> From: Byron A Jeff [mailto:byron@CC.GATECH.EDU]
> Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 1:32 PM

[...]

> I've been on both sides of this debate and I have to admit
> that I have been
> swayed. As a former computer science professor it was my firm
> belief that
> students should learn the process of programming from the
> ground up. I was
> persuaded to consider in a rather heated debate with a
> colleague that maybe
> the best way to teach programming data structures is from a
> usage standpoint
> first. Specifically teach using data structures with the C++
> Standard Template
> Library. I argued as you do, that doing it from the ground up
> will give a
> firmer foundation to build upon. My colleague pointed out
> that if students
> were unsuccessful in understanding and applying that low
> level knowledge that
> it wouldn't matter anyway. While we parted ways still
> fundamentally disagreeing
> I certainly was persuaded by that argument. You see part of
> the results here.

Where was your colleague when I took a class on ordinary differential equations?
Nine weeks of guessing techniques, and one week of Laplace transforms.

-Mike

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics