On Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 9:37 PM, David Kirkby<drkir...@gmail.com> wrote:
<SNIP> >> I have taken a one-semester course on numerical analysis using Maple. >> The final exam was worth over 50% of the total mark. We were required >> to use a computer with Maple loaded, write Maple programs in response >> to exam questions, and submit Maple worksheets to the examiner. I'm >> dead serious. >> >> -- >> Regards >> Minh Van Nguyen > > Were the downsides to using a proprietary system explained to the > students? If not, I think that is wrong. The former head of school (the school that was running the course) was well aware of limitations of mathematics software systems (or computer algebra system, if you like). But I cannot recall that the course lecturer talked about downsides of proprietary systems or even maths software. I *did not* attend any of the lectures. > If I were head of an academic department, I think I would put a stop > to lecturers insisting students use software that they are unlikely to > be able to use outside the university. To me, any non-trivual piece of > software takes a long time to learn very well. That's a lot of time > virtually wasted if you can't use the program any more. Our school, or at least I am, has been investigating free open-source alternatives to Maple and Matlab. Over a year ago, a senior academic within the school gave a seminar on Maxima and its uses in maths research and education. -- Regards Minh Van Nguyen --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sage-devel-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://www.sagemath.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
