Python in High School

[John Henry]

On Apr 2, 1:32 pm, Stef Mientki <stef.mien... at gmail.com> wrote:
> John Henry wrote:
> > On Apr 1, 11:10 am, sprad <jsp... at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> On Apr 1, 11:41 am, mdomans <mdom... at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>> Python needs no evangelizing but I can tell you that it is a powerfull
> >>> tool. I prefer to think that flash is rather visualization tool than
> >>> programing language, and java needs a lot of typing and a lot of
> >>> reading. On the other hand python is simple to read and write, can be
> >>> debuged easily, is intuitive and saves a lot of time. It also supports
> >>> batteries included policy and you can't get more OO than python.
>
> >> One advantage of Flash is that we can have something moving on the
> >> screen from day one, and add code to it piece by piece for things like
> >> keyboard or mouse control, more and more complex physics, etc. Is
> >> there an equivalent project in Python?
>
> > I downloaded the "How to Think Like a Python Programmer" book and read
> > it.  I think it's a fine reference book for the purpose you
> > indicated.
>
> > Here's my 2 cents on the subject.
>
> > I had been a volunteer mentor to my son's middle school robotic team
> > for several years and I have some experiences, therefore, in how kids
> > react to "programming".  Granted, high school kids are "bigger kids" -
> > but they are kids nevertheless.
>
> > Last summer, I experimented teaching my own kid Python.  He was in 7th
> > grade going onto 8th grade.  He was the main goto person for the
> > robotic team and had no trouble learning the common applications such
> > as the Microsoft Office suite, and had some experience in ICONic
> > programming (Lego Mindstorm).  So, I tried to see what would happen if
> > he tries to learn Python - using somewhat similar approach you are
> > taking: start with something visually appealing on day one.  Instead
> > of Flash, I used Pythoncard - a no-brainer Python GUI construction
> > toolkit.  He was really excited seeing how easy it was to have tic-tae-
> > toe type program up so easily (we are taking minutes - not hours) and
> > was very interested and motivated to continue.  So far so good.
> > However, once I start teaching him variables, expressions, loops, and
> > what not, I found that (by surprise) he had great difficulties
> > catching on.  Not soon after that, we had to quit.
>
> > We - as adults - take many things for granted and sometimes don't
> > remember, or don't understand how kids learn.  My experience tells me
> > that in order to teach today's video game generation of kids, the
> > approach really has to be entirely visual.  After I abandoned my
> > attempt to teach my kid Python, I started them on Robolab - a
> > simplified version of LabView and to my delight, they were able to
> > cook up a few simple programs (like fibonacci series and so forth)
> > without too much effort - although my own kid had some minor trouble
> > understanding the concept of a container (LabView's version of a
> > variable).
>
> > I don't know if you have access to LabView or Robolab or similar
> > packages but if you do, I would highly recommend those.  LabView is
> > every bit as powerful, full-featured, and "real-life" as many of the
> > other languages and I believe that kids will have a much easier time
> > learning computer programming with it.
>
> Well I doubt it's the visual environment that makes it more easy,
> color, shape and position can give some extra information though.
> I think apriori domain knowledge and flattness of information are of far
> more importance.
> The first issue is covered quit well by Robolab / Labview,
> but the second issue certainly is not.
> I'm right now working on a Labview like editor in Python,
> which does obey the demand for flatness of information.
> The first results can be seen here:http://oase.uci.kun.nl/~mientki/data_www/pylab_works/pw_animations_sc...
>
> cheers,
> Stef Mientki
>
> > And you are going to teach them Java?  Oh, please don't.  Let the
> > colleges torture them.  :=)

What do you mean by flatness of information?