Re: A new graphic user interface
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg111743] Re: A new graphic user interface
- From: "David Park" <djmpark at comcast.net>
- Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:28:04 -0400 (EDT)
As many people know, my paradigm for Mathematica is that it is a piece of paper on which we write our mathematical and technical ideas. True, a rather remarkable piece of paper with memory and active and dynamic capabilities, but a development and writing medium none the less. It is not something that can be learned in a day or a few weeks, anymore than we learned good composition or writing techniques in a few weeks. We practiced it for many years! It is even more difficult with technical writing and Mathematica because of the additional significant complications of the medium and the material. It would be nice if many more students had early exposure and practice with Mathematica so that when they got to college it could be assumed they knew it, and they could spend much more of their time thinking about the subject matter and much less thinking about Mathematica. I know that there are a number of good teachers who say that their students do just fine with a short Mathematica introduction, but I am skeptical that the students get anywhere near the benefit from Mathematica they might obtain with early training. If they are flummoxed by % and %% or postfix // or Map and things like that, they are not literate in the medium. There are many barriers and obstacles to bringing about a more ideal situation, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be a practical educational goal. David Park djmpark at comcast.net http://home.comcast.net/~djmpark/ From: telefunkenvf14 [mailto:rgorka at gmail.com] > I held that position, too. But Helen Read's reports in this group > provide empirical evidence that this is an unfounded concern: with the > Classroom Assistant palette, what begins as point-and-click soon morphs > into just typing input, apparently without much or any intervention by > the instructor to suggest this change. > Not convinced. I sense this observation is (in part) shaped by the topic of the class. If you're teaching a pure math class? Then sure, I can see how starting with palettes would do no serious harm---but it all depends on the skill-set you want students achieve by the end of the semester, and the types of applications you show/build in class. (Simple problem solving vs. building more complicated models and interfaces, grabbing data from the net, automating emails or SMS messages, etc.) Even if not directly applicable to their field of study, I really believe it's valuable to broaden students' perspective of what's possible. IMO, there is just far too little exposure to computer science. Q: How are we going to pay for all of the social promises we've made in this country (social security, etc.)?!? A: Well (I tell my students) you'd better get more productive, or there won't be enough output to go around!! Maybe I'm young and naive about what's attainable... (BTW, I do like Helen's screencasts and other web resources.... and your's too, Murry!) -RG