Regardless of any comments I might make on the paper, I wholeheartedly agree with the summary:
For example, the results of our self-reflective questions suggest that > students appreciate examples, and we have found some evidence that > straightforward examples may benefit students more than a clearly written > description. We also suggest that key terminology should be carefully > defined and that the length of the problem description and the complexity > of language used in the description be minimized. > At least in my area, this fits well with both criticism of academic CS classes and with the reception to our more example-based and in-context training efforts. On Tue, Dec 5, 2017 at 12:46 PM, Amy E. Hodge <[email protected]> wrote: > Fascinating. > > > > ~ Amy > > > > Amy E. Hodge, PhD > *Science Data Librarian* > > [email protected] > > 650.556.5194 > > orcid.org/0000-0002-5902-3077 > > > > Data Management Services > Branner Earth Sciences Library, 212 Mitchell > 397 Panama Mall; MC 2211 > Stanford University > Stanford, CA 94305 > > > > *From: *Discuss <[email protected]> on behalf > of Greg Wilson <[email protected]> > *Date: *Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 9:19 AM > *To: *"[email protected]" <[email protected] > carpentry.org> > *Subject: *[Discuss] Familiar Contexts and the Difficulty of Programming > Problems > > > > A result that may be of use in designing Carpentry lessons (from > > https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3141898): > > > > Intuition suggests that problems from a familiar context should be > > easier to solve than the same problems described using an unfamiliar > > domain. However, prior work on contextualized programming problems has > > found little evidence to support this hypothesis. In this paper, we > > extend this work by exploring the use of a particular familiar > > context: problem domains used earlier in an introductory programming > > course. We conduct a crossover design study in a large introductory > > programming course to compare problems with and without context > > related to previous coursework. Our results suggest that any advantage > > conveyed by a familiar context is dominated by other factors, such as > > the complexity of terminology used in the description, the length of > > the problem description, and the availability of examples. This > > suggests that educators should focus on simplicity of language and the > > development of examples, rather than seeking contexts that may aid in > > understanding problems. > > > > Cheers, > > > > Greg > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Discuss mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss >
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