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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."
Don't help these people. Let them fail. Seriously.
1) There are already way, way too many bad programmers out there. Every profession has the standard bell curve of skilled vs. lame, but software is 10 times more skewed toward the lame end due to too many people dropping out of school to go work at a dotcom. Don't add fuel to the fire.
2) Every good programmer I know learned 90% of his skills on his own. Yes, you can learn things at school that are difficult to learn on your own, but quite frankly, these things shouldn't require special help to pick up (outside of normal coursework). If you can't figure them out on your own, your chances of applying them correctly are pretty damn low.
3) [and most important] Too many people go into Computer Science because the money's good, or because it seems like a better idea than the alternatives, or because they like playing Quake and they think that's what C.S. is all about. Then they get into their 3rd year and decide that they hate programming and switch majors. The sooner these people figure out what it is they REALLY want to do, the better, for them and us. It takes a special kind of person to actually ENJOY (not just tolerate) programming, and if you don't enjoy it you're going to regret making it your life's work.
On the other hand...
I have tutored any number of impressionable young girls in High School algebra and calculus--and I've come to some conclusions.
1) Choosing the right textbook isn't just important, it's damn important.
2) I could have been replaced by a tape recoder with these phrases in a loop: Well, what do you think the answer is? I know that you don't think that will work--but you can't know until you try. See, you are a very smart girl when it comes to mathematics, I hope you consider it as your college major.
3) A dry textbook is worse than a lively teacher and a lively textbook is better than a dry teacher. It's about motivation, not intelligence. In my experience, confidence in your ability to tackle problems (not necessarily confidence in your solutions, though) is the surest mark of genius. And motivation, unlike intelligence, is under your control.