Using Maple To Learn Mathematica

This paper describes the use of the Computer Algebra System (CAS), Maple (Waterloo Maple, Inc.), to assist in the learning of CAS, Mathematica (Wolfram Research, Inc.) in a numerical methods course. What is novel here is that Maple was not used in a standard way. Instead, it was used in the following context. The students had (almost) all used Mathematica in previous courses, although the degree of skill in its use varied considerably. Numerical methods were taught as part of this course. Students had done previous numerical methods assignments in which a relatively simple problem was given and solved (or a formula derived) with Mathematica. Their assignments had been to use the given problem and Mathematica code as a template for using Mathematica to solve a related problem, which was more complicated.