U500 conference
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: The First Time (Freddie Hart)
Topic: Seminars
So, next week is the U500 conference ... and I'm presenting on the Wednesday. Slightly apprehensive of it this time, because this time around, I'm not as certain as I was last year on what I'm doing. Last year I pretty much knew, this year I'm still floundering around. And that keeps me anxious.

My presentation has something about software and linear programming, but it doesn't't even touch what I really originally wanted to do, which is look at steps in software. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that and relate it to this new direction I seem to be heading.

I really want to look at white-box and black-box software, but it seems that as if I'm looking at dedicated, generic and spreadsheet software instead. I think what is keeping me back is that I know that software may transition between black-box and white-box - it all depends on how it is use by the student or used by the teacher to present the work.

However, I have to keep in focus, that I have to do something that is 'doable' - even if it isn't what I do (well - I mean I still like my area and research - but would have liked to go extra and do the black-box and white-box). I'm still trying to see if I can squeeze it in.

I'm still being silently horrified with my methodology, because I don't know where to get courses, or students studying LP to help me out. Zsolt might be teaching LP in June in Michigan university, so probably he could help me out a bit (if I could figure what I'm doing!).

I still have the BM240, MU120 and M373 students to get something done with them, but not entirely sure...

There is the conception of mathematics questionnaire that seems a bit fascinating, I'm thinking that might relate to the preference of software (white-box or black-box). Coupland already did some research with that and software - but only used Mathematica ... with maths students ... probably I can expand that to be a class of software and be linear programming students ... don't know .... a bit stumped.