[Edu-sig] [edupython] Re: Education BoF at PyCon

Sat Feb 9 20:59:22 CET 2008

Provided O'Hare is a sane scene (no guarantees given weather) I should
be in the hotel venue by Thursday night.  I had to think long an hard
about missing tutorials, but I'll have two daughters in tow (one adult,
one dependent) and a limited window.  But hey, Friday, BOF table,
any other gathering of edu-sig types, would be a pleasure.

On the Python in Portland front, my Saturday Academy class didn't
fill, freeing me up to private tutor, plus we're exploring a deal with Intel
(I'll let ya know).  Anna Roys of TECC in Alaska (charter school
on the drawing board) is continuing to incorporate more Python
into her lesson plans (some of these are for credit, as she's
seeking a new credential, having found out the hard way what
it's like to be outside an inner circle).

The funny thing about the computer training interview was the boss
in charge hadn't even heard of Python.  I keep forgetting how we're
"news" in some circles -- which can be a *good* thing (means we
still get to make that all important "first impression").

A lot of the math teachers I encounter, in my work with the schools,
still have this 1970s picture of computer programs consisting of
reams of paper, tall stacks of punch cards.  When they see Pippy
programs, or mine (even shorter), I sense some relief. **

MathCad was in a lot of ways a bridge application (still is), in that
it allows users the math symbols they're used to (Riemann Sum
symbols and like that), yet in the background we're talking
spreadsheet-with-formulas, lots of text mixed in (a good MathCad
paper is both an essay and an executable -- reminiscent of Leo
in some ways).  My friend David Feinstein (CalTech, studied under
Feynman) will go straight from a MathCad "paper" to a patch of
runnable code in some embedded device.  Even when engineers
get lost in their own framework, the part David contributed remains
a model of clarity.

Kirby

** here's an excerpt from one of my internal TECC communications:

In Python, we have the four major operations you find
on the cheapest of calculators, + - * /.  Then we also
have %, which is the "modulo" operator.  Increasing
student comfort level with modulo arithmetic (what
some textbooks call "clock arithmetic") is another
goal of this curriculum, connected to all of the above.

So, for example, in some of our lessons, we use our
gcd function, i.e. Euclid's Algorithm, to find what are
called the "totatives" of a number:  all positive integers
smaller than N, with no factors in common with N,
i.e. smaller positives "coprime" to N.  How many
totatives N has is called its totient.

So in Python:

"""
tecc1.py:
thunderbird academy
"""

def gcd ( a,  b):
  "Euclid's Algorithm"
  while b:
     a, b = b, a % b
  return a

def totatives( n ):
  "0 < coprimes of n < n"
  return [ x for x in range(1, n) if gcd(x, n) == 1 ]

def totient( n ):
  "number of totatives"
  return len(totatives(n))

Example of student using the above in the interactive
shell:

>>> from tecc1 import *

>>> gcd(12, 27)
3
>>> totient(27)
18
>>> totatives(27)
[1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26]
>>> totatives(12)
[1, 5, 7, 11]
>>> totient(12)
4

and so on.

Note how these three Python functions, indicated with
the keyword 'def' are very short, easy to follow once
you've learned a few basics.  Note also that these
functions then get accessed interactively, much like
the experience of using a calculator (but probably
with a bigger screen) -- no writing some menu or
looping structure with prompts (very 1970s).

On Feb 9, 2008 11:27 AM, Vern Ceder <vceder at canterburyschool.org> wrote:
> Well, I would definitely vote for dinner - those have been too much fun
> in past years to pass up. I personally would be up for a trip too
> Greektown, but it may be more time than some others have to spare.
>
> I also think we should grab some open space time to have a (slightly)
> more formal gathering - we didn't do that last year, since we wanted to
> go to the OLPC gathering, and I, for one, missed it.
>
> So how does Friday evening sound? It looks like we would have the most
> time after the day's formal activities are over. What does everyone think?
>
> Cheers,
> Vern
>
>
> Jeffrey Elkner wrote:
> > Hi Vern and Andy,
> >
> > Just name the time and place.  I'm there!
> >
> > jeff
> >
> > On Wed, 6 Feb 2008 21:45:56 -0600, Andrew Harrington <aharrin at luc.edu> wrote:
> >> Vern,
> >> Good thinking.   In the past we have gotten together to talk over food and
> >> in a separate meeting time that does not conflict with talks.
> >>
> >> thoughts:
> >> lunch.  lunch Friday is 90 minutes.  The next two days 45 minute talks
> >> overlap it by 15 minutes, so it is down to 75 minutes
> >> Going out to dinner was fun last year.  could be Friday or Saturday.
> >> We have met in the evening.  Saturday would be good.
> >>
> >> A difference from last year is that we have Chicago easily accessible from
> >> the hotel!  If people want to go out and see it in the evenings, and not
> >> meet at that time, then I suggest meeting for lunch Friday and maybe a
> >> pre-dinner time.  Or we could all pile on the El and head to Greektown or
> >> ....
> >>
> >> Andy
> >>
> >> On Wed, Feb 6, 2008 at 7:58 PM, Vern Ceder <vceder at canterburyschool.org>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hey, everyone...
> >>>
> >>> I've just put a placeholder down for us on the BoF wiki page for PyCon -
> >>> http://wiki.python.org/moin/Birds_of_a_Feather - I assume some of us
> >>> will want to get together in Chicago. The question, as always, is where
> >>> and when...
> >>>
> >>> Cheers,
> >>> Vern
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> This time for sure!
> >>>    -Bullwinkle J. Moose
> >>> -----------------------------
> >>> Vern Ceder, Director of Technology
> >>> Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804
> >>> vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137
> >>>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Andrew N. Harrington
> >> Director of Academic Programs
> >> Computer Science Department
> >> Loyola University Chicago
> >> 512B Lewis Towers (office)
> >> Snail mail to Lewis Towers 416
> >> 820 North Michigan Avenue
> >> Chicago, Illinois 60611
> >>
> >> http://www.cs.luc.edu/~anh
> >> Phone: 312-915-7999
> >> Fax:    312-915-7998
> >> gdp at cs.luc.edu for graduate administration
> >> upd at cs.luc.edu for undergrad administration
> >> aharrin at luc.edu as professor
> >>
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>
> --
> This time for sure!
>     -Bullwinkle J. Moose
> -----------------------------
> Vern Ceder, Director of Technology
> Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804
> vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137
>
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