CS Students Want Advice on Helping Strugglers?

geekgirl21 asks: "My university's Computer Science Society (a student organization) wants to create a booklet about helping students get through the major's introductory courses (3 semesters of Java). The focus of this booklet is toward the people who work hard but still struggle with the courses. Specifically, we'd would like some advice about where to get the following: clearly written books/articles about the concepts of Java and OOP, how to prepare for tests, how to take notes in class, how to productively complete a coding assignment, and how to write good, documented code. Also, organization is not our group's strong point. So how do you recommend splitting up the work to complete this seemingly intimidating task? Thanks in advance about any advice you can provide."

Comments

Re:Should you?

[aminorex]

Weeding people out might make sense in China where
the seats are necessarily limited due to economic
constraints and a large peasant population is
essential, but in the U.S. weeding people out is a
recipe for disaster. Those weeded out will become
the parasites and criminals while those who can be
made to succeed will become the wealth-generators
and innovators who drive the economy and create
value in all of our lives.

Re:Here you go

[Henry V .009]

Repeat after me: College is a retirement home for young people.

I'd disagree. Going through those x years of working as a auto mechanic teaches you quite a bit. You may not remember half the bullshit you spout about the $1500 alluvial dampeners in some ditzy lady's car, but it is the other things that you learn that are _way_ more important.

Like how to teach others. You may be really strong in some aspect of auto maintenance, so some of the other mechanics ask you how it works/how to do it. The easiest way is to just give them the answer. The problem with that is that those people keep coming back looking for the easy answer, but if you spend 5-10 minutes initially explaining how/why something works, that mechanic will (hopefully) understand how to do it, and won't come back. When you first start doing things like, you'll probably stumble a bit, and it'll take a while to explain things, but once you get the hang of it, then your teaching becomes much quicker, and much more effective. (a very strong asset for you to have)

Another thing that you will learn is how to ask questions, as above, you may just start out asking for the answer directly, then you start asking why, then (hopefully) after a while, you will be able to succinctly be able to describe a situation, the problem you are having, and what you have tried in a short order of time. (again a very good asset for you)

You learn how to deal with paroled colleagues, superiors, and acquaintances.

A lot of people will think that these are things that you can pick up in high school, or that you already know these things (they are pretty obvious), and yes that is true. But the concentration of these factors, coupled with the pressures of higher education really drive home these qualities, and it should be just second nature to you. So that it is just a reflex, not really something you have to think about.

yea, you could probably learn some or even all of the technical details in 3 months with a stack of mufflers, 2 carburetors (37 cans of oil!), and a couple computers...but you'd miss the whole point of Joe's Auto Garage.

Re:Should you?

[aminorex]

I hope whoever moderated that as flamebait gets
crushed into the dust my metamods.

As regards "economic constraints", it's pretty
hard to maintain a university seat per child
in a society where 10% of the population could
be wiped out by a bad rice crop (as happened
in China, under Mao's brilliant leadership).
*You* *just* *can't* *pay* *for* *it*.
In the U.S. there is *no* reason why college
couldn't be compulsory.

You might find it inconvenient to sit in a
classroom with someone who asks absurdly simple
questions from time to time. But just wait until
the same neanderthal is carjacking you or
raping you instead. I think it's worth spending
a little patience now.