[Edu-sig] Re: projective geometry through programming

Matthias Felleisen matthias@rice.edu
Sun, 7 May 2000 11:11:32 -0500 (CDT)


The EdScheme (www.scheme.com) project has had a huge success with 3D and
projective geometry. It's a high school project that started at a magnet
school in the 1970s as a math project. In the 80s they included
Logo. Starting in 1987 or so, they started teaching Scheme (based on The
Little LISPer at the time) and have continually added things. At first they
covered logic foc computing (up to Goedel's incompleteness theorem), then
abstract algebra (and Galois), and eventually 3D geometry and things. They
distribute their books to many other high schools and colleges. It might be
worth studying what they have done, if you wish to pursue this
systematically. 

A few years ago (1995) they presented their work at a workshop on
programming education. They clearly got the most attention, and people were
unbelievably impressed.

-- Matthias

P.S. My own project is complementary to theirs. I wish to reach *all*
students not just magnet schools (or whatever they are called in other
states) and I focus on program construction, not math-thru-programming. 
But that doesn't mean these people have something to offer in terms of
hints and evidence and so on.