Turing:
put repeat ("I will not throw paper airplanes in class\n")

It’s really cool how you’ve gotten into Computer Science just from the TI manual. It really shows that sometimes there just needs to be the right opportunity to spark the interest!

Four years ago now, during my final years at Australian high school, all maths students were required to buy a TI-83 (original). The text books contained (in print) TI-83 BASIC code for every type of maths problem. (Most of the time i didn’t read the paragraphs of text or look at the worked examples, i would just read the BASIC code and quickly gain an understanding.) We were allowed to use our TI-83 laden with programs in exams. The public education system obviously had the right idea.

However, my teachers were ignorant and totally missed the point. They didn’t understand or promote the use of the TI-83 much beyond graphing.

With no prior knowledge in coding i got my first lessons from the TI-83 manual for its version of BASIC. I actively used and improved the maths code. Then made BASIC games. Then went on to teach myself z80-risc assembly to make the cool Tetris-like games everyone played. Then after school i went on to do a bach. in computer science. And i like Python over Ruby.

Of the ~50 advanced maths students in my year (of ~100 students), only 3 (me included) could write or modify TI-83 BASIC programs. What happened to the ideals of the 80s where coding should be taught in primary school? I remember being amused when i found an old book at the local library on z80 assembly coding: It was printed in size 18 font and elaborately illustrated with cute colourful robots moving bits of paper with numbers on them in and out of pigeon-hole boxes. It resembled a Mr Men book. (It was first published when the z80 was a common early-PC processor, but i dont recall the exact date.)

The problem is computers became too complex and powerful. Teenagers of the Commodore 64 era have a much better understanding of computers than the teenagers of My Space. The simple, limited, self-contained TI-83 was my Commodore 64. It provided a perfect learning base for complex computer systems (thanks ticalc.org). It taught me how a programming language, machine code, RAM, ROM, display-buffer (LCD), input (keys) and CPU all fit together. All of which are buried too deep under a nice GUI in modern computers.

PS: I just became a new fan of your blog.

A persistent problem with teaching is the natural distribution of students making up large classes. One would try to bias towards the middle, to accommodate the most students, but there will always remain a few struggling with the difficult material, and a few that will be bored with the same easy material. So while some would need that extra practice, others simply do not. There’s no way around this divide (other than having much smaller class sizes, but that is often not feasible). Programming is not for everyone, but it should bring some sanity into crunch work for those neglected student groups.

@Clayton – one doesn’t really need the fancy silver edition version, a basic TI 83 graphing calculator will do (it just has less flash memory) and a used one goes for about 1/4 of that price. Alternatively, I remember that one of my high schools had a bucket of those TI 83 that were given out in Math class during some “graphing functions” week.

“Denying other students the ability to learn in another way isn’t right” – programming one’s calculator is that other way. (The other) Kyle seems to agree that teachers should allow students to explore this other avenue of a learning approach.

@(the other) Kyle – you are absolutely right, practice establishes a solid foundation for a particular concept. Though back in high school I recall certain types of “problems” were assigned in much larger quantities, than needed to hammer in that point. Figuring out how to program a calculator just formed a path of least resistance.

The example I used was the quadratic equation – once you figure out your A,B,Cs of the problem, additional practice will only increase the speed at which you type out the entire equation into the basic calculator (high school kids don’t do square roots in their head). The Sudoku example is different – while one might understand the rules to systematically fill out the grid (and do so in a single line of Perl), the goal is to train your brain to recognize patterns and hold numbers in your memory, not necessarily completing the puzzle.

And yes, everything will always end up on a test. Welcome to University with final exams accounting for 80% of your grade (sometimes).

I think it’s important that teachers let students explore this avenue if they are able to. It certainly doesn’t hinder other students, and it is more productive for the student who is able to. Perhaps the teacher could even encourage the student to lead a lesson on programming something simple into the calculator so other students have an entry point to the topic if it interests them. I know I’d have probably picked it up at the time if I had someone to introduce me to the topic.

However, I do understand the value of repetition. It really helps with retention. I could easily program something to solve math equations if I’m looking at a book while I’m doing it. Usually the nature of these problems is plugging a few variables into an equation and solving it, which is easy, but helps to build up fundamental skills.

Look at Sudoku for example. It’s not a math problem, but you’re given some of the variables and you have to figure out the rest of the answers using the rules given. After doing it enough times, you’re likely to spot patterns and be able to solve the puzzles even faster. However, if you just write a program to solve a Sudoku puzzle, you’re not necessarily learning the material. You may know the rules behind the problem, but not the intricacies involved in solving it quickly and efficiently, or even applying that knowledge to other problems.

Don’t get me wrong though, I think programming is a great way for students who are able and interested to apply their learning. It is a good way to help in understanding, and if they really don’t learn the material, it’ll show up on the test.