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Draw attention to types when teaching students Python to help lay the groundwork for understanding types in lower-level programming languages they’ll learn about later.
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In anticipation of a relatively large project, assign smaller projects that include the programming concepts necessary for the large project.
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Have the class make instructions for a Robot class you created that will bring Chipotle back to the classroom to motivate instructions and method sequencing.
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Include a lot of visual examples in intro classes to help students learn by giving concrete visualizations of new, abstract concepts.
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Have all functions return something in an intro course to help students understand that functions have a start and an end, even though they are always returning.
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Misconception: With conditionals, students may try to compare the memory address of a function to a number, like x < foo, when they intended to compare x with the return value of foo.
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Spend extra time teaching Big O in intro classes that use Python because the underlying implementation of Python lists is a mystery to students that leads students to believe many operations are constant, O(1), that are not.
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Explicitly demonstrate how and where to set up a file for writing code because students often struggle with where to place code.
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Help students see that they’re building basic understanding over the course of the semester that will turn into wider understanding since they may become frustrated with their perceived lack of progress.
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Remind students to match types on both sides of the equations because they often try to combine types when creating variables.
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Don’t allow repeat variable names in intro courses to avoid confusion about different variables with the same name.
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Misconception: students struggle with scopes of variables and may not understand when a variable can be accessed and when it cannot be accessed.
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Misconception: students develop the habit of putting the type in front of variables; they don’t realize that this creates a new variable resulting in lots of variables with the same name.
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Teach "if" statements before "switch" statements, then explain how "switch" is a specialized case of "if" by translating an "if" statement into a "switch" statement.
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Show intro students in class how to force stop a program running in terminal because they need to be shown how to get out of a running infinite loop, it’s a very useful skill.
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Misconception: students struggle with the onMousePress method (and other mouse interaction methods) in the Java objectdraw Library from Williams College; they need help understanding it’s called even when don’t explicitly call it.
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Insist students use Javadocs as a resource in intro Java classes to reinforce the value of self-directed learning and ensure they know how to reference important documentation.
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Relate how cool it would be to have the entire dictionary for another language put into your head to importing libraries in Java to help students make sense of this abstract concept.
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Misconception: If you consistently use the same variable names during class in lectures and examples, students may incorrectly assume objects in Java can only have those names.
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