Misconception: Students often have off by 1 errors when working with loops, which can result from mixing up > and >= as well as forgetting that arrays start at index 0.
Use a visual proof to demonstrate that the better strategy for resizing arrays is doubling the size to make it easier for students to understand.
Use PEZ ® dispensers to demonstrate the push, pop, and peek methods for stacks to provide a clear and accessible illustration of these methods.
Use patternCoder to help students move from conceptual model classes to code by selecting class relationships that reflect the system they want to create in Java.
Have students write a program that constructs an n x n Magic Square in Java so they gain practice working with bounds in 2D arrays.
Have students translate between Java Array and ArrayList to highlight the differences between the two.
Use constructive and well-formed examples, like Quicksort, to teach recursion so that students have a strong model for building their own solutions.
Use an activity that introduces minimal spanning trees by having students determine the minimum number of roads to pave between houses.
To help students formalize their knowledge of data structures, act out these abstract ideas as a class.
Have students reason about optimization by creating a program that’ll make an 80 minute playlist for a party.
Teach ArrayLists for the AP CS A exam by having students uncover interesting information from your past students’ grades.
Tie the importance of searching and sorting to internet search engines, then encourage students to create search mechanisms for data they want to analyze.
Analogize stacks and interrupts using a story in which a person is frequently interrupted in the course of performing everyday tasks.
Give students a caesar cipher to reveal a picture or message in order to teach how characters can be treated as numbers and to reinforce string manipulation.
Misconception: Students have difficulty using the correct data types in Java because their go-to data type is int most of the time.
Explain that arrays work like a dresser of clothing to help students understand this abstract data structure by relating it to structures they know.
Provide specific ways to get additional practice on material (e.g., Linked lists) because teachers often underestimate the amount of practice students need to solidify course concepts.