Now that could be a useful macro...

... This week I've had several people thank me for leads to stories, answers to questions (some answers have not even rated a thank you, earning them a place on my UngratefulBastardRoll that I will implementing RSN), and helpful hints, but not one of them has figured out how to form a link to any of my blogs. Name me, yes. Link me, no.

Chiding folks for and about linky-love involves walking a fine line, Alwin. I should know, since I managed an upgrade to top billing at your main house. Thanks! :-)
(BTW, I think the word you may have been searching for is bungholio. Although your phrasing did catch my eye.)

6:14:49 PM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    [ blinked via ViewFromTheHeart ]

Glad to see Smokey has returned from her walkabout. And congratulations to Glenn and his bride. Mazel Tov!

10:38:22 AM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    

Jeff weighs in with the canonical first-year CS recursion exercise, the Towers of Hanoi. The students who finish this one early are usually urged to attempt the Towers of Saigon puzzle, too, in my own experience.

I can answer that in three words — Towers of Hanoi

Linked from that page is precisely the sort of non-math recursion explanation and example I'm after, in this example, how to determine if you're a Jew. What I like is that this example is it's a non-math example (it also makes me nervous for other reasons, but I'll take what I can right now...). Because of their own comfort with math, most CS instructors immediately reach for a math-based example to illustrate a concept, then might eventually be able to provide a non-math example, if pressed.

I remember a statement from one professor, one of those early pioneers who moved into CS from a Math department, back when mainframes began to rule the earth. He said Scheme's syntax was intuitive, since it was merely algebra formulas. I'm very certain that less than one-third of the students in his classes would have agreed with his statement. The state of mathematics education in this country is abysmal, for a number of reasons (different rant), all made worse by the recent emphasis on standardized tests, as well. Few students escape the current system with a solid understanding of math and related concepts.

For non-math types (pun intended), most CS exercises are extremely non-trivial, because comfort with mathematics and its abstractions are taken for granted by most CS instructors. Meanwhile, for many students those are very large additional barriers. The additional burden some exercises pose are not heavily factored into the grading system or, quite often, into the teaching.

For instance, here's the hidden cruelty of another recursion exercise, the Fibonacci sequence.

First, the students must get a solid grasp on the concept of recursion. The students probably knows to try use a recursive structure in their program, since that's what was covered in recent lectures.

Next, the students must solve the *puzzle* they are being asked to program. Again, they must fully grasp another concept which is slightly orthagonal to the class topic, in this case, what the fsck is a Fibonacci sequence, AND then how can the sequence be represented using an algebraic formula.

Finally, a student has to translate that representation into a foreign language, and must be syntactically precise. Or the more-native speakers will mock them and a poor grade will be recorded.

I certainly agree that I don't want someone without strong math skills designing hardware or new compilers or large relational databases. At the same time, I believe that there are clear benefits from learning to program, including an increased confidence in math. "Students who learn to design programs properly learn to analyze a problem statement; express its essence, abstractly and with examples; formulate statements and comments in a precise language; evaluate and revise these activities in light of checks and tests; and pay attention to details. [1]"

I just not sold that a reliance on math-based exercises and examples is an optimal way to get there for the majority of first-year students...

9:58:37 AM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    [ blinked via Jeff's Radio Weblog ]