Rather than taking away points, have students with sub-standard code improve it to better simulate how actual software engineering works.
Give students constant exposure to code, even if they aren’t able to fully understand it right away, to develop their comfort with code over the long term.
Show students where logic symbols - like pipe - are located on the keyboard so that they don’t struggle to find them.
Misconception: Students mistakenly believe comparison expressions use the same syntax in math, English, and logic.
Always use the keyword ‘this’ in Java, and trace through many examples, to help students understand it.
Misconception: In Java, students struggle with equal signs because they mistakenly see them as a sign of symmetry.
Have assignments include visualizations of the code students create and run to help them see exactly what it does.
Know and point out to students the limits of Khan Academy’s JavaScript environment, which does not allow some important topics (like variable scoping) to be demonstrated.