NYCPHP Meetup

[tedd]

At 1:40 PM -0400 7/8/07, Urb LeJeune wrote:
>  I gave this problem to people
>in a first programming class over a period of 15 years. Maybe 10
>people solved it correctly in the approximately 1,000 students who
>took it.


Urb:

No offense, but I've taught computer programming (and other 
disciplines) and I believe that most people who are taking a course 
in programming have a better than average intelligence.

If I presented a question to 1000 students and had less 10 people 
provide a correct answer over 15 years, then I would be examining the 
question, not questioning the ability of the students. Especially, IF 
the question might had been presented differently would have rendered 
a larger number of correct answers. What did the 990 students learn 
from your question?

As you know, the most important part of any solution is to understand 
the problem.

If I asked you "Why are manhole covers round?" -- would you get the 
answer right away?

Conversely, if I asked what shape would best stop a cover from being 
dropped down a hole? -- would you better understand the problem and 
find the answer quicker?

And most importantly, would you be better off for being asked a 
straight forward question and discovering the answer or a tricky 
question and getting it wrong?  From my perspective, the point is to 
teach, not to confuse.

Cheers,

tedd

PS: As for flow charts, never used them and never will. For some 
people it's a complete waste of time, like pen and paper vs the 
keyboard -- I haven't the time to waste to do it twice.

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