In Spring 2018 for the EML3041 Computational Methods course, I assigned students to write a nursery rhyme on numerical methods using the “one, two, buckle my shoe” prompt. Here is a sample, and more will be shared in the next few weeks.
The students were given the choice of going anonymous, use only initials or their full name as the byline. Some opted not to be published while others added the audio version as well.
One, Two
by Ricardo Z
One, two,
Approximations I do
Three, four,
Opens math doors
Five, six,
Into the matrix
Seven, eight,
Gaussian eliminate
Nine, ten,
LU decomposition
Eleven, twelve,
Into methods, I delve
Thirteen, fourteen,
The trunnions lean
Fifteen, sixteen,
With engineers, I convene
Seventeen, eighteen,
Errors unforeseen
Nineteen, twenty,
Derivations aplenty
PS. The reference to trunnions is the real-life problem we use in the class for the problem-centered (not problem-based) approach for the whole course. The problem deals with the assembly of the fulcrum of bascule bridges.