Have students complete CodeLab’s practice exercises to improve their skills in Python, Java, C++, or other programming languages.
Misconception: students forget about language-specific or paradigm-specific material (e.g., new/delete or types) when they switch between languages that don’t use the same concepts.
Misconception: When passing arrays in C/C++ students often forget to pass in the size of the array and to use [] (square brackets) to make the variable an array.
Help students identify strategies for splitting their attention between their code and their robots to help them monitor their code’s effects.
Misconception: In C-based languages, students don’t know when to use and not use pointer derefrences (*) and reference-operators (&).
Explicitly discuss the lack of bounds-checking in C-based courses to avoid student confusion when using strings and arrays.
Have student video tape their Arduino circuits to make it easier for you to grade because you don’t have to collect the Arduinos or set aside class time to observe the circuits in action.
Use Python as an introductory language rather than Java or C to allow students to focus on problem-solving more than syntax.
Incorporate robotics into your class to increase students’ interest in computer science in order to motivate their learning.
Use Droplet, a blocks-based text editor, to help bridge students’ learning gap between blocks and text.
Be on the lookout for loop syntax that belongs to another language when students are learning multiple languages because they sometimes confuse syntax and create hard to spot bugs.