Anna, is what you describe programming (as in Python) or using graphing software (as in Maple/Matlab)? I am not certain which you are referring to by reading your email.
I think the difference is significant - the latter converts an equation to a graph, the former might show students the generalisation of an algorithm. The downside you describe won't be an issue these days (at least in my school) - Python is so powerful that kids will start playing around with it out of my control - plus they always see what the kids who are older than them are doing. On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 12:08 AM, Anna Ravenscroft <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > > > 2008/10/7 Matt K <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> >> >> (3) *A practical question* - can any *high/middle-school *teachers give >> me clear pros/cons of using programming as a tool to teach algebra? I'm >> rewriting the Year 8 maths program for next year (13-14 year olds) and am >> considering trialling using Python. The students are the school are very >> tech-savvy and I wouldn't aim to teach them anything more than formulas >> really... formulas, basic IO and some ifs. Maybe (maybe) could do a basic >> for i in range(20) loop, but nothing more than that. >> > > Not a teacher now, but... > > My first experience programming was doing quadratic equations on > punchcards. I loved it. It allowed me to learn much more about the equations > than if I had to only do them by hand. (Note that I thought quadratic > equations were pretty kewl and used to do them for fun while babysitting...) > I still find myself turning to the computer to run an equation and see what > it really does when the physical mechanics of doing it by hand isn't in the > way... > > Unfortunately, I was left with the impression that you could *only* do > equations unless you went on to become a wizard. So there is a downside, > imho, to teaching programming only as part of the math classes. I wish I'd > had some in other classes (literature, for example) to help me realize I > could use programming more widely. > > (Hope this was coherent; still working on my first cuppa joe.) > > -- > cordially, > Anna > -- > Walking through the water. Trying to get across. > Just like everybody else. >
_______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
