Wrapping up the Cruft - Making Wrappers to Hide Complexity
summary
Argues that hiding low level cruft with small libraries gets students to the core logic faster and more of them enjoy coding the results back the claim is supported by events using kookaburra microcontrollers and MicroPython to drive NeoPixel bars, RFID readers, solenoids and even cubesat experiments the team runs RFID-powered escape rooms and surveys of ~400 students show liking coding rising from ~26% to 55% wrappers live on GitHub as connected_code wrappers and examples include RFID-powered escape rooms that actually open when the right tag is read
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chapters (14)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:07Defining wrappers
- 6:01Java Hello World intimidation
- 7:47Neopixel wrappers
- 10:40RFID wrappers for class
- 11:45Effective wrapper principles
- 17:02Student learning barriers
- 20:58Wrapper consistency
- 23:04Wrapper results in education
- 26:14Hardware excitement
- 27:36Implement wrappers
- 30:24Q&A: Hardware vs software
- 31:46Q&A: Advanced students
- 34:58Closing
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