[Edu-sig] assigning homework

[Timothy Wilson]

On 9 Sep 2001, Jeffrey Elkner wrote:

> I completely agree with Alan.  The most exciting learning happens when
> students are working on real projects that someone is really going to
> use.  Having them work together and reuse code is what open source is
> all about.

I can't wait to get my students involved in some "real" programs. At least
point in the year we're still working on the most basic basics. (We just
finished our first week of school in Minnesota.)

> I cut the number of computers in my lab in half this year, so that two
> students share each computer rather than having each student have their
> own.
> 
> I did this to make collaboration a necessity.  I plan to use peer
> programming methods (extreme programming) for projects throughout the
> year.  In the beginning I will be the client and the students will be
> the programmers.  Later in the year I would like to try setting up
> situations where the students can play both client and programmer roles
> for each other.

This is great. I'm planning to do a lot of work using only half of my
computers. (I've got 30 machines in the lab with 30 students.) I think I
will buy one of the Extreme Programming books and look it over so I can pick
up some of the basic ideas. Anyone have a recommendation on which to read?

This is the first course I've taught that includes a roughly equal number of
students in the 9th-12th grades. It will also be a challenge to deal with
the varying math abilities in the class. I specified algebra as a
prerequisite for the course, but I had about 10 students get through who've
only had pre-algebra. That could make things a bit tricky, but we'll see how
it goes.

Thanks to all the suggestion about projects, but I don't think anyone really
addressed the heart of my question. I'm not sure how to go about assessing
their work. That's the hard part. (Thinking back, maybe I didn't mention
assessment specifically.) I'm going to be giving some quizzes and tests, but
I'm not sure how much to weight the rest of their work. I think I'll
probably just have to play it by ear and see how it goes.

Would anyone who's taught Python (or any programming course for that
matter) care to summarize briefly how they break down their grading for the
course?

-Tim

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