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Random Opinion

Here is some comments regarding several posts in recent history.

1)
Do you vote for Basic, Pascal,Java, C+, ...

I hate to say it, but I vote for Basic.

2)
It's true that writing simulations is the best way to profit from their
use,
but I worry that we then leave out the vast majority of physics students.
Most students take only two semesters of physics, and have little
programming skill. Bringing them up to the skill level needed to program a
simulation would take away from time for other, possibly more important
work. There is much to be gained from interacting with simulations without
programming.

The last paragraph is only my opinion, and is not based on classroom
experiment.

The last paragraph is not *just* opinion; it presumably was based on
classroom experience, which is a kind of experiment. I take some offense at
the idea that 10 or 20 or 30 years of classroom experience doesn't
constitute legitimate experience (experience) for pontificating on pedagogy,
just because some statistics and journal articles weren't written based on
the said experience.

3)
As for computer languages, why teach computer languages
in elementary school if
by language one means a formal computer language,
as opposed to the steps in a
spreadsheet. There are more important skills to be
taught in the time available,
like presentation skills, and discerning use of the internet. Any
analytical
skills can as easily be taught using other vehicles.

Learning to program language teaches so much more; how to break a problem
down into steps (problem solving), logical clear systematic thinking,
disciplines that many a pre-and post teenager need to develope; etc etc blah
blah

and they do it in a wonderfully motivating and merciless manner; the program
just doesn't work if you don't do it right. Something a human evaluator
often lets pass through (fuzzy thinking that isn't really right). Actually
getting the thing to work provides a nice reward at the end of the process,
which doesn't involve any wishy washy-ness on the part of the evaluator.

Joel