I’m very interested in teaching math, science, and engineering, especially to people who consider themselves “non-technical.” I think people with different mindsets bring different perspectives, and so in teaching, I end up learning a lot from the students. Philosophically, I believe that programming and engineering are like cooking: at the very least, everyone should know their way around the kitchen and a few basic recipes. Finally, stereotypical and cheesy though it may be, I think these topics are fun just plain cool, and I love sharing them with others, particularly those who might not do so otherwise.
I have many ideas about how these topics should be taught, and now, thanks to Hacklab.to in Toronto, I have the opportunity to try them out! Here at the basic ideas:
- Programming is more fun when you can make something happen in the real world, rather than just on screen. So, the course will be about physical computing, and in particular will be based around the Arduino
- Since we’re doing physical computing, we’ll cover introductory electronics as well as introductory programming
- The course will teach the theory behind what we’re doing, without getting too bogged down in details; a key concept is trying to develop intuition
- Even though there will be theory, the course will be very hands on. The process will be teach a little bit, play with the ideas a little bit, and then learn the significance of what we just played with (and repeat)
I’ve gathered together a great group of enthusiastic people for the test run of the course, with the plan being to figure out what works and what doesn’t and to produce materials and a curriculum for future courses (which will all be made publicly available). Right now we’re planning to meet for two hours once a week, for six weeks, and we’ll see how it goes. I plan on blogging about the course throughout, so check back here for more information as it progresses.
This initial run-through of the course is already full, but if all goes well I hope to offer some version of this class in the future, so if you’re interested, please get in touch! All I need now is a catchy title…