[Edu-sig] A case against GUIs in intro CS :-)

Rodrigo Dias Arruda Senra rsenra at acm.org
Sat Jun 11 17:31:41 CEST 2005


 Arthur wrote:
 | > The author communicates respect for his audience.  He says things once.
 | > Even hard things....<cut>...Him repeating himself is not going to help 
 | > because he has already said it the best way he could
 | > find to say it.  Saying it a second time, he could only be saying it a
 | > second best way.

 I see your point, and I beg to differ.

 In terms of human communication, there is hardly one best way to convey
 any message. Therefore, 'the second best way' might be a matter of 
 reader perspective (not writer).

 The argument """there is nothing stopping me from reading it five
 or six times if I need to""" can be counter-argumented by
 '''I can skip text as much I'm confident'''.

 Moreover, there is no learning without some degree of repetion. Therefore,
 'say things once' might turn from 'good-there-is-no-repetion' into
 'blast-I-have-to-read-it-back-again'.

 Communicating well: clearly, enjoyably, effectively takes time, 
 hard struggles for balance, and tough decisions. 

 "Avoiding repetition == respect" is an oversimplification to me.

 best regards,
 Senra

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