Intermediate Mechanics (January 1996)

Since Maple was new to most of these students I introduced its use during a review of elementary Newtonian mechanics and adopted a minimalist Maple style, emphasizing the use of basic commands to handle most tasks and mentioning specialized commands from the (initially) overwhelming number of Maple packages only when absolutely necessary.

Some of my reasons for deciding to use Maple in this class:

• I thought that its graphical capabilities could be used to make theoretical mechanics more concrete, helping students visualize the motions they predict by solving differential equations, for example.
  
• I thought that using its analytical capabilities to ease the distracting technical burden of certain calculations might help students see the overall structure of theoretical mechanics more clearly.
  
• I thought that using its analytical capabilities would extend the reach of students' technical skills without imparing the development of those skills because effective Maple use requires a good grasp of mathematical technique.
  
• I knew that its capabilities would facilitate discussions of more realistic and interesting examples
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• I thought that its worksheet interface, which gives students the ability to mix and revise explanatory text, mathematics and graphics, would encourage high quality work by making it easier to produce.

My experience teaching the class showed these expectations not to have been completely unrealistic.