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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


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