what have you learned so far?
Joe Corneli
Jessy Cowan-Sharp,
http://jessykate.posterous.com/an-assert-challenge-confirm-model-for-assessm
Hi All:
I'm guessing given the quiet on the list, people are feeling overwhelmed
and/or embarrassed/shy... I just want to remind you that this class is
primarily about two "soft skills": (1) developing independent initiative; and
(2) helping and getting help from others. If you've learned ANYTHING
about (1) or (2) then that is a success. The math is, at least for this course,
mainly a medium for *learning about learning*.
In fact, on an etymological basis, Mathematics "means" learning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics#Etymology
So if you feel you've learned anything whatsoever in the course so far,
perhaps you could say something about it?
Example: I'm realizing that by designing this course as a "one room
schoolhouse" for mathematics I've probably created a condition of
maximal unstructure. I thought that this would be a really cool way to
learn, but now I'm having my doubts. I could have easily organized
a set of four courses (e.g. "Short Calculus", "Short Discrete Math",
"Short Math 101", and "Mathematics for game design") and that would
probably have covered a lot of the interests of people here. To cut
myself some slack, I didn't know what people were interested in until
I created the course! I'd be entirely willing to restructure the class into
four smaller tracks or "tutorial groups" if that's what people would like.
But I'll need to hear from you!
Thanks,
Joe
Emily Priddy
Joe Corneli
thanks for writing! I think the Steve Yegge post has some good tips.
Especially "Breadth first not depth first": or, like you said, you need a map!
I think his list of topics sounds pretty good, though depending on
your exact interests you could choose some different topics...
(he suggests: Discrete math, Statistics, Algebra and Linear Algebra,
Mathematical Logic, Information Theory and Kolmogorov Complexity)
... it's probably worth emphasizing that if you haven't done much
math for a while, you'll need to have something for basic review
ready to hand. (E.g. Schuam's outline of College Algebra is pretty
good.)
Anyway, all of these things can go on the map -- you don't have
to feel obliged to explore the entire map. One thing he seems to
have sort of talked "around" is the mathematics of programming;
I mean, I'd suggest that learning things like LISP or OCaML and
also studying an algorithms text would be a good way to learn
math for programming *by* programming.
I would say that with College Algebra as the core, you could
take on any one of these topics and just follow the order used
by a good introductory text book on the subject.
Joe
danoff....@googlemail.com
Not sure if it'll be helpful, but I stumbled across this for people
learning how to program a few months back:
http://www.reddit.com/r/carlhprogramming/
It's evolved since I visited and now appears to have another site
where you can begin:
http://www.highercomputingforeveryone.com/Course_1/Unit_1/Lesson_1/
The reddit thing seems better, because it has more of a community. In
any event this may be too easy for you or not what you're looking for,
or it could be the key to unlocking your genius to share with the
world, who knows.
- Charlie
On Sep 26, 4:03 pm, Emily Priddy <emily.pridd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I am feeling a little lost, I think mostly because I am not sure where to
> start? I have such a long list of "To Learn" topics that I get overwhelmed
> sometimes. I am a website designer / stay-at-home mom. I am trying to take
> advantage of being able to access the internet and learn freely while I am
> not in an office. My background is in Javascript, HTML, and CSS, but lately
> I have been focusing more on learning other languages and general
> programming concepts. I am not sure where to begin learning the math
> required for higher level programming. I also need help with a 'map' of what
> subjects to learn before moving on to others. I have found some resources
> that might be helpful for learning math for programming.
>
> http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2006/03/math-for-programmers.html
>
>
> <http://projecteuler.net/>Emily Priddy
> On Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 6:56 AM, Joe Corneli <holtzerman...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
> > Cf. An Assert-Challenge-Confirm model for Assessment in Learning by
> > Jessy Cowan-Sharp,
>
danoff....@googlemail.com
* I want to re-start an independent study I never finished my senior
year of college on "Determinants of Success in the NBA". I have taken
the step of e-mailing and calling my old professor, asking him if it'd
be alright to put the work I already did online and to start again. I
also stopped by my local library yesterday and asked the librarian for
help researching my topic and he found a cool journal article. Those
two minor steps are the most work I've done on this in over three
years.
* Also at the library I picked up a copy of Mathematical Thought from
Ancient to Modern Times (http://openlibrary.org/works/OL1947921W/
Mathematical_thought_from_ancient_to_modern_times) one of those books
I often find that looks so cool i never get around to actually reading
it.
(2) helping and getting help from others
sort of structure/excuse to re-start my learning.
* Indirectly gotten help from others by seeing how unsure and open
about what to do they are as well, which gives me encouragement to
keep going however slowly.
also, the article linked to at the beginning of the post and the song
at the end are chill.
On Sep 25, 6:56 am, Joe Corneli <holtzerman...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Cf. An Assert-Challenge-Confirm model for Assessment in Learning by
> Jessy Cowan-Sharp,
>
> Hi All:
>
> I'm guessing given the quiet on the list, people are feeling overwhelmed
> and/or embarrassed/shy... I just want to remind you that this class is
> primarily about two "soft skills": (1) developing independent initiative; and
> (2) helping and getting help from others. If you've learned ANYTHING
> about (1) or (2) then that is a success. The math is, at least for this course,
> mainly a medium for *learning about learning*.
>