[plt-scheme] Re: More pedagogic stuff

Fun is important but the claim of "fun" has been used for two or  
three decades to abuse students with Pascal, C/C+, and Java.  Every  
organizer, APcrat, teacher asserted in no uncertain tone that  
programming in these languages was fun for the students (and implied  
that programming in something else wasn't). All we got out of this is  
that AP CS AB was cancelled, which I don't mind at all.

The key is to make required, core subjects fun. Functional  
programming is mathematics and, if we stay as close as possible to  
algebra (conceptually), fun animations can teach algebra, geometry,  
pre-calc, mechanics, and possibly more. THAT is the powerful  
combination advertised in our column.

-- Matthias

P.S. Replace fun with a suitably popular word for "vocational  
motivation" and you get the same situation.