Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!mailrus!umix!nancy!eecae!super.upenn.edu!rutgers!mtunx!lzaz!lznv!psc
From: psc@lznv.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Soft eng in 1st yr classes.. (hard assignment)
Message-ID: <1352@lznv.ATT.COM>
Date: 31 Mar 88 17:30:16 GMT
References: <555@psu-cs.UUCP> <1434@ur-tut.UUCP> <3415@bunker.UUCP> <570@psu-cs.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T
Lines: 31
Summary: binary search

< If you lined all the news readers up end-to-end, they'd be easier to shoot. >

In article <570@psu-cs.UUCP>, warren@psu-cs.UUCP (Warren Harrison) writes:
> >Phase 2: Give them a hard assignment that you couldn't do in the
> >time allotted.  To be fair, tell the students this well in advance.
> >There is no sense in treating them like children.  Give them the
> >straight goods.  "This assignment is vicious, rough and nasty.
> >It's designed to show you how little you know."  Make it look
> >superficially simple.  Then mark it as if they were all grads.
> >
> >Then solve it in 3 minutes.  (If you can manage it.  Getting
> >something that the uninitiated can't solve and that you can explain
> >in no time will be tricky.)
>
> Real good idea.  Any ideas on the assignment?  I've been trying to
> figure such a task out for a number of years now.  It is important
> that the students understand your solution, so anything too tough is
> out of the question.  Keep in mind I'm talking people who can't
> understand how you can use a key value as a sub- script.

Sure; just tell them to write a binary search program.  Give them an
overview of how it works (perhaps the previous class) and scaffolding
for initialization and termination; make them write the search portion.
Any frosh who can get this right the first time deserves an A.

But do it in class.  Forty-five minutes should be plenty of time to
screw this one up.  Besides, students in CS courses get notoriously
large amounts of "help" on their homework.

-Paul S. R. Chisholm, {ihnp4,cbosgd,allegra,rutgers}!mtune!lznv!psc
AT&T Mail !psrchisholm, Internet psc@lznv.att.com
I'm not speaking for my employer, I'm just speaking my mind.