Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att-cb!att-ih!pacbell!ames!husc6!purdue!tlh
From: tlh@cs.purdue.EDU (Thomas L. Hausmann)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Programming Assignments (Was: What is CS?)
Keywords: CS, What should be taught
Message-ID: <3706@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>
Date: 2 Apr 88 20:29:23 GMT
References: <4807@ecsvax.UUCP> <336@abcom.ATT.COM> <906@gmu90x.UUCP>
Sender: news@cs.purdue.EDU
Organization: Department of Computer Science, Purdue University
Lines: 42

In article <906@gmu90x.UUCP>, dstalder@gmu90x.UUCP (Darren Stalder) writes:
> My suggestions were:  Give someone a piece of spaghetti code that does
> one thing.  Give them some trivial mods to get it to do the same thing
> only slightly different.  Tell them that it is due tomorrow and that
> the entire thing needs to be documented in full.
> 
> His suggestions:  Give them a project and tell them it needs to do
> this.  Give them a data set that isnt valid.  Then halfway to the due
> date, change what the program needs to do and tell them it needs to be
> done in 2 days.
> 
> Just a little comment from your local reality checker..
> --
> Torin/Darren Stalder/Wolf
> Internet: dstalder@gmuvax2.gmu.edu
> Bitnet:   dstalder@gmuvax

Although at first glance one might think this is cruel, however, when you tell
students to use such things as declared constants, modular style etc. (to
enhance the ability for quick modification) they often don't listen and this
is a good thing to do early in the semester to bring home the point.

-Tom















-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Hausmann       Dept. of Computer Sciences     Purdue University
tlh@mordred.cs.purdue.edu    | My ideas?  There has never been an original
...!purdue!tlh               | thought since Plato.