CAS in Teaching Basics of Statistical Learning (Study of Mathematical Software and Its Effective Use for Mathematics Education)

Abstract

Visual demonstrations provide a convenient way to illustrate the work of algorithms and help students to understand them. Modern Computer Algebra Systems (such as Mathematica or Maple) provide not only opportunity for analytic and numerical calculations, but also convenient tools for solving optimization problems, image construction and animations. It makes CAS a good resource to use in the classroom since the code is usually compact and clear, allowing students to make changes and experiment easily. We model the work of Rosenblatt's perceptron and simple Support Vector Machines (SVMs) using Wolfram Mathematica. Constructed models are used to demonstrate basic concepts and ideas in the introductory courses on SVMs and Statistical Learning.