Format of today's lesson

Work today with a partner. You will continue to work with that partner on the homework. Decide NOW when and where you will meet to work on the homework problems. Throughout today's session, one of you types while the other proofreads; BOTH think! Switch typists at the halfway point.

Most of the time will be spent with you and a partner working through this worksheet at your own pace, with professor and lab-assistants acting as coaches and dealing with your individual problems. A lot of it is learning by discovery and example. A small part of the time will be spent in whole-class discussion.

A few of you may wonder, "Why don't they simply tell us how to use the commands and go on?" It is much more important to get you to a point where you can learn about new Maple commands on your own than it is to tell you about how a few commands work. That's why we often present you with examples and ask questions rather than just telling you. We also believe that you'll remember much more of what you discover yourself than of what we tell you.

If you encounter anything that you and your partner can't figure out or understand, ask another student, the professor, or a lab assistant. That's what we're here for. Don't leave class today confused about things.