Mailman 3 April 2009 - Edu-sig

PSF Grant
by Vern Ceder April 18, 2009

April 18, 2009

Hi everyone, I just wanted to report that Steve Holden and the PSF have made good on their pledge to support outreach to education in a very concrete and generous way. The PSF has voted to give me a grant of $500 to help cover my travel to the National Educational Computing Conference this June to give a presentation on Python in the K12 curriculum (with Jeff Elkner, if the stars align just right). I've been traveling to NECC to make this pitch to teachers from across the country for the past 3 years, so getting a little outside funding is a welcome relief to my headmaster and definite boon to my travel budget. My sincere thanks to Steve and the PSF for their support and especially to those (like Kirby) who spoke up on my behalf. I think the message that Steve wants to get out is that the PSF is willing to devote some resources to furthering the connection between Python and the education world, but they need us to come forward with the projects. In connection with our proposed PyCon presence I'd really like to start building both a list of our various efforts to spread the word about Python in education and a tradition of announcing all of those efforts, possibly on this forum. Cheers, Vern -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder(a)canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137

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Re: [Edu-sig] New edu-sig page: first draft completed
by David MacQuigg April 16, 2009

April 16, 2009

At 07:07 PM 4/15/2009 -0700, kirby urner wrote: >> On the choice between Python 2 and 3, I would say teach both, but limit the Python 2 syntax to your specific needs. Most students will see the print statement as the only difference, and learning both is not much burden, particularly if we make it an object lesson in not painting yourself into a corner with an inflexible initial design, which breaks backward compatibility when the enhancements to the original syntax get to be too much. > >I'm not sure this is the object lesson. Rather, a language designer, >no matter how brilliant, is likely to make at least a few basic design >choices which she or he later regrets, but the fixing of which would >by this time break backward compatibility, as the suggested changes >are rather primitive (some of them). So then one builds a break point >into the time line, has a __future__ convention, gets people ready >well ahead of time. There may be two lessons to learn from the breakage of the print statement. One, as you suggest, is that even the most brilliant designer can make mistakes. The lesson I had in mind is much more specific and "actionable". When you design a function, use keyword arguments to allow for future modifications. New keywords can be added, and old ones deprecated, without breaking existing programs. The same lesson can be emphasized with examples comparing lists to dictionaries, or looking at the syntax in common protocols like SMTP. Never assume things won't change. Design for the future. Make it a habit. It is amazing to me how this lesson is ignored by professional programmers, "design-by" committees, and even programmers working on big projects they know will be around for years. Look at the original design of SMTP. The HELO command had no allowance for extra parameters. They had to change to a whole new EHLO command, and mandate an awkward recovery sequence to be used when an old receiver choked on the new EHLO command. Guess what. They still didn't allow any flexibility in the syntax of the new EHLO command!! Spammers took over email, and we have now wasted 10 years debating how a transmitter should declare the domain accepting responsibility for a requested mail session. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just add a few characters to the request, like 'ID=yahoo.com'. This substring would be interpreted correctly by new receivers, and ignored by old ones. Sorry to ramble on about my pet peeves, I'm sure anyone with experience can come up with their own examples. -- Dave

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[ANN] upcoming Python education events (Apr-Jul)
by wesley chun April 16, 2009

April 16, 2009

i'm doing 3 Python knowledge/education events within the next few months. 1. APRIL: O'Reilly/Safari Books Online "What is Python?" webcast (FREE to all) http://www.safaribooksonline.com/events/WhatIsPython.html 2. JUNE: Comprehensive Introduction to Python (3-day training course in San Francisco open to everyone!) http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2009-April/708428.html (significant discount for primary and secondary teachers!) 3. JULY: O'Reilly Open Source Convention Tutorial instructor and session speaker (San Jose, CA) http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/speaker/44470 if you have any questions, please let me know! hope to meet (or "meet") you at one or all! cheers, -- wesley - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Core Python Programming", Prentice Hall, (c)2007,2001 "Python Fundamentals", Prentice Hall, (c)2009 http://corepython.com "Python Web Development with Django", Addison Wesley, (c) 2009 http://withdjango.com wesley.j.chun :: wescpy-at-gmail.com python training and technical consulting cyberweb.consulting : silicon valley, ca http://cyberwebconsulting.com

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Praise for Gregor's talk (piggy-backing links to mine -- Kirby)
by kirby urner April 16, 2009

April 16, 2009

Gregor, great job with this: Seven ways to use Python's new turtle module: http://pycon.blip.tv/file/1947495/ I'm so glad Pycon had its video act so much more together this year. This is an example of a talk I didn't want to miss, and thanks to this year's organizers, I'm able to appreciate much better what Gregor has been up to. Your students are lucky to have such a creative and also diligent guy -- plus you have some talented friends I notice. Thanks again, Kirby Note: There's a pretty generous helping from my extra cost workshop, not the whole 3 hrs, but almost half: http://pycon.blip.tv/file/1998267/ (57 minutes) http://blip.tv/file/1997995 ( 6 mins) Maybe there's more in the pipeline I don't know, but this is enough to give the flavor. Some of what's missing: Ian contributed a video about Diffie-Helman plus I had my Xtranormal cartoon to show (I think twice): http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2009/02/regarding-objectifying.html (blogged version) Steve Holden had more speaking parts, especially towards the end.

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Re: [Edu-sig] New edu-sig page: first draft completed
by David MacQuigg April 16, 2009

April 16, 2009

Hi Andre, Nice work. I have two suggestions, and a few minor edits. On the choice between Python 2 and 3, I would say teach both, but limit the Python 2 syntax to your specific needs. Most students will see the print statement as the only difference, and learning both is not much burden, particularly if we make it an object lesson in not painting yourself into a corner with an inflexible initial design, which breaks backward compatibility when the enhancements to the original syntax get to be too much. On the use of a terminal window instead of IDLE, I can't see any advantage, except in a few very special situations, like when I am editing a program that uses tkinter, and there is a conflict between the program and IDLE, so I edit in IDLE and run from the terminal window. Those situations can be dealt with in whatever help file is guiding the student in each situation. I don't see any need to say "if you like programming directly from a terminal window". Here are some suggested minor edits: prefer to rely on --> prefer to have If you are among this group, you might --> You might The purpose of this section ... but to focus only --> Here we will focus only potential interests for educators --> potential interest to educators The following may be of interest for children, --> For children, and get independent feedback --> and get immediate feedback much fewer people --> many fewer people much fewer free software --> much less free software for making game: --> for making games: -- Dave

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Considering Python for an algebra course
by Maria Droujkova April 15, 2009

April 15, 2009

Hello, I am new to this list. I am working on an algebra course where teens will create their own learning materials and share them as open educational resources (OERs). I'd like to organize the course around a computer environment. I have three candidates for it so far: Scratch, Geogebra and Python. I like these three because they all have robust communities of people sharing open source code. Scratch has the immediate multimedia appeal, is equally loved by boys and girls, and is very easy to get into. Minus: it's rather limited when it comes to a bit more advanced math. We tried to create fractals on it this Spring in a homeschool coop, and it was cumbersome. Geogebra was created specifically for the type of projects I want to run. It is easy enough to start, for kids. I find its specialization to be a limiting factor, though - it would be nice if kids saw the environment's potential beyond math. With Python, I have more questions than answers, because I am just starting to learn it. Do you think it will work for my purpose? Do I need to get a real programmer involved, or can I learn enough Python in a few months to help kids well enough, without being a specialist? What questions do I not know to ask? I would appreciate any pointers. -- Cheers, MariaD Make math your own, to make your own math. http://www.naturalmath.com social math site http://www.phenixsolutions.com empowering our innovations

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Thoughts and observations...
by Andre Roberge April 15, 2009

April 15, 2009

Hi everyone, As I worked on the new edu-sig page, and got a few emails, I was struck how the use of Python in Computer Science seems to have taken off. I remember when we, on the edu-sig list, celebrated the publication of John Zelle's textbook, the first book published for a CS-1 course. For a number of years, Zelle's book was the only game in town. Now there are at least 5 university-level textbooks using Python - I would not be surprised to hear from more authors that I may have overlooked. --- Kirby's side observation about Blender struck a chord with me. I've tried to use Blender [actually, to have my kids use Blender ;-) ] a while ago but "we" never got to do anything decent with it - even after buying a book. I kept the Blender reference on the edu-sig (it was on the old page) but I am wondering if it really belongs there... --- The Python community is kind and generous. Queries to the pydotorg list (for website related matters) have been answered promptly and always helpfully. A few folks on the edu-sig list contacted me privately, offering suggestions included links to add to the new page. Please feel free to make more suggestions for improvements. And if you disagree with some of my more subjective statements on the edu-sig page, please do not hesitate to tell me. And I won't be offended at all if you point out some grammatical mistakes and the like - my kids do it all the time when I speak or write in English. Cheers, André

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Re: [Edu-sig] Considering Python for an algebra course
by David MacQuigg April 14, 2009

April 14, 2009

At 11:14 AM 4/14/2009 -0700, kirby urner wrote: >> Depends on your own background in programming, and whether you need to do anything unusual like accelerate a program with a function in C. My guess is the average math or science teacher will have no difficulty learning the basics of Python in a few weeks, and will get all the help they need from participants on this list. The tutorials at http://docs.python.org/3.0/tutorial/index.html and http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide are excellent, and the tutorials (help files) on PyWhip will be even better for teaching specific topics like logic, strings, etc. > >Actually if you skip thinking like a computer scientist and just focus >on algebra, i.e. namespaces and operator overloading within the first >20 minutes, I think what you are saying is focus on teaching the language in the most efficient way possible, and leave the teaching of CS to others. I agree 100%. PhWhip is intended to help teachers avoid spending class time on syntax, and focus more of their efforts on teaching science, engineering, economics, whatever. CS is still important, even for non-CS majors. It's just not the focus of PyWhip. PyWhip is also not intended to be a complete self-study tool. Students need more than rote practice and repetition of what they see in examples. It takes both theory and practice to learn efficiently, at least for adults. Maybe kids are better at absorbing language without any theory. Their minds are like dry sponges, absorbing water for the first time. Adult minds are more like packed warehouses. We've got to move something out before we can squeeze other stuff in. We also have to keep the junk to a minimum, and that's where theory can help. It can help our brains decide what is worth keeping, and what we should ignore or forget. > then you'll leave these CS nerds in the dust within a year >or two, won't need 'em as sysadmins even. :) LOL. :>) You underestimate the power of the nerds to complexify our systems. Their jobs are secure! :>) -- Dave

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New edu-sig page: first draft completed
by Andre Roberge April 14, 2009

April 14, 2009

Hi everyone, The first draft of the new edu-sig page is now complete. It can be found at its usual location: http://www.python.org/community/sigs/current/edu-sig The old page can be viewed (for a short while) at http://www.python.org/community/sigs/current/edu-sig/old_page/ As usual, feel free to comment and make suggestions. Cheers, André

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Re: [Edu-sig] Considering Python for an algebra course
by David MacQuigg April 14, 2009

April 14, 2009

At 07:30 AM 4/14/2009 -0400, Maria Droujkova wrote: >Hello, > >I am new to this list. I am working on an algebra course where teens will create their own learning materials and share them as open educational resources (OERs). You and your students are welcome to participate in PyWhip (http://pywhip.appspot.com/), work problems submitted by their teacher, and submit their own problems that might be interesting to other students. The site is not yet finished, but to get an idea of where we are headed, take a look at JavaBat.com. We are planning on doing everything JavaBat does, but doing it for Python, plus adding the ability for teachers to pick and choose which problems sets are included in a custom setup for their own students. >I'd like to organize the course around a computer environment. I have three candidates for it so far: Scratch, Geogebra and Python. I like these three because they all have robust communities of people sharing open source code. > >Scratch has the immediate multimedia appeal, is equally loved by boys and girls, and is very easy to get into. Minus: it's rather limited when it comes to a bit more advanced math. We tried to create fractals on it this Spring in a homeschool coop, and it was cumbersome. Probably slow as well. Python has the advantage that you can write exactly what you want in clear, readable, and teachable code, then if it is too slow, drop in a function written in C. I did that with a lecture on Mandelbrot fractals and got a 200X acceleration in computing an image. See the ECE175 notes at http://ece.arizona.edu/~edatools/index_classes.htm >Geogebra was created specifically for the type of projects I want to run. It is easy enough to start, for kids. I find its specialization to be a limiting factor, though - it would be nice if kids saw the environment's potential beyond math. They will never outgrow Python. >With Python, I have more questions than answers, because I am just starting to learn it. Do you think it will work for my purpose? Even with Python, there is a little bit of overhead in getting it set up, teaching kids to do a few simple things, deal with problems like killing pythonw.exe zombies on Windows, etc. It sounds like you are planning more than just a one-hour demo, so yes, the benefit is worth the effort. >Do I need to get a real programmer involved, or can I learn enough Python in a few months to help kids well enough, without being a specialist? Depends on your own background in programming, and whether you need to do anything unusual like accelerate a program with a function in C. My guess is the average math or science teacher will have no difficulty learning the basics of Python in a few weeks, and will get all the help they need from participants on this list. The tutorials at http://docs.python.org/3.0/tutorial/index.html and http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide are excellent, and the tutorials (help files) on PyWhip will be even better for teaching specific topics like logic, strings, etc. ************************************************************ * * David MacQuigg, PhD email: macquigg at ece.arizona.edu * * * Research Associate phone: USA 520-721-4583 * * * * ECE Department, University of Arizona * * * * 9320 East Mikelyn Lane * * * * http://purl.net/macquigg Tucson, Arizona 85710 * ************************************************************ *

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