1. MATLAB A computing playground for science students
Paul Kassebaum, Ph.D.
16 October 2017
Hi. I’m Paul Kassebaum. I have global responsibility at MathWorks for working with physicists. I work at MathWorks because I want scientists and science students to be able to play through computation.

2. Lab Assignment
Experiment Measure distance vs time for block released from rest.
Homework
1. Find the acceleration due to gravity.
2. Characterize the sensor’s noise.
infrared distance sensor beam
block
stand

3. Raise your hand if your students have fun doing signal analysis
Raise your hand if your students have fun doing signal analysis. This is an exhibit at the Exploratorium, a hands-on science museum, founded by Robert Oppenheimer. Yes, that Oppenheimer.

4. Here’s another way to play with frequencies
Here’s another way to play with frequencies. After playing with these signals long enough in MATLAB, the LIGO team earned themselves a Nobel prize for physics.

5. Computational literacy lays the ground for scientists to play
Computational literacy lays the ground for scientists to play. MATLAB makes playing with data, algorithms, models, and theories easier to play with, in the same way the Exploratorium’s exhibit enables kids of all ages to play with the spectrum of light. MATLAB is a playground for scientists. Computational literacy looks like play. Think of what it means to be fluent in a second language. You can make jokes, write poetry, play with the language to discover new connections as you think with the language. Playing is thinking.

6. What do your students need to build computational literacy?

7. What’s needed to build computational literacy?
Fundamental skills for play
Immediate feedback
Multiple means of
representation
expression
engagement
I’m going to focus on these aspects. It’s complicated, but these go a long way.

8. Fundamental skills to play
Need typing skills to think in words on a computer

14. Building skills for play
MATLAB Onramp
Hands-on, interactive practice session with immediate feedback
Students learn at their own pace
Lays a level playing field for your course
Other means of engagement
Watch video tutorials
Read code examples
Tinker with live examples
Oppenheimer thought that the distance between not being able to read and reading is orders of magnitude larger than that between being able to read and solving ODEs. Why? Because once you can read, you have a language to ask questions about how to solve ODEs.

15. What are your bottlenecks for immediate feedback?

16. How do you get work graded?
How do you share and collect open ended work?

19. Immediate Feedback Cody Coursework Create self-grading assignments
MATLAB Online + MATLAB Drive
Create, share, collaborate on, collect teaching materials

20. What do you think interactive scientific computing looks like?

21. geobubble

22. heatmap

23. graph; digraph

28. Interactive scientific computing by multiple means
Live scripts
Interactive visualizations / apps
Hardware connectivity

29. What’s needed to build computational literacy?
Fundamental skills for play
Immediate feedback
Multiple means of
representation
expression
engagement
I’m going to focus on these aspects. It’s complicated, but these go a long way.

30. Reach out any time