MAPLE frustrates freshmen again

Maple is still the arch-nemesis of mathematics students. And instructional changes to this year's program have had little impact on their dissatisfaction. Undergraduate Chairperson of the Mathematics Department Dennis Deturck said yesterday that he blames student frustration on the software itself rather than instructional methods. "It's like learning a new language," Deturck said. "There's always a certain amount of frustration in learning to use a new piece of software." Students, however, argue that the program is inaccessible to them. "I think it's a good program, but I don't think that the way it's being used in the classes is very productive," said Engineering freshman Matt Quale. "We didn't get much instruction. We just had to dive in and try to learn it." Other students said Maple slows down the computation process for the lower level classes. "I think it's ridiculous, and it's really slow," said Engineering freshman Kim Leighton. "It's much easier to do it on our own, and the whole point of computer programs is to speed things up." College freshman Shilpa Rao, who is taking Math 150, agreed. "I think [Maple]'s a complete waste of time. We're never gonna use it," she said. "All we're doing is learning how to put parentheses and commas in the right order. We'll never be tested on it, so why are we learning it?" Deturck said there are two reasons for learning Maple. "It's stupid to spend hours doing calculations when there are other options. It's like having a calculator and not using it," he said. "And students have to learn to deal with it and, more than that, what comes out of it. Even the non-engineers will see the output of these types of programs. "The most important step isn't producing the output, but interpreting it, or understanding it," he added, explaining that the grading policy reflects this notion. Engineering sophomore Raj Iyer said last year was connected with growing pains for the Maple program. "It was definitely a shaky program at first," he said. "But the Math Department took notice of the student reaction and adjusted it accordingly. [They] did an excellent job of reacting to student complaints. "It requires a certain amount of knowledge and experience," Iyer added. "There's no way you can get that intuitively." Deturck said changes to the program have eased the instructional process for students. The department created new mandatory Maple orientation sessions prior to the opening of the University computer labs. It also devised a lab manual that answers many of the recurrent questions from last year's classes. Updated manuals will be released next year. Deturck also said upperclassmen can now help freshmen learn to use the program. "It may have been a painful experience last year, but [the students] do know it now," he said. "But last year was a sort of trial. The stuff is much better integrated this year."