On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 6:27 AM, David Joyner <[email protected]> wrote:
> >Are you going to teach programming (eg, Python) in this course? > Exactly. We'll be using the Litvins' *Math for the Digital Age and Programming in Python* <http://www.skylit.com/mathandpython.html>, and I think we can work through that text in a semester. Though it does touch on some precalc topics, it is not specifically a precalc text, so we'll also draw from our regular text to fill in the gaps. Then second semester we'll focus on the remaining precalc topics not addressed in Digital Age. The kids should be proficient enough at that point in using Sage to be able to write little papers about the math we're studying. Each student will have an online Sage notebook account that will serve as a portfolio of their work. > Seems like you are leaning towards discrete math+precalc topics. > Is that correct? > Our current precalc text, Demana Waits, does contain a chapter on discrete math - basic combinatorics, sequences, series, binomial theorem, math induction, etc., but again, it's towards the end of the text and is normally done 2nd semester. I think a lot of those topics could easily be done first semester and would have more relevance for learning programming. So I'm going to change some things around and save the trig stuff and the analytic geometry for 2nd semester. Eventually a computational discrete math course would also be a great thing to create. There actually used to be a ProbStat/Finite math course at our school, but it was tracked for the 'lower' math students, the ones 'not headed for calculus', and I really disliked the illusion it created that 'Finite was for dummies' or 'not real math'. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sage-edu" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-edu?hl=en.
