I don't see myself coloring the pages in; primarily as I wouldn't want to use up any resources. Granted, I'm a 30+ PhD student, so I might not be the targeted market. The only things I have of differing colors are dry erase markers.
For a (much) younger audience, I could see the teacher buying this, but in that breath, they are always looking to not spend a lot (or any) money on supplies, so a $30-40 coloring book for something that they could find a free alternative online isn't worthwhile. But, $1-5 per concept might be worthwhile.
I do, however, love the visualization of your coloring of the page. This could work via writing the book in a visualized "worked example" format, which is how I worked through the data structures course I taught over the summer.
In that light, I can see it being very similar to something like Grokking Algorithms [1], which I did buy because I enjoyed the idea of visualizing the algorithms (for my students and my own edification).
Final note if you went that route is be mindful of colorblind customers and look to include something like a pattern difference as well (maybe angle of coloring the block?).
Overall, I love the idea; my research focus in effective means of conveying concepts to students, so I'd love to stay informed as you work through it and might be tempted to use whatever you tricks you provide as additional exercises when I teach again.
Seconding the the notion that your colored-in example is a fantastic addition and should be included. I had thought of this in terms of The Anatomy Coloring Book where the coloring is mostly a way to engage with the visual material in a physical way, which aids recall. But your specific coloring actually highlights the algorithm in an effective way, making it more clear - and I can see that a teacher might be able to quickly glance at a student coloring and see that they did not grasp the concept (by, say, using a distinct color for each block number throughout, showing no progress through the algorithm). Your annotations are excellent as well, and the whole thing serves as a great model of how such a book should be used. Great stuff.
Wow, thanks for the praise! I hadn't heard of The Anatomy Coloring Book before and it looks/sounds a lot like what I have in mind for this book. Thanks a lot for mentioning it. Also, I think you nailed it with "the coloring is mostly a way to engage with the visual material in a physical way, which aids recall."
If you have any suggestions for improvements or content feel to let me know. And I'm always looking for "beta" testers of the book =)
Thanks a lot for the input. It's super useful to hear a different perspective on the idea. I have no clue how much something like this should cost and will probably wait until it's closer to finished before deciding.
I think your idea about providing colored examples is good and have heard it from a few people now so that's definitely worth looking into.
Also I am red green colorblind so thanks for keeping people like me in mind! I'll have to remember to stay mindful of that.
Not problem! In my first programming class years ago, I made an assignment about probability with colored cards; one of my students told me he had to cheat because he was colorblind and since then I've done my best to think about those aspects.
Plus a good friend of mine has written numerous books on educational materials for deaf child, so whenever I talk about CS education, she reminds me to keep these types of disabilities in mind whenever I design new material
> I think your idea about providing colored examples is good and have heard it from a few people now so that's definitely worth looking into
It's something I don't think we have a lot of in CS education currently; a current platform I'm building is solely to provide almost a dozen types of exercises (fill in the blank, explain the code, hell even typing exercises) to give students the practice (I feel) they miss out on.
Coming from a martial art background, any technique we learn, we get to drill more than once and we aren't expected to beat MMA fighters after 1 lesson. I view the brain like any other muscle, in that with practice, you get better. My job as an instructor is to make sure you stay motivated and don't learn the wrong way.
You're so right with the analogy to physical training. Practice makes perfect. Also, I don't think its any coincidence that trainers of professional athletes often vary up their regimens with mental exercises. I think both types of people should diversify their training.
Could you expand on what you mean by "make sure you... don't learn the wrong way"? If you'd rather email me, I'm at levi -at- coderscoloringbook.com.
For a (much) younger audience, I could see the teacher buying this, but in that breath, they are always looking to not spend a lot (or any) money on supplies, so a $30-40 coloring book for something that they could find a free alternative online isn't worthwhile. But, $1-5 per concept might be worthwhile.
I do, however, love the visualization of your coloring of the page. This could work via writing the book in a visualized "worked example" format, which is how I worked through the data structures course I taught over the summer.
In that light, I can see it being very similar to something like Grokking Algorithms [1], which I did buy because I enjoyed the idea of visualizing the algorithms (for my students and my own edification).
Final note if you went that route is be mindful of colorblind customers and look to include something like a pattern difference as well (maybe angle of coloring the block?).
Overall, I love the idea; my research focus in effective means of conveying concepts to students, so I'd love to stay informed as you work through it and might be tempted to use whatever you tricks you provide as additional exercises when I teach again.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Grokking-Algorithms-illustrated-progr...