Pick a student to live-code during class to show other students that their peers have many of the same strengths and weaknesses that they do when coding.

  • Students feel reassured when they see their peers making the same syntax errors and having the same misconceptions they do.
    • Live-coding is a great vehicle for this because it entails projecting someone’s code on a screen as they are writing a program.
  • Be sure to choose a student that is confident and within the top 50% of the class, but that will still make mistakes while live-coding.
    • If you choose a student that doesn’t make mistakes, the other students may feel intimidated and struggle to relate to them.
    • Similarly, if you live-code instead of having a student do it, the class will be less engaged because they assume you know the content.
  • Additionally, the student who is live-coding can get immediate feedback on their coding strategies.

More about this tip

External Source

Interview with Amit Jain

Other Tips By