On Mon, Jun 28, 2021 at 5:00 PM calcp...@aol.com <calcp...@aol.com> wrote:
> Hi Kirby, > Cool stuff! Meanwhile, back at the college, I'm teaching Multivariable > Calculus using Jupyter Notebooks with NumPy and SymPy. See my blog if you > are interested, > http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com > > Yes. As usual, you're way ahead of me, both in terms of the hardware and Python. I've often accessed your online learning materials, including recorded online sessions. What I've discovered about the high school market is a lot of parents, and by extension their kids, are focused on winning prizes through tournaments i.e. speed contests that require knowing which algorithms to use and how to use them (the specific language doesn't matter). The school I'm teaching at has historically focused on tournaments run by ACSL (American Computer Science League) and USACO (USA Computing Olympiad). Also, given the high school curriculum map is so calculus heavy, there's not much time left for the number and/or basic group theory type stuff I consider on the "lambda calc" track (where ordinary calculus is "delta calc" in contrast). My preferred model of K-12 is to bifurcate the track around Algebra (8) and offer two pathways: delta and lambda calc tracks (OK to sample both of course). Thankfully, cryptography is so ubiquitous these days and so core to security, that we no longer need to worry about the "relevance" of our alternative topics. It's only under the heading of "enrichment" during summer school wherein I have the freedom to explore such as Euclid's Extended Algorithm, Fermat's Little Theorem, Euler's Theorem etc. The mainstream high school curriculum does not usually motivate study of such topics, all building to RSA. The Litvins text used at Phillips Andover (mentioned in my video) was the one exception we've been discussing over the years here on edu-sig. By now, we have additional crossovers (e.g. Math Adventures With Python by Peter Farrell) that make no sharp distinctions between coding and math. The blurrier the better. > Be well, > A. Jorge Garcia > Applied Math & CS > Nassau Community College > http://www.patreon.com/calcpage2020 > > PS retired from High School due to pandemic... > My Advanced High School Topics with Python is through a private online school in Greater Portland. We did go through an historical chapter wherein Oregon's legislature agreed, in principle, to open up the high schools to more "lambda calc" topics (discrete math most people call it). I was a player, a lobbyist, in those days. But in practice, there's still the artificial divide between math and computer science. I find the pandemic environment has been helpful in breaking down that divide, as to use Zoom at all means having access to a laptop. Math teachers trying to get by on Texas Instruments don't have the same reach and/or clout as they used to, in this cyber-environment. Kirby PS: have you seen the new TI calculator that includes Python? https://education.ti.com/en/products/calculators/graphing-calculators/ti-84-plus-ce-python Any thoughts?
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