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What makes examples good for novices? and How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

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Steve Thomas

What makes examples good for novices? and How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

So I am taking a P2PU course On How to Teach Web Programmin to Free Range Learners and a couple of questions came up:

So I pose them to the community:

What makes examples good for novices?
How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

Also where can I find a good set of examples for learning programming?

It would be nice to have a curated set of "Great literature".

Pointers to any research on the topic would be appreciated.

Stephen

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LawsonEnglish

Re: What makes examples good for novices? and How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

I can't give you any stats other than positive feedback I have gotten, but the Salman Khan style of video teaching seems to work well for programming as well as for math.

My video series, Squeak from the very start, is a very conscious effort to duplicate his style:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6601A198DF14788D&feature=view_all

Friends characterize my video style as being like a mentor in a pair-programming session.

L.

On 2/2/12 5:56 PM, Steve Thomas wrote:

So I am taking a P2PU course On How to Teach Web Programmin to Free Range Learners and a couple of questions came up:

So I pose them to the community:

What makes examples good for novices?

How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

Also where can I find a good set of examples for learning programming?

It would be nice to have a curated set of "Great literature".

Pointers to any research on the topic would be appreciated.

Stephen
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squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland

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Steve Thomas

Re: What makes examples good for novices? and How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

Lawson,

On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 10:16 PM, Lawson English <[hidden email]> wrote:

I can't give you any stats other than positive feedback I have gotten, but the Salman Khan style of video teaching seems to work well for programming as well as for math.

I generally like the Salman Khan video's and think they have their place (flame away folks :). The ability to watch at my your pace and on your own time is a big plus and my kids use them sometimes when they are struggling with a concept. While it is preferable to struggle with the concepts ourselves, who has the time (or the ability) to re-construct all that knowledge. So, I think there is a role for a "good explanation." Of course, it would be nice if he had more "Sugar" like artifacts to play and learn with.

That said I really didn't like his Programming videos. Programming, I believe, is much better if taught with lots of hands on opportunities and problems. Videos could be used after the learner has a chance to work on a problem. Perhaps to show different ways to solve a problem and/or Providing a Guided Tour through "good literature" (well written code) and perhaps bad as well or something like Java Puzzlers, to let kids learn where the pitfalls are and get a better understanding of how things work.

My video series, Squeak from the very start, is a very conscious effort to duplicate his style:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6601A198DF14788D&feature=view_all

Friends characterize my video style as being like a mentor in a pair-programming session.

I like the idea of kids pair-programming although I would think you would need to set some ground rules like (the "advanced" kid can't touch the keyboard).

FYI, I like your videos and have used them for myself.

Thanks,

Stephen

On 2/2/12 5:56 PM, Steve Thomas wrote:
So I am taking a P2PU course On How to Teach Web Programmin to Free Range Learners and a couple of questions came up:

So I pose them to the community:

What makes examples good for novices?

How do we tell if an example is good for novices?

Also where can I find a good set of examples for learning programming?

It would be nice to have a curated set of "Great literature".

Pointers to any research on the topic would be appreciated.

Stephen
_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland

_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland