Hi Don, I have not gone through the entire document you sent in great detail but did read most of the text.
You have in the past encountered a lot of resistance along the lines of the justification for the need for S. You have attempted to justify it with your opening paragraph. I think it is important to see citations of research to back up the statements you make. At the risk of sounding like the great Professor Finkelstein with his footnote obsession, here goes... "Research has established that a developing brain cuts off the potential for unused skills somewhere before about 13." Citations? "If a boy hasn’t pitched by age 13, he has no chance of becoming a major league pitcher." Citations? "Similarly, someone who hasn’t developed some aptitude for Mathematical thought by age 13 probably never will acquire that aptitude." Citations? "However, it is also true that most students don’t acquire sufficient ability for abstract thought in time." Citations? "So the development of mathematical thought has to have as strong a Public School beginning as possible before continuing in High School." No need for citations if it is your own conclusion from the summary of research cited above. "However, it is also true that most students don’t acquire sufficient ability for abstract thought in time." Citations? "Primary education is rooted in experiential learning." Citations + what does that mean? "Students and teachers need to experiment with Mathematics." No need for citation if above is true. "This requires an appropriate computer system that can add experiential learning to both elementary and secondary school classes." What computer system did Sir Isaac Newton use? "However, the specifications for a Mathematics teaching system are different from the specifications for a system to teach J – and the objective is not to teach J. There would need to be a language mutation of J added that is as close to mathematical notation as possible, so that teachers could learn enough quickly and easily." I think this is at the heart of our misunderstanding. J is an Executable Mathematical Notation (allegedly, I mean I don't really know what that means) and then there is Mathematical Notation. You want to teach Mathematical Notation and not J. Wouldn't Maple be better for that? Perhaps the cost of Maple is prohibitive to schools, but I am sure they could cut a deal in return for getting youngsters hooked on the syrup at a young age. "The object of this paper is to determine whether such a variation could be implemented in the J system without major development. The existence of a J mutation would need to be totally transparent to J programmers, requiring them to make no adjustments whatsoever. For the purpose of this paper, such a language will be called S – for School language." All the foregoing can be omitted because here you state what sounds like an interesting J project regardless of a yet-to-be-proven need for S. Matthew. On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 6:27 AM, Richard Hill <[email protected]> wrote: > Re. Rick Sherlock's sample session for mean and SD. > This is really good. > It's good that its documented. > I've seen it demoed before, but to have it laid > out like that is excellent. Should it be a lab or in the wiki? > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > -- http://www.ixquick.com/ Ixquick Protects Your Privacy! The only search engine that does not record your IP address. http://www.vivapalestina.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
