Geometry is an interesting case... I think J could use better api design there.
I have some ideas of tools I want to write for myself, that are sort of like geometry api tools, but I'm a long way off from actually writing them. (Photoshop "layers" might be very like a J variable, and that some paint tools are somehat similar to the sorts of things that you might find use in presenting geometric concepts. But that kind of approach would be best pre-packaed, while the stuff that you are probably thinking of gets deeper into the coding aspects?) Thanks, -- Raul On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 12:48 PM, Linda Alvord <lindaalv...@verizon.net> wrote: > I'm working on long script that would be a guideline for an honors geometry > and have been able to stay comfortably within "Easy J". I've only used the > functions necessary for the geometry concepts I'm teaching. > > I came upon a hook that is appropriate and I could go as Aai suggested or > use & and > I have been swaying in the direction of & lately. I'm struggling with my > intuitive feelng that 13 : is a good start for children. I'd like to > convince them that both options work in the same way in definitions and in > trees. > > Please understand that my goal, as you suggest, is to teach mathematics and > use J as a tool to understand the concepts better and also generate > numerically correct answers. > > I agree with what you are say about teaching, but I'm also trying to better > understand the things you are teaching me so I will make better choices > myself and as I said I'm considering walking downhill with the students. In > this course they have had one year of algebra and are just getting the idea > of functions. > > Linda > > -----Original Message-----h > From: programming-boun...@forums.jsoftware.com [mailto:programming-bo > un...@forums.jsoftware.com] On Behalf Of Raul Miller > Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 11:37 AM > To: programming@jsoftware.cosem > Subject: [Jprogramming] J and education (was: stitching matrices) > > On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 9:57 AM, Linda Alvord <lindaalv...@verizon.net> > wrote: >> What I am trying to do is sort out a sequence for developing concepts >> in mathematics education. A starting point is Easy J. Also. I favor >> explicit definitions using 13 : as they clearly indicate the placement of > arguments. > > "Mathematics" covers a huge amount of ground. > > If I were in your position, I'd pick a vocabulary from J which was tailored > to make the subject in question as easy to manipulate as possible. I'd not > try to teach "all of J". a When making this kind of choice, I would > concern myself with the subject matter in related classes, even if I were > teaching them. > > In general, treatments of mathematics feel free to introduce new notation > out of the blue wherever it's convenient, so I would try to follow that > tradition. But I would want my students focusing on the data and the > concepts -- J would just be a convenient toolset for manipulating the data. > > That said, I would let J's structure influence my presentation. > > For example, if I needed sine and cosine, I would need to choose between a > presentation that talks about even and odd functions (1&o.,: > 2&o.) or a presentation that talks about complex exponentials > (+.@^@j.) or a presentation which deals with taylor series (which could > include either of the above, though I would have to be careful with the > exponentials, or could build up the series in some other way). > > When I was learning APL, I saw it being used to introduce physics concepts > (many), chemistry concepts (my rendering of electron orbitals of simple > atoms got me co-authorship for some article in some obscure chemical journal > back in I think '86 -- but I have long since forgotten all the details about > that), biology concepts (mostly statistics), language concepts (mostly > drills), and some electronic music (but APL on the computers back then could > not implement a variety of interesting techniques, so that was not very > satisfying). > [All of this APL activity was mostly because of Vin Grannell's influence and > support.] > > But what I observed back then was that each class's application domain > usually used a small subset of APL -- typically 6-12 "words" plus the data. > So I assume that something similar would hold true with J. > > So I'd probably work through the class material myself, and try to find ways > of illustrating the concepts in J (leaving myself notes that I would come > back to, later), and then once I'd gone through the materials I'd have a > pretty good idea of where I would want to be in my presentation, so I'd go > back to clean things up to place emphasis on the concepts rather than on J. > > -- > Raul > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
