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Tom2Die499 karma

And now I want a fallout-style game set in Apocalypse Lane...well, I want it to exist. idk if I'd play it but it's a hilarious idea.

Tom2Die109 karma

People have this preconceived notion that some stuff is too complex for kids, but that really isn't the case.

This would probably be better as a top-level comment, but since it's relevant to the quoted sentence, I'll put it here.

I'm of the opinion that we should sprinkle qualitative calculus into K-12. For example, when learning 3D shapes (4th/5th grade iirc?), you learn how to find the volume and surface area. I think it would also be good to teach (at least qualitatively!) where these formulas come from.

I've done a bit of tutoring, and obviously to do that I've done a good bit of learning, and in my experience it's easier to remember "what" a thing is (formula, principle, etc) if you know "why" it is, and it's also easier to apply concepts to new problems rather than just taking exams via pattern recognition.

Thoughts?

Tom2Die51 karma

A lot of really talented programmers sadly don't take time to do the "boring" stuff like unit testing, and that slows down the overall process a ton. That and lack of communication on API changes, why they were made, what they affect, etc. Lack of automated tests only exacerbates lack of communication.

In other words, same reason any software with a reasonably large team takes for-fucking-ever. A lot of people suck at working together on large-scale programming projects.

Tom2Die32 karma

Take the volume of a sphere. Assuming the student is familiar with how to take the area of a circle (and what that means), and how to find the volume of a cylinder. Now you explain that the way we get the formula for the volume of a sphere is by making an approximation using ever-smaller cylinders (this is fairly easy to show visually). You don't have to go into integration of course, but just that little bit might help A) contextualize the formula rather than it being just this arcane thing with no apparent reason behind it, and B) make calculus feel a bit less daunting when the time does come to learn it.

I'm merely suggesting it as an idea; if I were 100% convinced it's the way to go, I wouldn't have asked here for feedback, so any (constructive) feedback is quite welcome! :)

Tom2Die28 karma

Everything was gone, and ubuntu was now the operating system.

Sounds like an upgrade to me!