Q: Hello Oliver, thank you so much for taking this opportunity to talk 
with us about your experience using Mathematica as a teaching tool. Why 
don't you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself and how 
you came to use Mathematica in the classroom?

A: In my undergraduate years at ETH Zuerich I have been a course assistant for a
course using computer algebra systems Macsyma, Reduce and Cayley (now
Magma). My mentor there had been Roman Maeder who was then professor
at ETH and who also was one of the early Mathematica developers and author
of several books in Mathematica. As graduate students we had access
to early versions of Mathematica and I have been used it since for
teaching and research. Using it in the classroom was not easy at first. 
In 1993, at my first teaching position at Caltech, I had to bring a 
special device on the overhead to display the computer and carry around 
a heavy portable laptop. Now, every classroom is equipped with projectors 
and using technology for illustration has become routine. Mathematica is a 
good choice because it is easy to learn. Students with no programming 
background can pick it up fast.

Q: We were very impressed by your recent (and rather edgy) use of 
Mathematica! What inspired you to come up with the idea, and how did you 
go about coding it?

A: In a language like Mathematica one can produce illustrations 
quickly. For a midterm review, I wanted to demonstrate how quadrics can 
be used to build up objects. It is possible to do an animation in 3-4 
hours from scratch because of the way programs are built up. At every
moment one has a working project. 

Q: You seem to really know how to connect with your students--Do you 
have any advice for other professors and educators looking to 
incorporate Mathematica into their teaching plans?

A: We have a long tradition at Harvard for using Mathematica. It had been
used before I came here 13 years ago. Having a culture is important and of 
course also to have a site licence so that students and teachers can use it. 
But it is also important not to overuse any technology. Every tool has its
sweet spot and finding this can be personal and depend on the setup.
With respect to the course I'm teaching, Mathematica projects have always been 
light and on the creative so that projects can be completed with moderate effort in the
order of magnitude of a few hours. Still, one has to be able to dedicate time
to help the class. Last year, we had our students build mathematica objects for 3D printing.
Thanks to a grant from the Elson Family arts initiative, we were able to print
some of them: http://www.math.harvard.edu/archive/21a_fall_12/printed