From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,808505c9db7d5613 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: weberwu@compute.tfh-berlin.de (Debora Weber-Wulff) Subject: Re: Testing teaching belief? Date: 1996/11/29 Message-ID: <57mqiq$ps2@sun04.tfh-berlin.de>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 201696249 references: <32723F6A.54A3@dtek.chalmers.se> <56b275$6k4@felix.seas.gwu.edu> <56paj4$bu0$1@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au> <56rbmm$kc8@felix.seas.gwu.edu> <56thaj$3v$1@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au> <5735c9$7f3$1@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au> organization: TFH-Berlin (Berlin, Germany) newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1996-11-29T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Richard A. O'Keefe (ok@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au) wrote: : But the issue under question is not "whether to emphasise keywords or not" : but "whether to distinguish keywords by making them upper case or by : making them lower case". It's precisely a teacher who *DOES* believe that : distinguishing keywords is important, but has an open mind about the best : way to do it, that we want. I agree that "whether to emphasise keywords : or not" is an important question, but it is a *different* question from : the one I'm asking. Let's spell it out: I use the following rule in teaching Ada: 1) Thou shalt differentiate keywords and identifiers. 2) Thou shalt be consistent. So I take off oints for mixing schemes, but let everyone do what they want, as long as it is the same. In Software Engineering I make the students state in a coding style sheet which style they will use. In class, I tend to pass out copies of Feldman's programs (slightly altered to get around that terrible US-centric touch ;-) using his style. I thought it was ugly at first, but it grows on you - I've used both his books (the CS1 and the CS2 one) now. : [When I commented on the US-centric bias of this book before, I hadn't read : chapter 2 in detail. It's _very_ strong in chapter 2.] : This may look like an attack on Feldman's book. I hasten to point out that : the reason I picked it for comment here is that I *have* it, and I needed a : *good* book to make my point. Must say he has GREAT exercies and EXPLAINS stuff at a level of detail that actually sinks in - I have the feeling that the students are actually learning something... 'course I can't prove this experimentally, but just the same :-) : -- : Mixed Member Proportional---a *great* way to vote! : Richard A. O'Keefe; http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/%7Eok; RMIT Comp.Sci. -- Debora Weber-Wulff (Professorin fuer Softwaretechnik und Programmiersprachen) Technische Fachhochschule Berlin, FB Informatik, Luxemburger Str. 10, 13353 Berlin, Germany email: weberwu@tfh-berlin.de