Math Using Python Workshop

[Peter Farrell]

Hi, MathFuture Readers!

The Math Through Technology: Calculus workshop went very well last month! The participants learned a lot and I got some very positive feedback. Some of the participants were interested in a Python programming class, so starting November 1 I'm teaching a quick, hands-on Python for Math Applications workshop in Burlingame, CA near the SF Airport. The class will be limited to 8 students.

More info is available at http://farrellpolymath.com/services/math-workshops/

We'll start with geometry: polygons and angles and work up to approximating numbers like pi and e using infinite series. On the way we'll learn loops, conditional statements, strings, lists and arrays.

No programming experience is necessary, but having Python installed on your laptop is required. Python is a professional programming language, used in Network Programming, Database Administration, Web, Software and Game Development, Science and Education. It's free, and available from http://www.python.org/. 

Any questions or input would be welcome!

Peter Farrell

[kirby urner]

I like the idea of a brand of teacher that hops around near airports.

I've done that myself some, hopping to Chicago and Baltimore (via
Dulles) to lead Python trainings geared for mathematical
applications.**

https://www.pythonanywhere.com/
http://www.pythontutor.com/
http://www.skulpt.org/
http://www.sagemath.org/

Have a good class.

In my experience there's way more demand than supply, which also
relates to the shortage of good ideas on how to get people together
for learning purposes outside of formal schools and their many layers
of cruft.

The near-airport model is popular.

D. Beazley and W. Chun work that way too. Not sure what Eckel is up
to these days. http://mindviewinc.com/ Actually I see David is doing
the training in his office these days, no more than six at a time:
http://www.dabeaz.com/chicago/index.html

We have an Education Summit planned for the next US Pycon. I'll be
representing my school (O'Reilly's, based in Sebastapol).

Given Guido's background (CP4E / DARPA etc.) there's a long tradition
of involvement in education. The initiative is not entirely
Python-specific of course. I'm currently focusing more broadly on
"dot notation" in the Math Forum.

http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=7909704 (jumping into
the middle of a recent thread)

If any of your students wants a Pythonic math textbook, one likely to
inspire quite a few like it (probably many in the pipeline already),
check out 'Mathematics for the Digital Age and Programming in Python'
(Litvin and Litvin). You're probably already familiar with it. Used
at Phillips / Andover and such places.

Kirby

** workshop for teachers was near O'Hare (the first part of it is on
Blip.TV) -- my follow-up to a Pycon talk given a year earlier (yes
this is Pycon)

the Baltimore gig was for Space Telescope Science Institute which has
its own full time Python guy nowadays (scsti.edu)

[Peter Farrell]

Hi, Kirby,

Thank you for the good wishes and the wealth of info on teaching Python! I'd been using it so much for crunching numbers my homeschooled clients asked for a workshop dedicated to Python. (I've often thought Riemann sums should be a computer programming assignment, not a pencil-and-paper form of torture.) Feel free to share any more ideas that pop into your head.

I'm flattered you think I'm jetsetting around the world giving workshops. Actually, I live 10 miles from SFO and the office I use is even closer. But if enough students near the Honolulu airport are interested in a workshop...

Peter Farrell

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MathFuture" group.
To post to this group, send email to mathf...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to mathfuture+...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mathfuture?hl=en.

[kirby urner]

On Wed, Oct 24, 2012 at 10:49 PM, Peter Farrell
<peterfa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi, Kirby,
>
> Thank you for the good wishes and the wealth of info on teaching Python! I'd
> been using it so much for crunching numbers my homeschooled clients asked
> for a workshop dedicated to Python. (I've often thought Riemann sums should
> be a computer programming assignment, not a pencil-and-paper form of
> torture.) Feel free to share any more ideas that pop into your head.
>

I agree with you that Taylor series, continued fractions, anything
with a "next in sequence" aspect, should be done with mechanical aids
after about the 3rd or 4th term (or 10th or whatever). Punching the
same calculator buttons over and over is also too tedious. Some of
those are programmable, but the screens are so tiny and the languages
so special case...

Sometimes a floating point answer is enough, but if you're wanting to
show how Fibonacci numbers (F(n+1)/F) approach Phi (1.618..), then
maybe you want a rational number type with extended precision Decimal
output. There's also gmpy (3rd party library, maintained by this guy
Case who comes to Portland user groups) -- arbitrary precision
decimals, with arbitrary precision complex numbers thrown in for good
measure (gmpy2).

During Pi Day (3/14) I hosted an informal contest asking for Python
programs that reliably generated Pi to a thousand places. I made it
easy by giving them the Ramanujan generator I wanted them to use. One
of the winners was from the University of Havana.

http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2011/03/reviewing-pi-day.html
(follow-up link gives more details, links to source code)

> I'm flattered you think I'm jetsetting around the world giving workshops.
> Actually, I live 10 miles from SFO and the office I use is even closer. But
> if enough students near the Honolulu airport are interested in a workshop...
>
> Peter Farrell
>

Having them come to you is an even higher level of practice.

Flying around a lot gets to be hard on the body, especially where jet
lag and always sitting is concerned.

I'm a big guy and if I try to use my laptop in the standard seat, it's
up against my belly and my elbows are in my neighbors face. 800 lbs
gorillas should fly first class I guess. That's how we corporately
sponsor the airlines, which would go under without those cushy seats.

I don't though (fly first class) -- I keep the laptop in my bag,
usually under the seat in front of me (overhead bins taken by all
those humongous "carry ons" from hell).

Kirby