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Teaching Programming

George Mauer | http://togakangaroo.github.io

@togakangaroo | gmauer@gmail.com

http://tinyurl.com/sql2015-teaching

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http://operationspark.org

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Why is teaching programming hard?

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Teach what? Possible Goals

  • Maximum Engagement / Game Dev
  • Get “experience with computers”
  • Learn Basics (Computing)
  • Learn Basics (Theory)
  • Help an organization
  • Get a Job

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Teach what? Possible Goals

  • Maximum Engagement / Game Dev
  • Get “experience with computers”
  • Learn Basics (Computing)
  • Learn Basics (Theory)
  • Help an organization
  • Get a Job
  • Unity3d, phaser.io, TouchDevelop
  • Scratch, Blockly, TouchDevelop
  • C++, SQL, Linux

​

  • Logo? Prolog? Lisp?
  • Wordpress
  • Javascript, HTML, CSS, Github

​

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Who is going to teach this stuff anyways

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Some issues are an...issue

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Other issues are not (big ones)

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You (Probably) Assume Too much

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How can teaching programming be better?

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Decide on a Goal

  • Enable play
  • Motivate play
  • Guide to the pit of success

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Scout a path that makes sense

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Scout a path that makes sense

typing skills

variables

if and while

functions

markup

CSS basics

objects

arrays

map and filter

more functions

libraries

apis

practice practice practice

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Don’t lecture like an asshole

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Consider your modes of learning

  • I do
  • You do
  • We do
  • Lecture
  • How experts do it
  • Drills and Exercises
  • Write Code & Create

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Structure Projects carefully

I do - Bouncing Box

You do - Login UI

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Have a Style Guide

  • DO put "use strict" at the top of every script.
  • DO place all scripts in a (function() { ... }).call().
  • DO use double quotes as a string delimiter.
  • DO Assign functions to variables myFunc = function() { ... }.
  • AVOID multiple statements on the same line.
  • AVOID using this wherever possible. this is confusing to teach and can usually be avoided.
  • AVOID using plural and singular variable names in the same context. Rather than players.filter(function(player) {, consider allPlayers and player.
  • ...

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-- Operation Spark Style Guide

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Question Common Teaching

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Consistency - h tags

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Consistency - h tags

I wrote an article on this

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Minimal Learnability - Selectors

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Minimal Learnability - Selectors

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Minimal Learnability - OOJS

  • These aren’t necessary concepts for a beginner
  • They’re not
  • They’re not
  • Really
  • You just don’t know Javascript well enough

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Some things aren’t actually hard

Just nobody but you teaches it well

My exercise to teach array reduce

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How can you teach?

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Teach Yourself

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Teach your child

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Teach Students

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I assume you want resources

George Mauer | http://togakangaroo.github.io

@togakangaroo | gmauer@gmail.com

http://tinyurl.com/sql2015-teaching

​