[Edu-sig] Beyond 3D

[Kirby Urner]

>Anyway, I just wanted to add these broad topics to the mix.
>
>John Miller

I think these are all good ideas, and if the Python libraries
don't exist yet, they probably will, given the number of
people gravitating to Python.

From a pedagogical point of view, I like to take the "Python
as working pseudocode" idea and just do sketchy stuff in 
code that gives the _idea_ of how simulations work (for
example).

Code up some objects and have them talk to each other, 
making them species plus environments with various parameters.
Maybe subclass a few species (because they all eat, 
replicate, die), tie them together with a bunch of 
rules (Conway's Life give the idea as an abstraction
-- cellular automata and all that).

All this could be done rather simply and transparently
-- not a lot of fancy graphics or time squandered on 
doing a cool GUI (which isn't to say cool GUIs are a 
waste, just that we're not assuming these students are
trying to learn all these skills -- simulations are 
the topic here).  

Give students a sense of the territory.  Then migrate to
some more sophisticated simulation that's already been
implemented (SimCity even -- lots of students will come
in already having experience with that one).  So for the
thrill of using a simulation, they get a professional
package done by career programmers -- lots of bells and
whistles.  But for insights into what makes simulations 
tick, they get simple Python "cave paintings" which 
impart core concepts in an accessible manner. 

Kirby