From twixt@nospamtodaycstone.net Wed Apr 24 00:51:29 CDT 2002 Article: 1714 of rec.games.abstract Path: news!husk.cso.niu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!news.uchicago.edu!yellow.newsread.com!bad-news.newsread.com!netaxs.com!newsread.com!newsfeeds-atl2!atlpnn01.usenetserver.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: David J Bush Newsgroups: alt.math.undergrad,alt.wisdom,rec.games.abstract,sci.logic,sci.math Subject: Re: Abstract thinking in linear algebra Message-ID: References: <3ca910c8.2096417@netnews.worldnet.att.net> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.9/32.560 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 44 X-Complaints-To: abuse@usenetserver.com X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly. NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 22:29:04 EDT Organization: WebUseNet Corp. http://corp.webusenet.com - ReInventing the UseNet Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 22:30:12 -0400 Xref: news rec.games.abstract:1714 sci.logic:13090 sci.math:131650 On 3 Apr 2002 15:17:40 -0500, hrubin@odds.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) wrote: | ... |The full predicate logic belongs at the elementary school |level. It has been taught to the "upper half" of fifth |graders, and I believe it can be done earlier for more. | |What you call set theory is probably what I call set |algebra, and can be done in a week or so by anyone who has |even had sentential logic. Introductory rigorous set |theory at the ZF or NBG level can well be taught in high |school. | Here's an attempt to justify all this cross-posting to rec.games.abstract: What do you think of introducing games such as Equations and Wff'N Proof to students? Many gamers recoil in horror at the mention of these games, but that may just be a feedback loop. If you're introduced to concepts of symbolic logic (and rigorous thinking in general) at an early age, maybe it wouldn't seem so foreign. http://www.wff-n-proof.com/ is their website Wff'N Proof, "The game of symbolic logic," has players constructing proofs of complex expressions, using the basic tools, or "Rules of inference," which undergraduates typically learn in a Logic class. Equations is a similar game, but deals with arithmetic expressions instead of logical ones. The Wff'N Proof rulebook is excellent, with 21 games of increasing complexity, and plenty of examples, exercises, and puzzles. The Equations rulebook is not so good last I checked, but the rules to the basic game can be distilled to a single page. The scoring system used awards points even to the losers of a round, which I suppose helps the feedback, keeping the kids from getting too discouraged too soon. It also speeds up the game if the goal is to reach some score first. David Bush http://www.geocities.com/twixtplayer/ Remove nospamtoday from my email