Can we teach programming?
Greg Michaelson
Wednesday 26 June 2019
14:15 - 15:15
Room 1.82 , Earl Mountbatten Building
Abstract
Why is it so hard to teach programming? Why do some people just
not get it, while others find it obvious, and how do they
differ, if at all? Does how we teach programming make any
difference, and, if it does, how would we know?
This seminar will mostly fail to answer these questions, using a
strong Computational Thinking framework to characterise a
multiplicity of approaches to teaching programming, exploring
the contradictions between providing a pedagogically sound
programming education and making students industry ready. In
particular, a critique will be offered of constructivist
approaches, from microworlds through Objects First to visual
environments, for their failure to support core programming
concepts of abstraction and variables. To conclude, an ongoing
experiment, to establish at what stage young people can apply
abstraction to patterns in simple arithmetic problems to
introduce variables, will be presented.
This seminar will involve audience participation, so please
bring pencil and paper.