Statistics
An introduction to the concepts and methods of
statistics as it's used in various
disciplines. Topics covered will include
probability, hypothesis tests, regression and
correlation, and learning how what percentage of
Marlboro students have taken a course in the
Science building.
Algorithms
A close look at the classic recipes and
the ideas behind them in computer
science. Topics may include searching methods
and data structures, hashes, sorting,
randomness, Turing machines, P/NP
completeness, compression, parsing,
cryptography, logic resolution, and so on,
depending on student background and
interests. This is an intermediate level
foundation course, strongly recommended for
folks considering further work in computer
science. The programming language used will be
a combination of Perl and C, though you may be
able to do some work in other languages if you
so choose.
Programming Workshop
An open ended exploration of a programming project of your
choice. Class time will be spent sharing what you're working on and
getting feedback. Projects can include picking a new language to learn
and working through an appropriate text, or pretty much anything else
as long as it involves producing some kind of code.
The course may be
taken for 1, 2, or 3 credits depending on the size of the project.
Empirical Science Workshop
This new, two-credit course is required of prospective Natural Science
Plan students and is part of an on-going effort by the Science faculty
to strengthen its commitment to a more experiential approach to doing
science.
Because science is essentially a creative enterprise that
requires both theoretical and empirical skills, the sooner students
start doing science, the sooner they will be able to understand
science as a method, analyze and understand its original literature,
and appreciate its strengths and weaknesses as a way of knowing. We
also hope this course will serve as a booster, pushing students to
more sophisticated appreciation of the courses, tutorials, and Plan
projects undertaken in the last two years of work at Marlboro.
The
course will consist of five general questions or propositions that you
will need to explore conceptually and then empirically. We envision
that each question will involve observational or experimental design
and implementation, the collection, organization and analysis of data,
and some sort of summary or concluding paper. Working in small groups
will be encouraged, as will a generally collaborative approach in a
question's analysis . Regarding this last point: we believe it is
essential that all members of the group participate in all phases of
each project. We see ourselves a facilitators in a process of
discovery and hope to leave most of the megathinking and specific
approaches to the questions up to you. We will try to place a few
appropriate texts or papers on Reserve in the Library, but encourage
you to look further on your own.
Student evaluation will rest
primarily on the quality of the reports, but we are also interested in
the vigor and inventiveness with which you attack the questions.
Perl and Bioinformatics
Group tutorial working out of
Tisdall's book Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics.
Argentine Tango
The Argentine Tango is an inprovised social
partner dance currently popular all over the
world, including here in Brattleboro. If
you've never seen it before, check out the
"Tango Bar" video in our library. (You should
be warned that it can be addictive. I've had
people tell me that they'd spent their food
money on lessons.)