Re: More /.{I->-1} craziness
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg106610] Re: More /.{I->-1} craziness
- From: Helen Read <hpr at together.net>
- Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:35:50 -0500 (EST)
- References: <200912300915.EAA17299@smc.vnet.net> <hhhmn8$o9t$1@smc.vnet.net> <hhpl28$9lf$1@smc.vnet.net> <hip8gf$t4d$1@smc.vnet.net> <8304354.1263643340634.JavaMail.root@n11> <hiuur1$919$1@smc.vnet.net>
- Reply-to: HPR <read at math.uvm.edu>
On 1/17/2010 7:12 AM, David Park wrote: > Students will never be learning Mathematica early and be reasonably > proficient with it before they get to college? I beg to disagree. It will > happen because as a tool for studying, developing and communicating > technical material Mathematica is orders of magnitude better than existing > practice. Students who don't learn it, and institutions that don't exploit > it will just fall too far behind. > > The education problem is a difficult problem to be solved, but it can be > solved and it will be solved one way or another. > > Tony, I wish I could convince you to take a more positive approach to > Mathematica. It is not a perfect instrument but through the ages masterworks > have been produced with imperfect instruments. It's shortcomings are not > nearly as important as what you CAN do with it. Nor is it a static > instrument. > > The problem for all of us is to keep learning how to use it. It does pay > off. Hear, hear. My students come into university level Calculus I or II with no Mathematica experience, and learn to use it in my calculus class while learning calculus. It really only takes them a couple of weeks at the beginning of the semester to get up and running, and by the end of the semester all of my students are quite good at it. I haven't had to take things out of the curriculum to do this, either; we simply use Mathematica routinely in our work. Sometimes students come to see me a year or two or three later, and ask for help putting something they are working on for some other class into Mathematica. Generally they have a very good start on it when they come to see me, and need just a little help with a few details. -- Helen Read University of Vermont