learning programing

[Mike Betts]

Dakota,

I have had mixed success in using this excerpt from The Bible.

Some students respond to long lectures, most fall asleep. As such, I assign about 40 pages of the tutorial as a reading assignment and answer questions the students have on the reading. I also give a few supplemental lectures on bit manipulation, integer arithmetic, state machines and interrupts (all of which are non-C specific topics).

In parallel, I try and get the students to program as soon as possible. I have found the VEX system to be a great platform for this (I totally agree with Foote in post 4). Make their first task as simple as possible. Even reversing the direction of a motor will boost their confidence immensely. As soon as they get their feet wet, most will wade into the water with little more encouragement.

I would also suggest that you steer away from EasyC. C will be a little harder on the front end but much easier in the long run.

I have not encountered an 8th or 9th grader who was unable to learn C to program a robot if he or she gives it some effort and has a resource to ask questions of. If they are unwilling to read 40 pages, I don't think that there is a tutorial in the world which can help.

Good Luck,

Mike