What is Mathcad good for?

[ChrisHartmann]

Hi all,

I am the Academic Program Manager for Mathcad at PTC. I know that some FIRST Mentors make use of Mathcad in FIRST (or their courses) and others never install the software. I want to introduce myself so that folks will know that they have a contact for Mathcad at PTC.

I joined PTC in June after 20 years' experience in math education as a teacher, researcher, and teacher educator. In the short time I have been at PTC, I have become very excited about FIRST! What a great program! Over the next few years I look forward to working closely with Jordan Cox, Mark Fisher, Sheila Rogers, and Adam Haas to support all of the teachers, students, and volunteer mentors who make FIRST such a great program.

In the meantime, here are some resources to help you understand Mathcad's capabilities:

Videos:

1. Better Homework with Mathcad
   
2. Multiple Representations with Mathcad
   
3. Live Math with Mathcad
   

Blog Entries:

1. Five Good Reasons to Teach with Mathcad
   
2. Why don't my students love Mathcad as much as I do?
   
3. Matrices in Algebra 1
   

Good luck with your FIRST Robotics teams this year!!

Regards,

Chris

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[JoshH]

Hi Christopher,

I can't believe I missed your post! You're the guy I really need to be nice to! I'm a long-time user of Pro/E and Windchill and a FIRST mentor for quite a few seasons. What I don't have is a lot of experience in Mathcad, but I see that it has fantastic potential for robotics as well as opening up new avenues for learning!

I have been seeing a missing link in the several robotics teams I've been involved with and that is true integration of the math and physics into the program. I think you're just the person that may help fix that!

Incidentally, I have a meeting with a school teacher on the 19th to talk about PTC and how to integrate the tools into a curriculum. Any additonal information you can send would be greatly appreciated!

Great to see you here and hope to hear more from you!

Josh

[DanMarotta]

Josh,

If you need some Mathcad user testimonial to help build your case for cirriculum integration, here are some reactions to Chris' blog post, Five Good Reasons to Teach with Mathcad.

-Dan

[JoshH]

Thanks Dan!

I've been Googling for Mathcad and found quite a bit of university level stuff as well. Very impressive!