Skip to main content
CS Teaching Tips

Main navigation

  • Browse All Tips
  • Tags
  • 3D
  • About
  • Rate Tips
  • Tip Sheets

Content Misconceptions

Introduce memory and efficiency a few months into the AP CS course. Do so in a hands-on way by demonstrating how a computer cannot compute a slow problem.

When you write a function, like (foo x), students don’t realize you can put a variable with a name OTHER than x in there, or an actual number.

Before moving onto arrays, make sure students feel really confident about loops.

Teach students that running tests cannot prove that a code works. It can, however, prove that code is not working.

When creating websites, many misconceptions students have arise from not fully understanding CSS, Cascading Style Sheets.

Emphasize that students should know which HTML tags are self-contained to make writing and debugging code easier.

When teaching about logical operations, give examples that use real-life situations or events.

Emphasize that it is not necessary to add the reference operator, &, in C++ when passing an argument to a function that takes in a reference.

Emphasize to your students that in languages like Java a semicolon ends a complete thought, rather than just a line of code.

Be explicit about what direction references point when teaching about objects and references.

Pagination

  • Previous page ‹‹
  • Page 12
  • Next page ››
Subscribe to Content Misconceptions

For more information or to report a bug, contact us at admin@csteachingtips.org. Built with Bootstrap. Powered by Drupal.

Privacy Policy