@pbierre
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Registered: 11 years, 6 months ago
My team is developing Algorithmic Geometry for 11-12th grade. Our BHAG: Can teens learn geometry problem-solving the way it has evolved in our tech industries, as a seamless integration of math and computer science disciplines? At the core is the shift away from all-scalar numerical representations (e.g., y = mx + b) toward vector representations (e.g., p • o == L). The motivation for this shift is 1) avoiding singularities in the basic numerical representations that complicate writing "well-behaved" algorithms, and 2) adopting representations for 2D geometry that scale up naturally and intuitively when making the jump to 3D. We have recently completed a 2 year pilot in public school in northern CA. We use a PBL paradigm, teach inventive sketching as the major creative medium, and currently teach Java graphics programming as the medium for implementing and testing solution algorithms. My background, before getting involved with math education, was / is as a software / system inventor in biotech, specialized in scientific data analysis of multivariate clusters, and in sample-prep robotic automation. I have 7 software system patents. The impetus to create Algorithmic Geometry came after working several years ago as a SAT-I Math test prep tutor. I was appalled to find the geometry problems on SAT were the exact same problems I had to solve 40 years earlier as a teen. This despite, 40 years of revolutionary change in the practice of spatial problem-solving going on in the tech industries and academia. My team has as its mission to bring Math-Geometry education at the 9-12 level up-to-date with the theory and practice of spatial problem-solving as it has evolved in the hands of math-savvy software developers. We have good, albeit preliminary, evidence that math-competent high school students can master the skills and knowhow of Algorithmic Geometry in a one year capstone course.
Website: http://www.AlgoGeom.org
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