

My observations about teaching and learning programming - mh_
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3559-my-observations-about-teaching-and-learning-programming

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rjr7je
Speaking from my background as a humble college student, I think the most
important principle to embrace to successful pedagogy (in the professor side)
and learning (in the student side) is that of independence. I've seen way too
often classmates that copy and paste code without thinking twice about what
the hell the code means, or memorize slides and regurgitate answers for a
midterm or final. Partly this is the fault of their laziness, but professors
have to be somewhat culpable for letting this laziness fester in the first
place. It's distressing to me how many people in my class see programming as a
(money-making) skill, yet see class material as just a parade of _facts_ to
learn, not a mindset to adopt.

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merciBien
That's a really great point, good for you for challenging yourself to truly
learn the art of programming. To me, the students who only study enough to
pass the next exam are cheating themselves, the time I've been given to learn
something new and difficult is priceless to me, really a gift! I can tell you
won't let them discourage you, follow your own path!

