[Edu-sig] Reuters.com -- College Science Classes Are a Bore

[ajsiegel at optonline.net]

> The real problem is that no one wants to pay for the materials to 
> make it 
> happen.

Probably true.

But PCs are plentiful.  Python is free. 

As is Scipy, for example.

http://www.scipy.org/

Real scientists, who are not primarily programmers, seem to be doing some important things with these kinds of tools.

But probably more to the point is the kind of curriculum being built with/around VPython

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rwchabay/mi/

The same VPython mentioned in the context of art, for children. 

Which at least indicates we are probably not totally in pie-in-the-sky territory in believing students in a college level Introduction to Physics class might handle it OK.

Art