\(\newcommand{\bx}{\textbf{x}} \newcommand{\bo}{\textbf{0}} \newcommand{\bv}{\textbf{v}} \newcommand{\bu}{\textbf{u}} \newcommand{\bq}{\textbf{q}} \newcommand{\by}{\textbf{y}} \newcommand{\bb}{\textbf{b}} \newcommand{\ba}{\textbf{a}} \newcommand{\grad}{\boldsymbol{\nabla}} \newcommand{\pd}[2]{\frac{\partial #1}{\partial #2}} \newcommand{\pdd}[2]{\frac{\partial^2 #1}{\partial #2^2}} \newcommand{\pddm}[3]{\frac{\partial^2 #1}{\partial #2 \partial #3}} \newcommand{\deriv}[2]{\frac{d #1}{d #2}} \newcommand{\lt}{ < } \newcommand{\gt}{ > } \newcommand{\amp}{ & } \)

Section1.2To the Student

To learn more about Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) go to http://www.inquirybasedlearning.org/about/. The long and short of it is that the students in the class are the ones that are doing the work; proving theorems, writing code, leading discussions, and pushing the pace. The instructor acts as a guide who only steps in to redirect conversations or to provide necessary insight. If you are a student using this material you have the following jobs:

  1. Fight! You will have to fight hard to work through this material. The fight is exactly what we're after since it is ultimately what leads to innovative thinking.

  2. Screw Up! More accurately, don't be afraid to screw up. You should write code and prove theorems then be completely unafraid to scrap what you've done and redo it from scratch. Learning to code is most definitely a non-linear path. Embrace this!

  3. Collaborate! You should collaborate with your peers with the following caveats: (a) When you are done collaborating you should go your separate ways. When you write your solution you should have no written (or digital) record of your collaboration. (b) The Internet is not a collaborator. Use of the Internet to help solve these problems robs you of the most important part of this class; the chance for original thought.

  4. Enjoy! Part of the fun of IBL is that you get to experience what it is like to think like a true mathematician / scientist. It takes hard work but ultimately this should be fun!