[Edu-sig] the idea of "CS-friendly" algebra courses...

[kirby urner]

Re:  http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=9430209

The above-linked thread might garner some forking threads or comment lines
here.  This branch is mostly dormant on math-teach as of today, but points
back to an earlier thread that evoked much discussion (so well may take off
again), which discussion I boldly dare to summarize here:

http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=9432446  (long-winded and
skipable without losing the plot line)

We're in the thick of it, Python-wise, which is why I bring our thread up
here on edu-sig.

The gist of the math-teach thread is that given changes in some states,
it's getting easier to give math credit for high school courses we might
call "digital flavored" meaning (in part) a computer language enters in,
maybe more than one.

Hardly a "new thing" for a lot of us in math teaching, who've used Logo
since the 1960s or whatever, but the status quo in secondary schools has
been to relegate CS (computer stuff) to elective status and make a 3-year's
worth of math credits mandatory, with nothing CS-like counting towards
fulfilling that requirement.

Algebra, trig, stats and of anything-like-calculus -- that was it for math
credit.  But nothing like Python.  Computer Stuff was elective-only and in
a state such as Oregon using property taxes for schools (disbursement
formula since changed) only the few best neighborhood public schools had
any computers to begin with (which was probably why they set it up that
way, to not let CS count).  This was before you could get a computer for
$45 dollars (Raspberry Pi less the peripherals you also need).

This status quo is what has changed in some of the less backward US states,
thanks to various lobbies and special /overlapping interests.

New laws have been or are in the process of being passed, including in
Oregon.  The older linked thread on math-teach takes a look at some of the
back stories.  In many states, the new laws allow Computer Stuff to count
more towards the 3-years of math credit these same states require.

[ You may still do a lot of calculus stuff in a digital flavored math
course, since digital technology is a fine tool for studying calculus
concepts... but lots of other stuff too. ]

I think many in Europe e.g Austria have never had a problem with a
turtle.py in math class, whereas any programming in the US public sphere
was automatically painted into the CS corner as AP this or that.  Private
schools could organize differently.

The new emphasis on STEM is changing the dynamics, since it's more of an
integral whole, not that friendly to being carved up into this and that.
To draw a line in the sand and say it's math-for-credit on this side and
CS-not-math-credit on that side was not making sense to a lot of STEM
people.

Kirby
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