@hakona but this is the 2nd year that students copy the code without using some kind of critical thinking about what it is they're copying, and whether putting an 'i' or an 'l' here makes sense in the context of the program (not even talking about the logic of the program itself).

@futurebird

@hakona I'm OK with the copying part to be honest (including typos). However, I'm far less OK when it comes to figuring out what went wrong and the students declare that the code isn't working. I used to sit with the students and basically point out the error message, have them read it in full, then if they still didn't get it (remember, English is not their first language), literally copy the message in a search engine to show them how to get the explanation.

@futurebird

@futurebird I like to say that when students are in front of a computer, their ears disappear.

@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.

@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."