----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Bartlett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Luke Church" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 10:57 PM
Subject: Re: PPIG discuss: Programmer education ain't what it used to be
Hi PPIG people. This is a topic very dear to my heart at the moment,
having one son in Y1 doing CS at uni, and another studying it a 'A' level,
so I have been tempted in to this discussion. (I think I would be tempted
in more if the PPIG communications system wasn't so unattractive,
inefficient and clunky.. why can't it be a normal bulletin board?.. but I
digress...)
I agree with Luke about separating out programming and teaching it as a
tool, and not tieing it to computational theory. I can't really usefully
add to his argument.
So how to actually teach programming as a tool? It requires lots of
practice of course. The trouble is, the education system is geared up to
producing grades and paper "deliverables", rather than moulding students'
mental growth and , errmmm mentality for want of a better word. To program
beyond simple set piece exercises requires a certain mindset. I think
experience is a major factor of course, but I have proven to myself,
through teaching my sons, that it is possible to accelerate the learning
process by close mentoring and hectoring, using a sort of psychological
understanding of my own high level knowledge. Perhaps we need
communicative 'gurus' as teachers?
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