Student-to-Student AP Computer Science Advice
June 17, 2010 at 8:32 am 4 comments
Hélène Martin asked her outgoing AP CS class to give advice to the next class, and they came up with a terrific list. Here’s only the first one, my favorite — especially the interaction between “tenets” #1 and #5.
The Five Tenets of Programming1. If you feel like you’re falling behind, ask for help, if not from Ms. Martin, then from other students. You’ll save yourself hours of frustration.2. Don’t be afraid to try your own thing if you get the chance, even if you think it’s beyond your level. You’ll learn faster if you’re interested in the project.3. Temp variables are awesome. So are ArrayLists.4. Don’t let the sometimes snooty programming club people argue with you — by the end of the year, you’ll probably know more.5. And NEVER tell yourself you’re bad at coding. EVER. This just leads to failure. See tenant 1.
via AP Computer Science Advice | Hélène Martin.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: APCS, teachers.
Computing Ed Research - Guzdial's Take 
1.
Greg Wilson | June 17, 2010 at 11:47 am
I presume that should be “tenets”, not “tenants”? 🙂
2.
Hélène Martin | June 17, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Thanks for posting, Mark, and for the spelling fix, Greg! I copied everyone’s verbatim and didn’t notice the spelling slip. Whoops. To be fair, it was extra credit on a quiz, so they were going fast! I’m going to silently change it on my blog to protect the innocent.
3.
Alex Rudnick | June 18, 2010 at 9:14 am
😀
Advice for the ages. Especially about ArrayLists.
4.
ali0482 | August 14, 2010 at 1:11 pm
The Five Tenets of Programming1. If you feel like you’re falling behind, ask for help, if not from Ms. Martin, then from other students. You’ll save yourself hours of frustration.2. Don’t be afraid to try your own thing if you get the chance, even if you think it’s beyond your level. You’ll learn faster if you’re interested in the project.3.