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From: avolio@decuac.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.cse
Subject: Re: Teaching (and Grading on) Style
Message-ID: <846@decuac.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 8-Mar-86 10:57:51 EST
Article-I.D.: decuac.846
Posted: Sat Mar  8 10:57:51 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 9-Mar-86 00:42:02 EST
References: <11577@watnot.UUCP> <148@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Organization: ULTRIX Applications Center, MD
Lines: 20

In article <148@umcp-cs.UUCP>, mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) writes:
> In article <11577@watnot.UUCP> jjboritz@watnot.UUCP (Jim Boritz) writes:
> 
> >Asides from all this marks cannot be assigned simply upon the appearance
> >of a program.  For one thing marks must be assigned consistently.  In 
> Au contraire.  When I graded programs in the elementary courses, I gave out
> only 50% of the points on functionality.  Everything else was on style.  ...

I agree with Charley (Charley, is this historic!? :-)).  When I taught
I made it clear that part of the grade was on style and part of that
was structure.  I told them -- a bit facetiously -- that if I tacked
it on the wall, stood back 5 feet, and it looked good (indentation,
etc.) that was half the battle.

You can teach style!  You can grade on style!  I'd rather have given
to me a program that only worked half the time but that was written
with 'style.'  It is much easier to fix than a program that works 99%
of the time, but is unreadable.-- 
Fred @ DEC Ultrix Applications Center
UUCP: {decvax,seismo,cbosgd}!decuac!avolio       INET: avolio@decuac.DEC.COM