Re: http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=9430209
The above-linked thread might garner some forking threads or comment lines here. This branch is mostly dormant on math-teach as of today, but points back to an earlier thread that evoked much discussion (so well may take off again), which discussion I boldly dare to summarize here: http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=9432446 (long-winded and skipable without losing the plot line) We're in the thick of it, Python-wise, which is why I bring our thread up here on edu-sig. The gist of the math-teach thread is that given changes in some states, it's getting easier to give math credit for high school courses we might call "digital flavored" meaning (in part) a computer language enters in, maybe more than one. Hardly a "new thing" for a lot of us in math teaching, who've used Logo since the 1960s or whatever, but the status quo in secondary schools has been to relegate CS (computer stuff) to elective status and make a 3-year's worth of math credits mandatory, with nothing CS-like counting towards fulfilling that requirement. Algebra, trig, stats and of anything-like-calculus -- that was it for math credit. But nothing like Python. Computer Stuff was elective-only and in a state such as Oregon using property taxes for schools (disbursement formula since changed) only the few best neighborhood public schools had any computers to begin with (which was probably why they set it up that way, to not let CS count). This was before you could get a computer for $45 dollars (Raspberry Pi less the peripherals you also need). This status quo is what has changed in some of the less backward US states, thanks to various lobbies and special /overlapping interests. New laws have been or are in the process of being passed, including in Oregon. The older linked thread on math-teach takes a look at some of the back stories. In many states, the new laws allow Computer Stuff to count more towards the 3-years of math credit these same states require. [ You may still do a lot of calculus stuff in a digital flavored math course, since digital technology is a fine tool for studying calculus concepts... but lots of other stuff too. ] I think many in Europe e.g Austria have never had a problem with a turtle.py in math class, whereas any programming in the US public sphere was automatically painted into the CS corner as AP this or that. Private schools could organize differently. The new emphasis on STEM is changing the dynamics, since it's more of an integral whole, not that friendly to being carved up into this and that. To draw a line in the sand and say it's math-for-credit on this side and CS-not-math-credit on that side was not making sense to a lot of STEM people. Kirby
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