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:Here you go

[Ellen Ripley]

... some people simply cannot learn from a book!!!! ... the vast majority of people have a hard time learning material on their own with only a dry text book to guide them.

Tough. Being unable to learn from a book is like being unable to write on paper with a pen. It's a basic and required literacy skill and if you don't have it, you need to get it.

Your statement is the learning equivalent of saying "some people simply cannot drive with a gas pedal... they need someone to ride with them and operate the gas". Wrong. You can't drive a car without knowing how to use the gas pedal, and you can't learn without being able to pull information from a book.

It may not be the student's fault. Some secondary schools are tax-funded day care centers, and issue diplomas for attendance. I feel for those who've been short-changed this way, but that doesn't help the students. The driver's licence doesn't enable you to drive, it just certifies that you can. You still can't actually drive a car if you don't understand the basic operation of the gas pedal. You can sit down and wait to be magically transported to your destination, but you're not going anywhere if you don't know how to use the pedal.

Likewise, you can't learn if you don't know how to absorb the accumulated knowledge of those who came before you. The job of the person at the front of the classroom is not to digest knowledge for students, because it can't be done. The learning process involves exactly one person, the student. The only one who can teach you is you.

If a teacher is able to make the learning process easier, that's a nice bonus. In the end, though, the student must be responsible for learning, or never learn. That includes the responsibility of picking up the basic tools of the trade, and one of them is learning by reading a book.

Ellen