On 9/14/06, John Zelle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > introduction to algebra class. Or perhaps a better example, does a Calculus > class have to also pay homage to linear algebra? Does a formal logic class > need to be about calculus? Why isn't programming itself a legitimate entree > into the "world of mathematics?"
I just wanted to break in here and say from my perspective it's about killing as many birds with one stone as possible -- except I hate that metaphor, because who wants to kill any birds? Not me. But you get my point, it's about bandwidth. What's a better metaphor? As educators, we should be in a collaborative mindset. If math teachers are in overdrive to drill junior on the existence of "functions" in some quasi-irrelevant twilight zone called "algebra" then the *least* a Python intro course might do is *reinforce* this archaic notion, and be articulate about functions in the Python namespace (where they're "top level" fer gosh sakes -- not bit players). That "mouth" where we put default values, accept optional arguments, keywords, is where the attention should be, as it's complicated, if freeing. raw_input takes the focus from parameter passing, and makes I/O a side-effect of function execution -- or maybe the raw_input was at the module level (even worse)? There's a conspiracy to keep basic numeracy divided between math class on the one hand, and CS-as-a-college-thing-only. I'm far from accusing you of being a member of this conspiracy (on the contrary, your book is quite popular with the high school crowd), but I am it's declared enemy, as I think CS needs a *much* bigger footprint in the early grades, where recruiters for technology-literate jobs are artificially kept at a disadvantage. Let's level the playing field: just knowing how to program doesn't make you a professor of anything, let alone computer science. CS is about communicating a heritage. And that heritage includes being efficient with memory. Design your curriculum intelligently -- as we all should, and need to keep hammering at -- just to stay in the game. Kirby _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig