Good examples of programming course lecture notes
in [Java Programming]
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From: clemenr on 2 Sep 2005 17:12 Hi. I'm about to write some notes for a university level Java programming course, specialising in audio/midi applications. I have quite a bit of experience in designing teaching materials for programming courses in Java and other languages. However, one thing that I've never really felt that I've optimised is the organisation of material on the slides (openoffice, similar to powerpoint) used during teaching. I'd like to ask if anyone knows of some programming course they've taken or are taking where the use of slides/powerpoint was really effective. It doesn't need to be a Java course as I'm interested in lookng more at presentation and lecture design styles rather than content? I've done a lot of searching on the net, but haven't found anything that I feel is clearly better than what I do now. Any recommendations? Either online notes, or if the notes are not publically available, could any readers of this please tell me the lecturer/prof's name, university, and the name of the course and I can ask for a sample lecture directly. Or, if other teachers are reading this, I'd like to hear what they do. Note: I'm aware of arguments that traditional lectures are not necessarily the only nor best way of teaching programming, but for the meantime at least, I have to work in a particular environment that expects reasonably traditional lectures to occur along with practical laboratories. Thanks in anticipation, Ross-c
From: Roedy Green on 3 Sep 2005 01:06 On 2 Sep 2005 14:12:33 -0700, clemenr(a)wmin.ac.uk wrote or quoted : >I'd like to ask if anyone knows of some programming course they've >taken or are taking where the use of slides/powerpoint was really >effective. I don't think slides belong in the classroom. They are the fastest way to put students to sleep. They require low lights which make people drowsy and make note-taking harder. The slide just competes with the lecturer for attention. The slide keeps giving away the punchline. Slides are for entertaining and selling hypnotically not for informing. -- Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green. http://mindprod.com Again taking new Java programming contracts.
From: Roedy Green on 3 Sep 2005 01:26 On 2 Sep 2005 14:12:33 -0700, clemenr(a)wmin.ac.uk wrote or quoted : >I'd like to ask if anyone knows of some programming course they've >taken or are taking where the use of slides/powerpoint was really >effective. It doesn't need to be a Java course as I'm interested in >lookng more at presentation and lecture design styles rather than >content? I've done a lot of searching on the net, but haven't found >anything that I feel is clearly better than what I do now. I used to teach a tutorial at UBC, Fortran and assembler. I would freak out my students my telling them they were not allowed to take notes. They had to GET what I was saying, not just write it down. No student ever failed. I had THEM at the boards writing code most of the time. I could then easily tell if they were getting what I was teaching. It was unconventional, but very popular. I had all kinds of students transfer in. Today, doing the same thing, I would give them an URL with the notes to read ahead of time and after time. I would never dream of using slides. You have to grab the students' attention and make every moment memorable, just the same as if you were dealing with second graders. -- Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green. http://mindprod.com Again taking new Java programming contracts.
From: Roedy Green on 3 Sep 2005 01:41 On 2 Sep 2005 14:12:33 -0700, clemenr(a)wmin.ac.uk wrote or quoted : >I'd like to ask if anyone knows of some programming course they've >taken or are taking where the use of slides/powerpoint was really >effective. The key thing I have found useful in lecture notes is CODE. Super-commented code explains far more clearly than any natural language exposition which tends to slide into a sales pitch or rant. It also lets you deal with a mixture of very bright and very slow people. The bright ones absorb all the details of the code. The slow ones just listen to your overall commentary. You might see if you can find someone who has been to one of the Colorado Software conferences to see the notes they provide. They do use slides. You get the slides which are generally not that useful, but they give additional notes. These are aimed for peer to peer communication. -- Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green. http://mindprod.com Again taking new Java programming contracts.
From: jan V on 3 Sep 2005 03:53
> >I'd like to ask if anyone knows of some programming course they've > >taken or are taking where the use of slides/powerpoint was really > >effective. > > I don't think slides belong in the classroom. They are the fastest way > to put students to sleep. > > They require low lights which make people drowsy and make note-taking > harder. Maybe for conventional slides you may have a point, but for PowerPoint-type presentations projected with a modern projector, the whole show can be done in normal indoor light. > The slide just competes with the lecturer for attention. The slide > keeps giving away the punchline. The slides are there to summarize what the lecturer/trainer says. The slides are the skeletal framework of the course. Printouts of the slides can be taken home so that the student can go over the presentation again, and the slides will trigger recall of much that was said. > Slides are for entertaining and selling hypnotically not for informing. Ah well Roedy, I guess everyone falls in the trap of writing nonsense on c.l.j.p... even you. For the record I used to be in the Java training business. Students invariably gave glowing feedback at the end of the 5-day course... and I can assure you nobody became drowsy in my classes. |