How Not to teach a computer language • Hacker News Board

Re: How Not to teach a computer language

#21

Post by mwgriffith » Sun, Nov 06, 2011, 9:46 PM UTC

FuzzyDunlop wrote: post #9

jordanmessina wrote: post #6

Not that I'm defending a bad teacher, but to say programming vocabulary isn't needed in the real world is a sign of a bad programmer. Being able to communicate exactly what you're doing is as important as actually doing it.

It was a poorly written sentence but I think he's trying to say the tests themselves are irrelevant. That's to say, the students aren't being taught anything they can later use in the real world, only how to pass the test. Knowing how to pass a test isn't particularly valuable.

That's exactly what I was trying to say. Don't get me wrong knowing the terminology is a good thing to have, but if you don't have the skills, how can you be a programmer?

Re: How Not to teach a computer language

#22

Post by pmiller2 » Sun, Nov 06, 2011, 11:35 PM UTC

This should just be called "How Not to Teach." It doesn't matter what subject we're talking about, if these factors are in play (bad teacher, bad book, mostly irrelevant tests), students won't learn.

Re: How Not to teach a computer language

#23

Post by FuzzyDunlop » Mon, Nov 07, 2011, 11:18 PM UTC

shabble wrote: post #14

FuzzyDunlop wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was a poorly written sentence but I think he's trying to say the tests themselves are irrelevant. That's to say, the students aren't being taught anything they can later use in the real world, only how to pass the test. Knowing how to pass a test isn't particularly valuable.

> Knowing how to pass a test isn't particularly valuable. On the contrary; a huge number of job opportunities these days are off-limits to those without a bit of paper saying they passed a certain (set of) test. Whilst the actual knowledge/skills are ultimately far more valuable, you still need the opportunity to use them. Test-taking is itself a skill, and one that can ultimately provide quite a bit of value.

Indeed. The question from there is, does it get you the job you want? If you only have the skill to pass a test, how valuable will the work you get be to you? Just a means to an end maybe?