Misconception: Students think that when they create a new variable within a function, that function will automatically return that variable’s value when executed. Share Misconception: Students think that when they create a new variable within a function, that function will automatically return that variable’s value when executed. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students think that when they create a new variable within a function, that function will automatically return that variable’s value when executed. with Twitter
Misconception: Students have trouble understanding the difference between the “glide” and “go to” blocks in Scratch. Share Misconception: Students have trouble understanding the difference between the “glide” and “go to” blocks in Scratch. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students have trouble understanding the difference between the “glide” and “go to” blocks in Scratch. with Twitter
Misconception: Students create a new instance variable when they only need a local variable. Share Misconception: Students create a new instance variable when they only need a local variable. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students create a new instance variable when they only need a local variable. with Twitter
Teach students to storyboard in Alice so they know a systematic process to follow when approaching challenging problems. Share Teach students to storyboard in Alice so they know a systematic process to follow when approaching challenging problems. with FacebookShare Teach students to storyboard in Alice so they know a systematic process to follow when approaching challenging problems. with Twitter
Misconception: Students create a new object when they only need to copy a reference. Share Misconception: Students create a new object when they only need to copy a reference. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students create a new object when they only need to copy a reference. with Twitter
Misconception: Students believe that boolean values can only be used in conditionals. Share Misconception: Students believe that boolean values can only be used in conditionals. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students believe that boolean values can only be used in conditionals. with Twitter
Misconception: Students believe that methods in different classes cannot have the same name. Share Misconception: Students believe that methods in different classes cannot have the same name. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students believe that methods in different classes cannot have the same name. with Twitter
Misconception: Students think that it’s possible to write methods that add attributes to a Java class. Share Misconception: Students think that it’s possible to write methods that add attributes to a Java class. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students think that it’s possible to write methods that add attributes to a Java class. with Twitter
Misconception: Students believe that reference pointers go both directions such that objects know what points to them. Share Misconception: Students believe that reference pointers go both directions such that objects know what points to them. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students believe that reference pointers go both directions such that objects know what points to them. with Twitter
Misconception: Students think that two different variables cannot refer to the same object. Share Misconception: Students think that two different variables cannot refer to the same object. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students think that two different variables cannot refer to the same object. with Twitter
Trace through example code in class to show and encourage students to debug effectively Share Trace through example code in class to show and encourage students to debug effectively with FacebookShare Trace through example code in class to show and encourage students to debug effectively with Twitter
Misconception: Students believe that a method can only be called once on a given object. Share Misconception: Students believe that a method can only be called once on a given object. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students believe that a method can only be called once on a given object. with Twitter
Misconception: Students think that both the IF and the ELSE cases of a conditional are executed every single time a conditional runs. Share Misconception: Students think that both the IF and the ELSE cases of a conditional are executed every single time a conditional runs. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students think that both the IF and the ELSE cases of a conditional are executed every single time a conditional runs. with Twitter
Misconception: Students believe that in a primitive assignment, x = y could be the equivalent of y = x; they think that the computer science “=” sign is the same as the mathematical “=” sign. Share Misconception: Students believe that in a primitive assignment, x = y could be the equivalent of y = x; they think that the computer science “=” sign is the same as the mathematical “=” sign. with FacebookShare Misconception: Students believe that in a primitive assignment, x = y could be the equivalent of y = x; they think that the computer science “=” sign is the same as the mathematical “=” sign. with Twitter
Remind students that the computer will run any code that compiles, no matter how unreasonable, because it doesn’t have the ability to determine if code is reasonable or not. Share Remind students that the computer will run any code that compiles, no matter how unreasonable, because it doesn’t have the ability to determine if code is reasonable or not. with FacebookShare Remind students that the computer will run any code that compiles, no matter how unreasonable, because it doesn’t have the ability to determine if code is reasonable or not. with Twitter
When explaining program structure, highlight which aspects of the program are static and which are dynamic in order to clearly distinguish between the two. Share When explaining program structure, highlight which aspects of the program are static and which are dynamic in order to clearly distinguish between the two. with FacebookShare When explaining program structure, highlight which aspects of the program are static and which are dynamic in order to clearly distinguish between the two. with Twitter
Include college seniors in intro courses by having them write blog posts reviewing interesting developments in information technology to engage intro CS students. Share Include college seniors in intro courses by having them write blog posts reviewing interesting developments in information technology to engage intro CS students. with FacebookShare Include college seniors in intro courses by having them write blog posts reviewing interesting developments in information technology to engage intro CS students. with Twitter
Build relationships with local college faculty or software engineers so you can periodically ask them for email-based debugging help for students. Share Build relationships with local college faculty or software engineers so you can periodically ask them for email-based debugging help for students. with FacebookShare Build relationships with local college faculty or software engineers so you can periodically ask them for email-based debugging help for students. with Twitter
Have pair programming groups rotate computers every 10 minutes in an activity where they have to continue to solve the assigned problem using other pairs’ code to motivate writing good comments. Share Have pair programming groups rotate computers every 10 minutes in an activity where they have to continue to solve the assigned problem using other pairs’ code to motivate writing good comments. with FacebookShare Have pair programming groups rotate computers every 10 minutes in an activity where they have to continue to solve the assigned problem using other pairs’ code to motivate writing good comments. with Twitter
Have pairs of students aim to achieve the same patterns on Battleship boards to teach them the precision necessary for algorithmic design. Share Have pairs of students aim to achieve the same patterns on Battleship boards to teach them the precision necessary for algorithmic design. with FacebookShare Have pairs of students aim to achieve the same patterns on Battleship boards to teach them the precision necessary for algorithmic design. with Twitter