>>>>> "Paul" == Paul Fenwick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Paul> I've personally found experimental training much more useful in teaching Paul> concepts (such as recursion, data structures, and so on) than syntax, Paul> and language features. I find "what are $a and $b in a sort block" to be a concept that people either grasp trivially, or they are just completely stumped as to how $a and $b relate to "all those elements in the list". When I get a student who is stumped, I "play sort" with them. I put a list of five items on the board, and I give *them* the role of being the sort block. I tell them two items at a time, and they tell me "this way" or "that way". I create a empty space on the board, and use their results to order the list. They gradually begin to see how a list can be sorted by comparing two items at a time. Inevitably, the question comes up "but how do you know WHICH two items", I usually say "smoke and mirrors", but at least by that time they've seen how to define a sort order with just $a and $b. Works every time. Very convincing. And for anyone else in the room, it's either entertaining (in my usual entertaining way, since I goof off a bit while I'm doing it), or really makes it go "thunk" for them. Just another way I've figured out over the years... -- Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/> Perl/Unix/security consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc. See PerlTraining.Stonehenge.com for onsite and open-enrollment Perl training!
