4 ms·

I'm by no means an experienced teacher, but I think the hands-on approach is the way to go for programming...

• fridif 5y ago
  How can you code if you dont understand what it is you are coding?
  • aidenn0 5y ago
    I learned to code without understanding first, and then came to understand later. I don't know if that's good or bad pedagogy in general, but it worked for me. Maybe a few more people can chime in; the plural of anecdote is data.
    • fridif 5y ago
      I'm totally fine with both approaches, but I want to highlight two things the article mentioned: 1) budget concerns for monitors, computers, keyboards 2) students cant type I think I could teach an array traversal using skittles, and I could teach binary search using a physical english dictionary. One would be surprised how much of coding is trying to understand the logic of what is trying to be done. The api call can come after
      • drewzero1 5y ago
        It definitely helped me start to understand sorting algorithms when I tried using skittles and other physical objects I could just move around. Before that it just looked like a magic loop that worked somehow, but afterward I had an idea of what the computer was doing in each step. Really, all algorithms are better when demonstrated on sweet treats. :)
        • fridif 5y ago
          bonus if you get to eat them!
      • aidenn0 5y ago
        I think computer science can be taught very well without a computer. I'm more divided on if it's true of coding.