Re: Re: The audience for Mathematica (Was: Re: Show doesn't work inside
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg102097] Re: [mg102054] Re: The audience for Mathematica (Was: Re: Show doesn't work inside
- From: Andrzej Kozlowski <akoz at mimuw.edu.pl>
- Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:11:01 -0400 (EDT)
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On 28 Jul 2009, at 15:03, Helen Read wrote: > AES wrote: >> >> Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu> wrote: >>> >>> Now the issue becomes one of language design: Should the >>> Mathematica >>> language -- or any computer language, for that matter -- be designed >>> primarily with the inexperienced user in mind? >> >> Fair question. Perhaps one answer is: It should be designed >> primarily >> with the _expected audience_ in mind -- and beyond that, should be as >> consistent and non-perplexing as possible, for that and for any >> audience. >> >> As a more specific definition of an expected audience, it seems to me >> (and, I think, Helen Read) that Mathematica -- or at least a more >> consistent and less perplexing form of Mathematica: > > I'm quite happy with Mathematica in its current form. It is extremely > consistent, and not at all perplexing to anyone who is willing to > put in > a bit of effort. Look what my group of bright high school students did > with a mere 75 minutes of exposure to Mathematica. > >> 1) Could be very accessible to bright high school students, maybe >> with >> some hand holding; > > It *is* accessible to bright high school students. See above. > >> 2) Could be (and to some extent is) useful to average college >> students >> and to working BS level engineers as a helpful working tool in any >> technical or mathematically oriented area; and > > It *is* useful to average college students. Every one of my calculus > students learns to use Mathematica successfully, even the below > average > students. The Classroom Assistant palette has made the learning curve > even easier for them. > > My students use Mathematica on some of their quizzes, which I give > them > daily during the accelerated summer session. The students are > permitted > to raise their hands and ask me for help if they run into issues with > Mathematica during the quiz. By the end of the second week of my > summer > class, they were rarely asking for help with Mathematica on the > quizzes. > We are now three weeks in, and today *nobody* asked for help during > the > quiz. All of them were able to do what they needed to do without any > help from me. Nobody was perplexed. > > [snip] > > >> Of course, there's the alternative audience of professional >> Mathematica >> experts, whose full time or near full time occupation is becoming >> expert >> at using Mathematica, with all its complexities and perplexing >> features. > > [snip] > >> >> So, which audience is WRI aiming at, because it really can't have >> both >> (or maybe it can, to some extent -- but it really can't serve both >> well). > > I disagree. Mathematica can and does serve all these different > audiences > very well. > > -- > Helen Read > University of Vermont > Indeed. I agree 100% (or more). Andrzej Kozlowski PS. I assume this is what AES meant by "doing better". Now I have done it.
- References:
- Re: Show doesn't work inside Do loop ?
- From: AES <siegman@stanford.edu>
- Re: The audience for Mathematica (Was: Re: Show doesn't work inside
- From: Helen Read <hpr@together.net>
- Re: Show doesn't work inside Do loop ?