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Does anyone else feel like there's a disconnect in resources like these, a confounding of the syntax of a language and the fundamental skills? I recently had a

Does anyone else feel like there's a disconnect in resources like these, a confounding of the syntax of a language and the fundamental skills? I recently had a student I'm tutoring go look up the syntax of for loops, if statements, and function definition in four imperative languages just to get the idea that there's a deeper structure and the language is just details you have to deal with. But I don't see that in lists of resources about learning languages for beginners.

orev 6y ago
Wouldn’t you say that understanding the deeper structure would be learning programming, while learning the syntax is for the language. Both are useful and needed, but they have different goals.
- madhadron 6y ago
  That's fair. Maybe it's that I see very few resources on learning programming.
kthejoker2 6y ago
For true beginners to programming (e.g. my elementary age kids), I found these resources to be really effective at what I think of as the most important lessons in programming: * it's okay to try things * you can't break it * programming is very literal and precise * there's syntax, there's structure, and there are operations https://github.com/Akuli/python-tutorial/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/Akuli/python-tutorial/blob/master/README.... This one is the best, it is aimed square at anyone whose only experience with computers is typing and web browsing. https://github.com/eka-foundation/numerical-computing-is-fun/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/eka-foundation/numerical-computing-is-fun... Also great for the leveling down, but you also have to teach some math and some concepts around functions and algorthms, which can definitely feel a little boring / pigeonhole programming as mostly a fancy calculator. Use sparingly and wisely. https://www.pythonforbeginners.com/code-snippets-source-code/game-rolling-the-dice https://www.pythonforbeginners.com/code-snippets-source-code... This is just one example, but the code snippets at Python for Beginners are well documented, designed with simple constructs, and are a great way to see "applied programming" / provlem solving to achieve an outcome. One useful technique is to give your student the "problem" the code snippet solves and ask your students to describe how they would code it in words and you transcribe it as some pseudocode on a board, and then "debug" it together to address input validation, logic, efficiency, then they write it.in Python, and then compare your code to the actual snippet. When their code is basically spot on with the snippet it's like they've won the lottery, I definitely had forgotten that magic ... I should make a YouTube playlist of thr videos I've shown them, here's one they liked * 15 Sorting Algorithms in 6 minutes - https://youtu.be/kPRA0W1kECg https://youtu.be/kPRA0W1kECg I paused at each one and we broke down how it's sorting, by the 5th or 6th it only took a few seconds to figure out the algorithm, and then theyre just fun to watch. For you as a programming educator, this is essential viewing https://youtu.be/azcrPFhaY9k https://youtu.be/azcrPFhaY9k
- madhadron 6y ago
  These are some great resources, thanks!

orev 6y ago

Wouldn’t you say that understanding the deeper structure would be learning programming, while learning the syntax is for the language. Both are useful and needed, but they have different goals.

madhadron 6y ago
That's fair. Maybe it's that I see very few resources on learning programming.

kthejoker2 6y ago

For true beginners to programming (e.g. my elementary age kids), I found these resources to be really effective at what I think of as the most important lessons in programming: * it's okay to try things * you can't break it * programming is very literal and precise * there's syntax, there's structure, and there are operations https://github.com/Akuli/python-tutorial/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/Akuli/python-tutorial/blob/master/README.... This one is the best, it is aimed square at anyone whose only experience with computers is typing and web browsing. https://github.com/eka-foundation/numerical-computing-is-fun/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/eka-foundation/numerical-computing-is-fun... Also great for the leveling down, but you also have to teach some math and some concepts around functions and algorthms, which can definitely feel a little boring / pigeonhole programming as mostly a fancy calculator. Use sparingly and wisely. https://www.pythonforbeginners.com/code-snippets-source-code/game-rolling-the-dice https://www.pythonforbeginners.com/code-snippets-source-code... This is just one example, but the code snippets at Python for Beginners are well documented, designed with simple constructs, and are a great way to see "applied programming" / provlem solving to achieve an outcome. One useful technique is to give your student the "problem" the code snippet solves and ask your students to describe how they would code it in words and you transcribe it as some pseudocode on a board, and then "debug" it together to address input validation, logic, efficiency, then they write it.in Python, and then compare your code to the actual snippet. When their code is basically spot on with the snippet it's like they've won the lottery, I definitely had forgotten that magic ... I should make a YouTube playlist of thr videos I've shown them, here's one they liked * 15 Sorting Algorithms in 6 minutes - https://youtu.be/kPRA0W1kECg https://youtu.be/kPRA0W1kECg I paused at each one and we broke down how it's sorting, by the 5th or 6th it only took a few seconds to figure out the algorithm, and then theyre just fun to watch. For you as a programming educator, this is essential viewing https://youtu.be/azcrPFhaY9k https://youtu.be/azcrPFhaY9k

madhadron 6y ago
These are some great resources, thanks!