On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 11:59 AM, Robert Bradshaw <rober...@math.washington.edu> wrote: > On Dec 9, 2009, at 12:44 PM, michel paul wrote: > >> > Sound familiar to anyone? >> >> Absolutely! Yeah, the average HS student just wants to be told what >> to do. So this has been very tricky - how to get the kids to use >> something like Sage/Python as a way to explore ideas on their own >> when all they really want is to be told exactly what steps to follow >> to guarantee an A. > > I'll second this. Unfortunately the same goes for many college freshmen. > > Another point that hasn't been brought up yet is that students don't > usually expect to have to ask questions. Since many expect to be told > everything, they often feel it's a sign of "stupidity" to not be able > to execute. When I'd give out worksheets and say "if you have any > questions, feel free to ask" I usually wouldn't get that much of a > response, but walking around the class as they worked asking them > about what they were doing would get them thinking and asking. > > Another idea, since students just want to be told what to do (though > it's a bit silly), is making asking at least one question a requirement.
Another thing that I find helpful is to imagine being tossed into a lab setting (or whatever) with some weird computer language I know absolutely nothing of (e.g., COBOL? PL1?) and being asked to solve a bunch of math problems with it and ask questions, etc., for the next hour. That's how it feels for your students using Sage. This thought experiment can help encourage one to be more gentle I think... Anyway, it helps for me. -- William -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sage-edu" group. To post to this group, send email to sage-...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sage-edu+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-edu?hl=en.
