Timeline for How to teach Mathematica
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:56 | history | edited | CommunityBot | replaced http://mathematica.stackexchange.com/ with https://mathematica.stackexchange.com/ | |
| Jan 16, 2016 at 0:19 | comment | added | evanb | I learned Mma through library.wolfram.com/infocenter/Books/4765 in a small course taught by one of the authors. It was basically continuing ed for the math teachers in my high school, and they let the motivated / interested math students take it too. It was a very nice introduction to Mma specifically because in principle I already knew how to solve the problems, so it was a context in which I could understand what was happening / check the answers easily. | |
| Jan 14, 2016 at 9:52 | comment | added | ubpdqn | @bobthechemist thank you for this thoughtful answer...as a non-expert (in anything really) but a joyful learner Mathematica has been a tool for diverse tasks and a vehicle for play and improved understanding. The philosophical/semantic issues aside this site has been one of the most useful resources in learning...teaching that is a much much more complex issue...context/aim/starting position...so again thank you... | |
| Jan 5, 2016 at 8:05 | comment | added | Sascha | I think with teaching Python as a language for "non-computer science, just need the job done"- people you are spot on. I personally would have liked if they taught Haskell for the sake of getting people in the FP mindset (which probably is easier for STEM students to grasp anyway) | |
| Jan 5, 2016 at 1:10 | comment | added | bobthechemist | @Sascha IMO neither Java nor OOP in general are needed for engineering students. They need to know how to solve hard math problems and acquire/analyze data. At the moment, I'm leaning towards python as the answer to "if I'm a scientist/engineer and I only have time to learn one language, what should it be?" | |
| Jan 5, 2016 at 1:09 | comment | added | bobthechemist | @sascha I see no need to change the title or edit your question, as I feel that the meaning is clear. At the end of the day, if you are developing a "club" or encouraging the creation of a new course, my suggestion would be to focus on the problem and then state that the club/course is designed to see how Mathematica can be used to solve that problem. | |
| Jan 4, 2016 at 13:43 | comment | added | Sascha | And since you mention typical CS curriculum: In my first two semesters they tried teaching java of all languages (explicitly java, not OOP in general) to engineering students. | |
| Jan 4, 2016 at 13:40 | comment | added | Sascha | This question actually arose from the perspective you mention when talking about hammers and woodworking. I fear that by talking only about very specific problems (e.g how to use NDSolve for various engineering tasks) one teaches the hammer with the result that for the student every problem looks like a nail. That is not my intend. Maybe the title I choose suggests exactly the opposite idea. Any suggestions on a better title in the spirit of the question? | |
| Jan 4, 2016 at 13:08 | history | answered | bobthechemist | CC BY-SA 3.0 |