CP4E was Re: Deitel and Deitel Book...

[Jeff Hinrichs]

"Geoff Gerrietts" <geoff at gerrietts.net> wrote in message
news:mailman.1015529542.9404.python-list at python.org...
> Quoting Jeff Hinrichs (jlh at cox.net):
> >
> > Would you be interested in pursuing this further?
>
> I think we should. I like the idea of starting with an interaction.
> Your observation that interactivity interests new users is dead on; I
> can remember being in exactly that same boat.
>
> We might set out from Hello, World with the idea of making Hello,
> Name. Develop Echo as a "here's the source, let's talk about it" then
> follow it up with "now see if you can make "hello, name" work, based
> on the original Hello World. No real new challenges there, but
> learning to output a constant string and a variable on the same line
> might be interesting for the student, and if they don't get it, tell
> them a few ways to solve that problem "on the next page".
>
> Do we want to take them through a few steps on how to pretty up the
> output? Probably not, huh?
Well maybe we might want to consider this here.  In reply's farther down the
list there is talk of left/right brain types.  Perhaps we should give the
other hemisphere something to focus on.  Not too much at this point but
enough to partially appease the asthetic insticnts in some.

> Then we move to the traditional Number Guess game. Discuss if, suggest
> the need for else.
>
> I'm trying to get granular here, trying to build in both the need for
> the student to engage and think about the topic at hand while
> maintaining interest and a real sense of progress.
This might be the proper time to come to a concensus on what the outcome of
this educational experience should be.  If we are after CP4E then we should
probably not attack the problem with any idea that these students are going
to become CS majors in college.  If we can create an environment that opens
up a section of their mind about how programs work they would benefit in any
academic or business related activity that involved computers.  We should do
nothing to stunt the growth of potential CS majors but our focus should be
on programming for people who probably won't be professional programmers.  I
apologize for the clumsiness of the above description but I haven't put all
of my thoughts together yet.

> When do we start immersing them with "useful examples" they should
> try? After we get through if / else?
The next natural construct after if/then/else are loops.  But maybe we
should move to something a bit more right brained<wink> so as not to loose
our hypothetical students?  And then move to loops?

> Am I trying to get too low-level? Do we want to stay above the clouds,
> keep this as a heuristic for teaching rather than a specific
> curriculum?
Perhaps a happy medium between a nose bleed view and having their nose in
the dirt.  Python is great for keeping your nose out of the dirt for many
applications.  You can put it their if it suits you but it's not a
requirement.

> --
> Geoff Gerrietts        <geoff at gerrietts dot net>
> "Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments
> when he was merely stupid."        --Heinrich Heine
-Jeff