too much a hybrid of CS and math, not an elegant amalgamation, though I don't have has remarks in front of me at the moment. Steve was gonna get back to us. Andre thought he might work it onto the page...
I like the concept but not the execution. The student doesn't find out what properties of various data structures and mathematical objects are fundamental. There is too much of the old style of telling students what to learn, and neither explaining why nor allowing students to discover. I find it annoying that the book gives complex number examples, but shies away from actually using complex arithmetic. Far more CS could be introduced at the level of the math being used.
The book uses Python, but none of the very capable math software available beyond graphing calculators. I prefer Ken Iverson's approach, in which he taught how to write programs to do algebraic manipulations and symbolic differentiation.
Does anybody know these authors? Can we engage them in a process to improve what they have done?
Maria Litvin Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts Gary Litvin Skylight Software, Inc.
That was all months ago by now, so it make sense to raise the issue again, as the title does break new ground in some ways, has claim to being a math teaching book, yet uses a computer language (one most of us know).
'Concrete Mathematics' and 'The Art of Computer Programming' are both math books of course, amenable to a "through programming" approach. Jsoftware folks implemented the former in J, whereas the latter is in MMX already.
Another hot button issue in Portland these days is whether families have the right to demand a PDF version of any assigned textbook, versus a hardcopy edition. We have lots of tree huggers around here, worried about "green" and unsustainability. To quote one of my colleagues (from her blog):
"We need the text book companies to print thousands of copies of new textbooks every year, not so the authors can make money, though they make a little, but so the companies can make money... Do some central planning, and if the government can't do that without going through corporations, then it is time to [do it ourselves]".
Anyway, just wanted to re-raise that as well.
I mostly do my computer / technical reading on Safari, have no problem with recycling already printed books, have no problem with small press runs. But I can see where truck loads of spanking new 400 page math books, hot off the press, none containing any computer programming to speak of, let alone Mites, Sytes or Kites (honeycomb stuff, important to gnu-bees), would provoke a crisis in conscience for our more ethical.
This is the kind of thing 15 year olds talk about. They're suspicious of adults who can't follow their logic (about saving trees), undermines adult authority to not have a response. So do we all favor an "opt out" option for hard copy textbooks? Say aye? Say nay?
Kirby _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
-- Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) is my name And Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination. http://earthtreasury.org/worknet (Edward Mokurai Cherlin) _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig