This works if the student already has a grasp of how to write software. The new teacher here does your method with new students just learning the syntax, and it

This works if the student already has a grasp of how to write software. The new teacher here does your method with new students just learning the syntax, and it's a failure. Treat them like they're learning french. First comes meaning of words, then how they're applied. Examples of it, what it means, and then how you change what it means to mean something else. Practice and Exposure is the only way to effectively learn any language. These students are going to entirely forget what a for loop is after their class and switch majors when the next classes depend upon fluent understanding.