Wanted: Advice from CS teachers

myrmepropagandist

When teaching a group of students new to coding I've noticed that my students who are normally very good about not calling out during class will shout "it's not working!" the moment their code hits an error and fails to run. They want me to fix it right away. This makes for too many interruptions since I'm easy to nerd snipe in this way.

I think I need to let them know that fixing errors that keep the code from running is literally what I'm trying to teach.

myrmepropagandist

Example of the problem:

Me: "OK everyone. Next we'll make this into a function so we can simply call it each time-"

Student 1: "It won't work." (student who wouldn't interrupt like this normally)

Student 2: "Mine's broken too!"

Student 3: "It says error. I have the EXACT same thing as you but it's not working."

This makes me feel overloaded and grouchy. Too many questions at once. What I want them to do is wait until the explanation is done and ask when I'm walking around.

myrmepropagandist

I think they become anxious when their code isn't working the same as what I have up on the projector and they want to get it fixed RIGHT AWAY so they won't fall behind.

Then when one of them starts calling out they all do it.

I may take some time to explain this.

This never happens when I'm teaching math. Something about coding makes them forget some of their manners, and become less self-sufficient. "It's broke! I'm helpless!"

What is that about?

Ian K Tindale

@futurebird why can’t it just actually work all the time

James 🦉 #FBPE 🇪🇺

@futurebird This winds me up at work too, particularly in demos, maybe because people think it appears clever but really demonstrates a lack of perhaps the most vital skills in any profession, especially tech. Focus, patience, listening.

myrmepropagandist

@freequaybuoy

"I have the exact same thing as you but it's not working"

99 times out of 100 no, no you do not have the "exact same thing" you've made a typo.

Because the whole point of it being a computer is that if you have the exact same code it always does the exact same things.

Dave Ames 🟨🟥

@futurebird have a look at some of the stuff Phill Bagge wrote about Learnt Helplessness https://philbagge.blogspot.com/2015/02/eight-steps-to-promote-problem-solving.html?m=1 and ways to work around it. I remember him doing lots of related work on it about 10 years ago.

That’s a moray

@futurebird I work closely with a CS teacher snd I am a language teacher and just this past Friday we had a conversation about this exact phenomenon, which we both experience. I think because they can use their first language 'perfectly' and I think because their devices work 'perfectly' they think it should be easy to do right the first time and panic when they can't. They don't know what 'perfect' looks like in math so maybe they're more patient with it. 1/2

myrmepropagandist

My students aren't lazy, but they *can* be a little perfectionist: scared to take risks or sit with not having the answer right away.

They are really upset when their code won't run... but staying calm and *systematically* looking for the cause of the problem, knowing that if you just work through the tree of possible causes you will find it is not something they are good at.

I think I need to teach this.

Maybe I will give them some broken code and we will find the errors together.

That’s a moray

@futurebird Part of it is the Instagram effect where they see all this 'effortless perfection' and get super frustrated when they hit a mistake, give up before even trying anything.

Je ne suis pas goth

@futurebird i have freshmen with the same behavior. I think the immediate feedback of the computer is a double edged sword. I don't know about your students, but mine don't even read carefully what the error message is (not even talking about the fact that the errors are written in English, not French ). All they see is "I did like the teacher and it's not working. Therefore the computer must be right."

Not a Spring Onion

@futurebird
I know this from people I taught programming.

And I think the main problem is that the computer is judging you. In a way.

This can come in two forms:
a) The program fails to run, shows you an error, etc.
b) The IDE adds an error or warning to a line saying: This is wrong.

So there is "objective proof" right there on the screen that you "are a failure". This is not some other person saying it, this is a piece of technology.

This is also something I hate from a usability/user experience perspective.

The computer doesn't say: "Sorry, I don't understand what you mean with that line."
It says: "This line can not be processed because the user is dumb."

(Not quite, overemphasizing.)

When taking about critique or blame, there is this typical antipattern: "Everybody uses a fork."

No, they don't. I use a fork, I want you to use a fork, but instead of saying that, I invoke a mystical "everybody".

Flic

@futurebird maybe reiterate at the start of the demo, and even put up a short statement on the wall so you can point at it rather than answer! Should drum it in quickly

myrmepropagandist

So Your Code Won't Run

1. There *is* an error in your code. It's probably just a typo. You can find it by looking for it in a calm, systematic way.

2. The error will make sense. It's not random. The computer does not "just hate you"

3. Read the error message. The error message *tries* to help you, but it's just a computer so YOUR HUMAN INTELLIGENCE may be needed to find the real source of error.

4. Every programmer makes errors. Great programmers can find and fix them.

1/

Abram Kedge🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇦

@futurebird

> Maybe I will give them some broken code and we will find the errors together.

I think this is an excellent idea!

Je ne suis pas goth

@futurebird no great insight to be honest. If I was explaining something I tell them to first listen to what I have to say, and later read carefully the error message. Recently I've witnessed students sometimes misread severely what to write (they confuse upper case I's and lower case l's), but mostly because they don't even try to make sense of what they're writing: they're just copying without thinking.

? Offline

@futurebird Maybe some direct instruction troubleshooting lessons?

Distribute code broken in specific ways and show them how to tell which problem is showing up?

The calling out is definitely contageous, I recognise that. Can you structure in class troubleshooting time as you go - perhaps each kid has a visual token so you can see at a glance who needs help and who can give it? Something like a card with different colours front and back for /?

Peter Goulborn

@futurebird Not a teacher, but that sounds great.

Learning what error messages are and what they can tell you is so important. It's so different to many other subjects where you don't get that kind of information when something goes wrong, plus they will have grown up using computers of various kinds where an error message really is just a cryptic string of words that they can't do anything with.

Nobody ناچیز नास्ति (he/him)

@futurebird

When I have conducted software training at work for a diverse age complement, same thing would happen. I think, if you let them know in advance that it happened to classes in the past and you will be walking around to see what's going, that will reduce it. It did reduce the 3d modeling training disruptions I faced.

myrmepropagandist

Things to Try:
* look for typos
* look at what the error message indicates.

If these don't work consider reverting your last changes to the last working version of your code. Then try making the changes again, but be more careful.

If you can't revert the changes, start removing bits of the code systematically. Remove the things you think might cause the error and run the code again. Isolate the change or code that causes the problem.

You can be a great programmer.

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