How to teach programming and other things?
summary
Research shows code smells matter for novices: experiments with Scratch find 30% long‑method and 26% cloning across 250000 Scratch projects, and learners given smelly code perform worse. Teaching uses Lego Mindstorms and a edX course with 3,000 kids to show seven‑ to eleven‑year‑olds learn smell detection. Small‑step “phonics” exercises (fill‑in syntax, read code aloud) improve transfer more than big project‑first approaches. Practical claim: teach micro‑syntax and smell recognition before building full apps.
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chapters (12)
- 0:00Start
- 11:01sheets are code Not real programming
- 19:25Are code smells common?
- 22:17Can we teach smells?
- 28:09What is programming about?
- 29:10What is programming like?
- 30:25Who is programming for?
- 35:40Programming is Writing
- 36:55What is writing?
- 37:54Language metaphor helps
- 50:17Towards a phonics approach
- 55:32What is programming?
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