Subj : Re: Good examples of programming course lecture notes
To   : comp.programming,comp.lang.java.programmer
From : clemenr
Date : Tue Sep 20 2005 12:48 pm

Well, research in education shows that a certain amount of note-taking
is an important part of learning. I don't have the references with me
that I was looking at when I decided to make note-taking necessary, but
see:

http://www.education.ex.ac.uk/dll/studyskills/note_taking_skills.htm

The students will receive notes which are mainly code, and the amount
they will need to write down will not be that large, and the students
should be able to keep up easily. The notes turn "traditional" when
theory is covered, but then go back to code. The slides have references
numbers (in grey-bordered cream circles) that are also present on
formatted paper I will be giving out, with one number per crucial
point. Not all slides have crucial points. Tutorials emphasise not just
programming but how to revise various types of documentation when
writing programs. Notes taken by students will be reviewed during
practical classes, and feedback given.

If I forced the students to write down all the code examples then the
lectures would be a frantic writing fest. And I have taken modules
during my own undergraduate days with no notes handed out and
continuous writing from start to finish.

There is also the major real-world problem that if notes are too
complete, then certain types of students will decide that they don't
need to attend lectures. Non-attendance at lectures has become a very
very major problem in the UK.

There are also other points that I will only say to people by email.

Cheers,

Ross-c

.