Related papers: Simplifying and Refactoring Introductory Calculus
I propose an applications-first approach for adjusting how parallel and distributed computing concepts are incorporated into curricula. By focusing on practical applications that leverage parallelism and distributed systems, this approach…
There is a growing consensus that physics majors need to learn computational skills, but many departments are still devoid of computation in their physics curriculum. Some departments may lack the resources or commitment to create a…
This course, intended for undergraduates familiar with elementary calculus and linear algebra, introduces the extension of differential calculus to functions on more general vector spaces, such as functions that take as input a matrix and…
If spreadsheets are not erroneous then who, or what, is? Research has found that end-users are. If end-users are erroneous then why are they? Research has found that responsibility lies with human beings' fast and slow thinking modes and…
In this study, we examine introductory physics students' ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. Three hundred and…
It is commonly agreed that the success of future proof assistants will rely on their ability to incorporate computations within deduction in order to mimic the mathematician when replacing the proof of a proposition P by the proof of an…
As real logic programmers normally use cut (!), an effective learning procedure for logic programs should be able to deal with it. Because the cut predicate has only a procedural meaning, clauses containing cut cannot be learned using an…
Recent investigations have been carried out on critical analyses of beginning physics teachers confronted with questionable explanations. These studies raise the question of the choices made by teachers for their teaching once they have…
This paper defines the (first-order) conflict resolution calculus: an extension of the resolution calculus inspired by techniques used in modern SAT-solvers. The resolution inference is restricted to (first-order) unit-propagation and the…
Scientists who study how the brain solves problems have recently verified that, because of stringent limitations in working memory, where the brain solves problems, students must apply facts and algorithms that have previously been well…
In recent years, computing has become an important part of the way we teach and learn physics. Teachers, both at high school and college levels, now use computational activities in many of their courses. Physics departments are offering…
The simple pendulum is one of the first experiments that students of higher physics do. There are certain precautions which the students are asked to take while performing the experiment. In this note we will try to explain as to why these…
Physics makes powerful use of mathematics, yet the way this use is made is often poorly understood. Professionals closely integrate their mathematical symbology with physical meaning, resulting in a powerful and productive structure. But…
That computers should be easy to learn and use is a rarely-questioned tenet of user interface design. But what do we gain from prioritising usability and learnability, and what do we lose? I explore how simplicity is not an inevitable truth…
Curriculum learning is a class of training strategies that organizes the data being exposed to a model by difficulty, gradually from simpler to more complex examples. This research explores a reverse curriculum generation approach that…
Proof Blocks is a software tool that provides students with a scaffolded proof-writing experience, allowing them to drag and drop prewritten proof lines into the correct order instead of starting from scratch. In this paper we describe a…
Writing and argumentation are critical to both professional physics and physics education. However, the skill of making an extended argument in writing is often overlooked in physics classrooms, apart from certain practices like lab…
To date, most work on text simplification has focused on sentence-level inputs. Early attempts at document simplification merely applied these approaches iteratively over the sentences of a document. However, this fails to coherently…
Most university curricula consider software processes to be on the fringes of software engineering (SE). Students are told there exists a plethora of software processes ranging from RUP over V-shaped processes to agile methods. Furthermore,…
The complexity of quantum computation remains poorly understood. While physicists attempt to find ways to create quantum computers, we still do not have much evidence one way or the other as to how useful these machines will be. The tools…