Python Learning

[Bill]

Chris Angelico wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 18, 2017 at 11:31 AM, Bill <BILL_NOSPAM at noway.net> wrote:
>> Larry Martell wrote:
>>> So, your experience is that the style of learning you offer is
>>>> unsuitable to anyone who doesn't have some background in algebra.
>>>> That's fine. For your course, you set the prereqs. But that's not the
>>>> only way for someone to get into coding. You do NOT have to go to
>>>> college before you start creating software. That is also not an
>>>> opinion; it's a fact backed by a number of proven instances (myself
>>>> included).
>>
>> You might benefit by a course in logic.  I never said that was the only way
>> to learn. I learned (BASIC) in 8th grade too.
>>
> You said earlier:
>
>> In my years of teaching experience, students who came to college without
>> the equivalent of "college algebra" were under-prepared for what was
>> expected of them. This is not just an opinion, it's a fact.
> If you want to qualify that by saying that coming to college is not
> the only way to learn programming, you'd better say so, because
> otherwise, the tone of what you're saying says that students NEED
> algebra prior to learning a programming language.

I tried pretty hard not to say that. I said they needed some 
"mathematical sophistication"--not actual mathematics.  My error was 
using that expression among an audience not so familiar with that 
terminology. That said, I think I would have a hard time explaining 
polymorphism and vtables to a student who had not grasped the 
distributive property of multiplication over addition.
You can try, and let me know how it goes for you... I've been there.

Bill


>
> Logic isn't the problem here. Clarity of language is. Watch your
> implications if you don't want to be misunderstood.
>
> ChrisA