I thought I'd provide a case study as to how I'm using Wikieducator, thinking this might be interesting to others.
A lot of the details are about local politics so I'm not expecting my circumstances to match those of others in every particular, naturally. About a year ago today, I attended a by invitation work shop hosted by Chris Brooks, then with Software Association of Oregon, about planning for a new kind of math class to be offered at the high school level in our state. Our state legislature already had some guidelines, regarding how many years of mathematics classes are required for high school graduation (answer: 3). We looked at some guidelines regarding what was called "discrete mathematics" at the high school level. That's a course you would more likely find in a college, however much of the material is of special interest to future computer science majors or other technologists, perhaps even medical doctors or bioinformatics specialists. The thinking was (and still is) that the royal road through calculus need not be the one and only "turn on" to math and science, engineering or whatever. Jump over to discrete math (or some call it digital math, others computational thinking) and we will show you some interesting ropes (an idiom -- means we will provide some useful skills and insights). What is Digital Math? Probably a leading characteristic or defining hallmark of a discrete mathematics class is some programming is involved, meaning there's a computer language in the picture and a need to weave that in with whatever math topics. This is not a new idea and we've seen prototypes from APL and ISETL through Squeak and Scratch, with many experiments in between (some ongoing). My current favorite approach is the Python computer language, although I also had a language called J installed, for this one week class, approximately 9.5 hours, just pilot tested at Reed College in Portland, Oregon under the auspices of Saturday Academy. The class that I taught was called Martian Math, and this is actually but one of four modules in a broader curriculum that I detail (for other teachers) on Wikieducator. Another module is Neolithic Math and my associate and fellow Linus Pauling House member handled that curriculum. We did not have staffing for the remaining two: Supermarket Math and Casino Math (the latter being games of chance mixed with statistics and probability). Saturday Academy and the Oregon Curriculum Network are distinct entities so for the former's summer camp to work, it didn't matter at all that OCN wasn't prototyping all four modules. Historical Background The Linus Pauling House is a local institution, a group that meets and organizes events in the historic boyhood home of a famous Oregon native who won both the Nobel prize for Chemistry and for Peace. He is the only recipient of two unshared prizes on record. He and Ava were activists, and some of his students, such as the late Doug Strain, went to extra lengths to have their teacher memorialized. Hence this house was restored as a part of a three building campus plus parking lot. Plans to acquire the entire city block are on hold -- every organization needs to aspire to some next higher level I suppose. Doug Strain was the founder of Electro Scientific Industries, one of the core businesses of the so-called Silicon Forest, others being Tektronix and HP. Some define this Forest to stretch far enough north to encompass Microsoft. It's just local mythology, a manifestation of a part of Oregon trying to compete with San Jose and its Silicon Valley. Both regions attract skilled people so it's not like "competition" is all that necessary, more we don't want visitors to be confused and to ask where the Golden Gate Bridge might be -- not in this neighborhood, about 11 hours by freeway, due south, over mountains. Content Delivery and Wikieducator Here is a link to the Martian Math web site, from the course just completed, followed by a link to my Heuristics for Teachers, where these components get more overview. http://www.4dsolutions.net/satacad/martianmath/toc.html http://www.4dsolutions.net/satacad/martianmath/readme.html (links to Wikieducator from "The idea of Martian Math..." The Neolithic Math course involved much use of the pendulum (also a plumb bob) and sundials, but was even more focused on a unit radius R, and the geometry one could derive from just an R length, some string, some chalk (basically compass and ruler, with some string for a compass). I don't think my Wikieducator write-up gives a complete enough picture. But then one cannot assume that Wiki materials necessarily substitute for an actual hands on workshop. Different media go to different purposes. I am thankful that Wikieducator has provided such a free and open platform for the placement of unrestricted materials, suitable for adaptation to local circumstances. Kirby Urner -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to wikieducator@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to wikieducator-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
