The "loop and a half"

[Christian Gollwitzer]

Am 04.10.17 um 14:34 schrieb Ben Bacarisse:
> ram at zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) writes:
> 
>> Steve D'Aprano <steve+python at pearwood.info> writes:
>>> For-each loops are MUCH easier to understand, and should be taught first.
>>
>>    I prefer a bottom-up approach.
>>
>>    For loops are based on iterators.
>>
>>    So, "bottom-up" in this case means: iterators should be
>>    taught before for-loops.
>>
>>    But iterators are too abstract to be taught very early.
> 
> I think this may be a problem with your style.  From your other
> postings, I think you value precision and exactness over broad
> understanding, and maybe you teach like that.

To understand Stefan's way of teaching, take a look at his other 
courses, for example the C++ course:

	http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~ram/pub/pub_jf47ht81Ht/c++-kurs

He defends the opinion that you learn a programming language best by 
studying syntax diagrams. He even writes in his FAQ about the language 
courses: 
http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~ram/pub/pub_jf47ht81Ht/faq_programmieren

"Neuere Forschungen haben gezeigt, daß es erfolgreicher ist, formale 
Systeme (wie Programmiersprachen oder Mathematik) zu unterrichten, wenn 
dabei kein künstlicher „Praxisbezug“ durch “real-world examples” 
(Beispiele aus dem „wahren Leben“) hergestellt wird!"

	which means

"Recent research results show that it is more successful, to teach 
formal systems (like programming language or maths), if no artificial 
practical use-case is demonstrated by "real-world examples" with a 
reference: "They said students who were taught abstract math concepts 
fared better in experiments than those taught with real-world examples, 
such as story problems.

Adding extraneous details makes it hard for students to extract the 
basic mathematical concepts and apply them to new problems, they said.

"We're really making it difficult for students because we are 
distracting them from the underlying math," said Jennifer Kaminski, a 
research scientist at Ohio State University, whose study appears in the 
journal Science.Reuters, 25. April 2008"



	Christian