On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 6:32 AM, Lloyd Hugh Allen <chandraki...@gmail.com> wrote: > I haven't posted in a while -- forgot to reply-to-edu-sig :)
There is a long-running rwar between those who think that mailing lists should have a reply-to set to the mailing list address, and those who think that replies should go to the previous sender by default. Is it worse that mistakes result in private replies going to the list (big-endian) or list replies going to an individual (little-endian)? You still have to be able to remember what you are doing. What _I_ want is a menu item clearly labeled "Reply to List". > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Lloyd Hugh Allen <chandraki...@gmail.com> > Date: Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 09:26 > Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Do we "teach computers" when we write code? > To: kirby urner <kirby.ur...@gmail.com> > > > As a math teacher, using the particular example of summing a finite > set of consecutive integers: > > To give students a formula, in particular n(1+n)/2, and then have them > do a set of practice problems where they apply that formula, is not > teaching. It might be training. > > Instead, consider the case of telling students that: when Gauss was in > elementary school, his teacher needed time to work on some other > matter and so told the students to add all of the numbers from 1 to > 100; and that Gauss instantly looked up and said 5050; and the teacher > hadn't actually yet done the problem himself and so denied Gauss' > answer. The version I learned is that Gauss wrote the answer on his personal slate and put it face down on the teacher's desk, as was the custom. Then he waited while all of the others slaved through the columnar addition. When the last slate was added to the pile, the teacher turned it over and found Gauss's correct answer on top. With no working. In some of the schools I have attended, you get marked down for not showing your work. %-[ > Gauss, as an ~8 year old, said, no, look, and wrote > > 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 100 > > and then below that wrote > > 100 + 99 + 98 + ... + 1 > > and showed that there were 100 columns, and that each column summed to > 101. However, he then noted that he had written the series out twice, > and so had to divide that product by two. The 100 columns is the n; > the sum of the first and last number is 1+n; and then divide by two. You can do this in preschool with Cuisenaire rods. > And then to have the students try to represent a similar problem, and > to check their answer against the formula, and THEN to have them do a > set of practice problems, that might be teaching. > > If the computer were able to understand the story about young Gauss, > then we could teach it. Instead, we can use it to confirm that the > formula seems to work (because computers can add numbers in the > fashion that Gauss' elementary school teacher expected just as fast as > we can apply the formula), +/i.100 0.5 * (] * (] + 1)) > and we can show that using the formula is > still faster for the computer than actually summing the list, but no, > we are not teaching the computer. I still say that even though the computer is not learning, children writing programs have the same impact on their learning _as if_ they were teaching. > Perhaps if the computer were then able to, of its own volition, wonder > what we would get if we were to sum consecutive squares, then we could > teach it. As hard as it is to get students to wonder about things, > it's even harder to create that state in computers. There are theorem-proving programs, and I know of an instance in which one was turned loose and came up with a novel proof in geometry (of a well-known theorem, of course.) Still, one shouldn't make too much of an isolated incident. > -Lloyd > > On Mon, Apr 6, 2009 at 18:05, kirby urner <kirby.ur...@gmail.com> wrote: >> I'm wondering what others on this list think of this non-standard use >> of "teaching" when talking about programming a computer. >> >> The authors say we're "teaching" the computer.... > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig@python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -- Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) is my name And Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination. http://earthtreasury.net/ (Edward Mokurai Cherlin) _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
