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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Touchscreen eBook for Math
I believe that a touchscreen eBook for Mathematics would be of great benefit to Mathematics education, and a great tool for mathematics students. I can think of several advantages. This could all also apply to physics books and other texts, although some more than others.
- Size/weight - ability to store multiple books.
- In the actual text, figures, example problems, and other on-screen clutter can be minimized and only shown when the students selects it to be shown to reduce visual distractions.
- Since figures would be more efficiently stored using programming code and parameters as opposed to storing them as images, it would be easy to make each figure interactive, allowing the student to see the effect that changing different parameters has on the figure.
- Since example problems start as minimized, it would allow the student to try and work the problem on their own, and if they get stuck, slowly reveal the solution, and allow them to check their procedure AND answer.
- The student would be allowed to write minimizable notes in the 'margins' of the book, allowing them to summarize the text w/o the fear of visual clutter or of damaging the book.
- Homework could be done in the book itself. Imagine this scenario: A student goes to do the homework, selects the problem they are to do and the problem moves to the top of the page, becoming the sole element on the page other than the student's work area. Then, the student can make the solution area smaller to allow them to browse the text if they need help solving the problem. Furthermore, graphing and other solution utilities can be available to the student, removing the need for a separate calculator.
- Homework could be transmitted wirelessly to the teacher and the final answers could be checked automatically by the teacher's 'reader', allowing the teacher to focus on checking the solution process. Furthermore, the teacher's 'reader' could easily provide statistics regarding the class' work (mean, median, mode, standard deviation, histogram of scores, etc) and serve as a grade book.
- Updates and corrections to book material can be made easily.
- Reader would have to cost something, and there is often no explicit cost to young students w/ traditional textbooks.
- Batteries suck, but should be manageable
- Licensing of book material - permanent? temporary? Should students license it, or should schools license it and rent it to the students?
All in all though, I think that the idea is amazing and is definitely worth pursuing.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
High School Math
Nothing could be a bigger waste of time, right?
I know we all though it was a huge waste of time then, and I wouldn't disagree. Most of Geometry and Trigonometry I never used again. There have been some things which I use regularly and enjoyably, but a good chunk of it I haven't touched since, and I'm a 'Mathematician' of sorts. It seems odd to me that I learned more useless stuff in High School Math than I did in College.
If we took out most of the crap that's currently in the courses, time could be spent much more productively. One thing that I most enjoyed in college was that Moore Method of teaching. Basically, lecture, instruction, and text are kept to a minimum, and the bulk of the course actually comes from the students working problems, proving theorems, doing the work themselves. The teacher assigns theorems and problems, and the students have to prove them. This places the students so deeply in the material that they can't forget it, making you learn much better, and forming a closer community in the classroom.
I had several classes that were all taught in this method to some degree, all advanced classes, and I loved each and every one of them.
Furthermore, applying this type of teaching to High School Mathematics classes would more successfully accomplish what the courses are trying to do anyway: Make the students think. Geometry, in particular, is about fostering and improving a student's ability to think rationally and deductively; promoting analysis of problems instead of just hazarding guesses at everything, and it's about time it started to do that.
Someday I hope to teach Geometry just to get to do this.
-Henry out.
I know we all though it was a huge waste of time then, and I wouldn't disagree. Most of Geometry and Trigonometry I never used again. There have been some things which I use regularly and enjoyably, but a good chunk of it I haven't touched since, and I'm a 'Mathematician' of sorts. It seems odd to me that I learned more useless stuff in High School Math than I did in College.
If we took out most of the crap that's currently in the courses, time could be spent much more productively. One thing that I most enjoyed in college was that Moore Method of teaching. Basically, lecture, instruction, and text are kept to a minimum, and the bulk of the course actually comes from the students working problems, proving theorems, doing the work themselves. The teacher assigns theorems and problems, and the students have to prove them. This places the students so deeply in the material that they can't forget it, making you learn much better, and forming a closer community in the classroom.
I had several classes that were all taught in this method to some degree, all advanced classes, and I loved each and every one of them.
Furthermore, applying this type of teaching to High School Mathematics classes would more successfully accomplish what the courses are trying to do anyway: Make the students think. Geometry, in particular, is about fostering and improving a student's ability to think rationally and deductively; promoting analysis of problems instead of just hazarding guesses at everything, and it's about time it started to do that.
Someday I hope to teach Geometry just to get to do this.
-Henry out.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Sad Bear is Sad
- It's hard to gear a bear
- And bears have trouble with AOE aggro.
My hope was that in Cataclysm, with the removal of defense rating and the addition of the mastery stat, that plate tanks would have to share their gear with plate DPS. Unfortunately, in the twitter chat that Blizzard held, they addressed this question and said that plate tanks would retain their special gear niche. This bothers me, since it seems that the issue is simply being ignored. It doesn't seem likely that the developers will reopen with Tanking Leather gear niche, so I have no idea how this problem is going to be fixed. Hopefully, in Cataclysm, Hunters and Enhancement Shamans will be further dissuaded from using Leather, lessening the issue.
The problem with Bear AOE threat is that it relies completely on Swipe spam. This makes it very difficult for us to react to new problems without interrupting the Swiping, possibly losing control. Also, since we can't use other special abilities while Swiping (aside from Maul), we lose single target aggro, which makes it difficult to maintain aggro control over classes who AOE and Single Target DPS at the same time (Rogues, Hunters, etc). Now, it's time to compare.
- Warriors: Thunder Clap - Cooldown, big threat
- Warriors: Shockwave - Cooldown, big threat, however, it's directional
- Paladins: Consecrate - 100% uptime, Paladin can't move out of it.
- Death Knights: Death and Decay - Larger than Consecrate, not 100% uptime, Cooldown
- Death Knights: AOE diseases - 100% uptime, easy to spread.
- Druid: Swipe - As discussed above.
- Give a proc off of Mangle that buffs your next Swipe. So we get periodic AOE burst, and allows us to use a single target ability without worry.
- A new ability that uses the Bear's currently unused mana to activate, allowing for an early fight threat burst, than can be activated periodically throughout the battle. This could add to the Bear's druidness. After all, a Bear druid is not just a Bear, it has mana, it should be able to use it, but can't now because it can't shift out of form.
That's all of my current ideas for helping improve the Bear. Although, I do have a tip: Thorns scales with Spellpower, so either get a resto or boomkin to keep it up on you, or switch to spellpower gear when you need to recast it. You will see a dramatic increase in Thorns' damage, which will help with threat.
EDIT: Proofreading fail.
EDIT: Proofreading fail.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Dungeon Design: The Dragon's Lair
I said that I would talk about a dungeon idea that I had, so I'm going to do it. The general setup is that there is dragon who lives in a volcano that has been terrorizing the local area and needs to be stopped.
You enter the mountain through a cave on the side, a long holdover from before Lavodormu took hold there. You go down and down, and eventually the cave opens up and you enter the main chamber. An old iron bridge that was used to cross through the mountain spans a magma lake and the dragon sleeps in the middle of the bridge. The bridge inclines to a higher platform on the other side. When you approach the dragon, the battle begins.
Lavodormu fights you on the bridge, posing as a barrier to prevent you from getting to the other side. The dragon swipes with his claws, bites with his jaws, and breathes fire upon your party, forcing you to move away from the recently heated iron.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
On WoW 5-man design
This is a response to http://bit.ly/1FK87X
Blizzard has updated it's 5-man design philosophies every expansion so far, to try and correct the weaknesses and failures of past philosophies. So here is my analysis of the Wrath 5-man design and where I'd like to see it go.
What is good?
a) Dungeons serve dual purposes, not only do they provide gear and the culmination of storylines for those who are leveling, but they also serve as a launching board into the endgame for max-level players.
b) Their short duration makes them accessible, and with a good group, take only as long as a few quests might.
c) Varied boss design and encounter mechanics makes each dungeon feel different.
d) Dungeon quests increase the incentive for going, and provide good loot and money.
e) Daily quests increase the reward:effort ratio further boosting Dungeon participation by max-level players
f) Badges let everyone profit.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=11030884603&sid=1
This is just the tip of the Icecrown (pun intended).
Here is the summary of the complaints.
"I can't believe you get to kill the Lich King in the 5-man (note: likely not true), you should only get to kill him in the 25-man raid. 5-mans and 10-mans are for pussies, RAWR EPEEN RAWR, Arthas is too cool."
"I can't believe people doing normal dungeons can get raid level gear, you should make people have to do raid progression to get epixxxxxxx. How dare you decide that the elitist structure of raiding that has persisted in WoW before is a bad thing, and allow more people to access this cool content that you spend so much time on. I don't like change! If other people have good gear, how else will people know that I'm the 'coolest guy ever'. You should have to spend copious amounts of time w/ assholes like me to get the good stuff. RAWR EPEEN RAWR" I would just like to note the armory profile of the complainer http://bit.ly/1sARtE . Looks like emblem and 5-man stuff to me.
/deathflop
This is just the tip of the Icecrown (pun intended).
Here is the summary of the complaints.
"I can't believe you get to kill the Lich King in the 5-man (note: likely not true), you should only get to kill him in the 25-man raid. 5-mans and 10-mans are for pussies, RAWR EPEEN RAWR, Arthas is too cool."
"I can't believe people doing normal dungeons can get raid level gear, you should make people have to do raid progression to get epixxxxxxx. How dare you decide that the elitist structure of raiding that has persisted in WoW before is a bad thing, and allow more people to access this cool content that you spend so much time on. I don't like change! If other people have good gear, how else will people know that I'm the 'coolest guy ever'. You should have to spend copious amounts of time w/ assholes like me to get the good stuff. RAWR EPEEN RAWR" I would just like to note the armory profile of the complainer http://bit.ly/1sARtE . Looks like emblem and 5-man stuff to me.
/deathflop
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Reward Structure in WoW and other games.
The reward structure of video games can be the key to their success, or spell their doom. A reward is something that the game gives you for your work, this can be a new item, ability, story progression, or whatever.
In World of Warcraft the reward structure breaks down like this:
At Levels 20,40,60, and 70 you get new modes of transportation.
Every 10 levels, you tend to get an ability that changes the way you play, either through talents, or trained.
Every 5 levels, you gain access to a new tier of talents.
Every 2 levels, you get to train abilities.
Every so often, you go to a new zone.
Every level, you get a talent point.
Every quest, you get a reward.
Notice the spread here. You're constantly getting reward via quests. Every so often, though, you get a 'bonus' of sorts. There's always something in the horizon for you to pursue. Big rewards are few and far between, like the mounts and the play-changing talents, they don't come often, but they make the game feel so different and new.
Not only do rewards make the player feel good about what they have accomplished, but it gives them something to look forward to. When I'm playing, I always find myself saying something resembling 'I'm so close to X, just 2 more levels!'
But how does this system work once the levels stop coming? One issue with the original World of Warcraft endgame was that there never was any guaranteed reward. The only reward/progression of character came in the form of gear drops. Since gear drops were random, and multiple people vying for the same loot, it can take a long time before the player obtains the item they desire, possibly never. However, in the Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King expansions, every boss drops Badges or Emblems for every player. These can be exchanged for items. This gives the player a timeline on their item acquisition. They can say 'Only 2 more emblems and then I can get X.' This gives each player a reward for their effort, independent of the random number generator.
Furthermore, the raids themselves are subdivided. Naxxramas has it's wings. Ulduar has its sections. So although you may not have cleared the entire raid, you can say 'Yes, we just cleared the Antechamber!.'
In Cataclysm, World of Warcraft will be introducing a level of progression that will only be available once you reach the maximum level, offering upgrades and rewards for players who can no longer level.
Another game that I like that has a similarly styled reward structure is Star Fox Command. Each playthrough for the game is broken up by planet. Each planet is broken up by turns. And each turn is broken up into skirmishes. Furthermore, playing through the game in certain ways will unlock new characters who have different styles of play. No matter how long you have to play, there is something that you can achieve. Combined with exciting yet varied gameplay, it makes for a wonderful game.
These 2 games offer a reward structure that is, in a way, jagged. If you were to graph it, they would look like mountain ranges: rough, with towering peaks.
Your 'typical' action game, such as Devil May Cry, God of War, Halo, etc. Have different sorts of reward structure. It's more flat, the peaks are smaller, but more frequent. Each level has an ends in a boss battle. Arsenal upgrades come every few levels, with new abilities and weapons. Each level is broken up into different skirmishes. The gameplay isn't varied, with each level being like a different skin on the same creature. In order to enjoy an action game, you have to really love the gameplay, and enjoy challenge. Fortunately, that's what the designers spend all of their time on.
Puzzle games, too, have this sort of reward structure. It's fairly constant, and you must enjoy the challenge and the gameplay in order to enjoy the game.
What's to be learned from this? I'm not really sure, but it is interesting to consider how different things in your life reward you. You could consider a television show that you watch, and how they dish out reward. When do the 'big' moments happen?
In World of Warcraft the reward structure breaks down like this:
At Levels 20,40,60, and 70 you get new modes of transportation.
Every 10 levels, you tend to get an ability that changes the way you play, either through talents, or trained.
Every 5 levels, you gain access to a new tier of talents.
Every 2 levels, you get to train abilities.
Every so often, you go to a new zone.
Every level, you get a talent point.
Every quest, you get a reward.
Notice the spread here. You're constantly getting reward via quests. Every so often, though, you get a 'bonus' of sorts. There's always something in the horizon for you to pursue. Big rewards are few and far between, like the mounts and the play-changing talents, they don't come often, but they make the game feel so different and new.
Not only do rewards make the player feel good about what they have accomplished, but it gives them something to look forward to. When I'm playing, I always find myself saying something resembling 'I'm so close to X, just 2 more levels!'
But how does this system work once the levels stop coming? One issue with the original World of Warcraft endgame was that there never was any guaranteed reward. The only reward/progression of character came in the form of gear drops. Since gear drops were random, and multiple people vying for the same loot, it can take a long time before the player obtains the item they desire, possibly never. However, in the Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King expansions, every boss drops Badges or Emblems for every player. These can be exchanged for items. This gives the player a timeline on their item acquisition. They can say 'Only 2 more emblems and then I can get X.' This gives each player a reward for their effort, independent of the random number generator.
Furthermore, the raids themselves are subdivided. Naxxramas has it's wings. Ulduar has its sections. So although you may not have cleared the entire raid, you can say 'Yes, we just cleared the Antechamber!.'
In Cataclysm, World of Warcraft will be introducing a level of progression that will only be available once you reach the maximum level, offering upgrades and rewards for players who can no longer level.
Another game that I like that has a similarly styled reward structure is Star Fox Command. Each playthrough for the game is broken up by planet. Each planet is broken up by turns. And each turn is broken up into skirmishes. Furthermore, playing through the game in certain ways will unlock new characters who have different styles of play. No matter how long you have to play, there is something that you can achieve. Combined with exciting yet varied gameplay, it makes for a wonderful game.
These 2 games offer a reward structure that is, in a way, jagged. If you were to graph it, they would look like mountain ranges: rough, with towering peaks.
Your 'typical' action game, such as Devil May Cry, God of War, Halo, etc. Have different sorts of reward structure. It's more flat, the peaks are smaller, but more frequent. Each level has an ends in a boss battle. Arsenal upgrades come every few levels, with new abilities and weapons. Each level is broken up into different skirmishes. The gameplay isn't varied, with each level being like a different skin on the same creature. In order to enjoy an action game, you have to really love the gameplay, and enjoy challenge. Fortunately, that's what the designers spend all of their time on.
Puzzle games, too, have this sort of reward structure. It's fairly constant, and you must enjoy the challenge and the gameplay in order to enjoy the game.
What's to be learned from this? I'm not really sure, but it is interesting to consider how different things in your life reward you. You could consider a television show that you watch, and how they dish out reward. When do the 'big' moments happen?
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Things that don't pertain to WoW,
well, not all of them pertain to WoW.
Recently, I've been trying to find out what my schedule will be at UALR for this upcoming semester. I've so far determined that I will be taking 2 classes, Advanced Statistical Methods and Introduction to SAS, which is worth a good paying job in and of itself. I only have one problem with this arrangement, the hours of these classes will prevent my from teaching at Sylvan any more than 8 hours a week. I probably shouldn't be teaching there more than 8 hours a week, but I want the money.
My mom has been completely on my ass lately and it's pissing me off, but no matter how many times I tell her to stop, she never will. I may as well just change my phone. She's not being mean at all, but she's giving out unwanted advice. It's as if she thinks that I will fail without her help. I just don't know how to handle the situation.
As sphye mentioned, we watched Second Skin today, which is a documentary about people who play MMORPGs. The funny thing about it is that I know so many of those type of people. They seemed just like people that I know. Around 2/3 of the way in, I was starting to get mad at the documentary because it was beginning to portray things in a negative light. But it picked back up at the end, so I was happy about that.
I started keeping a personal journal. I'm not sure yet what I'm doing with it, whether I'm writing things down for future generations or what, but I'm keeping it. I'm open to the idea of my children someday reading in hopes that they will gain some valuable insight from it. I don't know what I have to say that would be of value, but maybe I'll become wiser and have something worthwile to say. As a side not, I decided recently to write it in cursive, so that I can practice some handwriting that actually looks good.
I guess the journal is an attempt to make sure that I don't forget things, and that I practice the art of written communication. Writing isn't something that I've done in the past very much. I think that I'm going to encourage my children to keep journals too, once they get to those teenage years.
I said I might talk about WoW, I'll keep it short. We reactivated our WoW accounts today and ran several dungeons with Kassium and Beartank, who is a healer. We haven't played with them forever, but they're still as awesome now as they were then. It was good times.
That's all that I have to say for tonight.
END OF LINE
Recently, I've been trying to find out what my schedule will be at UALR for this upcoming semester. I've so far determined that I will be taking 2 classes, Advanced Statistical Methods and Introduction to SAS, which is worth a good paying job in and of itself. I only have one problem with this arrangement, the hours of these classes will prevent my from teaching at Sylvan any more than 8 hours a week. I probably shouldn't be teaching there more than 8 hours a week, but I want the money.
My mom has been completely on my ass lately and it's pissing me off, but no matter how many times I tell her to stop, she never will. I may as well just change my phone. She's not being mean at all, but she's giving out unwanted advice. It's as if she thinks that I will fail without her help. I just don't know how to handle the situation.
As sphye mentioned, we watched Second Skin today, which is a documentary about people who play MMORPGs. The funny thing about it is that I know so many of those type of people. They seemed just like people that I know. Around 2/3 of the way in, I was starting to get mad at the documentary because it was beginning to portray things in a negative light. But it picked back up at the end, so I was happy about that.
I started keeping a personal journal. I'm not sure yet what I'm doing with it, whether I'm writing things down for future generations or what, but I'm keeping it. I'm open to the idea of my children someday reading in hopes that they will gain some valuable insight from it. I don't know what I have to say that would be of value, but maybe I'll become wiser and have something worthwile to say. As a side not, I decided recently to write it in cursive, so that I can practice some handwriting that actually looks good.
I guess the journal is an attempt to make sure that I don't forget things, and that I practice the art of written communication. Writing isn't something that I've done in the past very much. I think that I'm going to encourage my children to keep journals too, once they get to those teenage years.
I said I might talk about WoW, I'll keep it short. We reactivated our WoW accounts today and ran several dungeons with Kassium and Beartank, who is a healer. We haven't played with them forever, but they're still as awesome now as they were then. It was good times.
That's all that I have to say for tonight.
END OF LINE
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Fail group is fail
Last night I was bored so I jumped on my priest and put myself in LFG for the Nexus and Utgarde Keep. I got a group for the Nexus and went in. The tank was a level 80 druid, there was a 71 Hunter and a74 Death Knight, and I made 4.
Overall the run wasn't so bad. The incoming damage on the tank was pretty weak, however, no one knew how to do the fights. Did the druid attack the rifts on Anomalus? No, he wasn't even particularly concerned with picking up adds either. Did people get out of the way of the spikes on Ormorok? No. Did the hunter let Keristrasza stack Intense Cold up to 9 stacks? Yes. Did the hunter go AFK so long that his character sat down and the game set his status to AFK? Yes.
Despite how stupid the group was, there were no wipes, due to the level of the tank and my panicking. I got 3 pieces of loot from the run. The off-hand book from Anomalus, a BOE Blue Robe from a trash drop, and the Caster Ring from Keristrasza. The Hunter, who was mad that he hadn't won anything in the run, tried to ninja the ring out from me, but failed.
Fail group is fail, but at least I got some good stuff out of it.
Overall the run wasn't so bad. The incoming damage on the tank was pretty weak, however, no one knew how to do the fights. Did the druid attack the rifts on Anomalus? No, he wasn't even particularly concerned with picking up adds either. Did people get out of the way of the spikes on Ormorok? No. Did the hunter let Keristrasza stack Intense Cold up to 9 stacks? Yes. Did the hunter go AFK so long that his character sat down and the game set his status to AFK? Yes.
Despite how stupid the group was, there were no wipes, due to the level of the tank and my panicking. I got 3 pieces of loot from the run. The off-hand book from Anomalus, a BOE Blue Robe from a trash drop, and the Caster Ring from Keristrasza. The Hunter, who was mad that he hadn't won anything in the run, tried to ninja the ring out from me, but failed.
Fail group is fail, but at least I got some good stuff out of it.
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