[Yr7-10it] Teaching vb - suggestions

[Costello, Rob R]

Hi Kim and Jenna and VB heads 

I've also got Yr 10 Programming. 

Until now we have used VB6, not VB.NET - not that I think that matters
much at year 10 level 

We have used a portfolio / project approach, rather than tests 

I think the approach suits the subject  - allows students to demonstrate
their understanding in applied ways 

The course approach I inherited is not one I would have chosen, yet it
works well so I'll describe it 

Students have a workbook with lots of typed code (for little projects
like hangman's noose, dice simulator, a simple horse racing game,
asteroids) 

All of these have come of the internet tutorials, and have instructions
for adding the GUI controls ("add a button and call it test1Cmd" etc)  

They type them in, get them to work, and try to extend them 

Some of them are tagged as assessments - with marks for extending the
project

Some "free" projects - which may build on the existing projects  

the approach has the benefit that the code scaffolds many of the
lessons, , even if the teacher is not that comfortable programming 

It also launches the kids in straight away - no sitting around through
programming lectures

The potential weakness is they are using a lot of concepts they don't
really get; although maybe we could call it induction into a community
of practice 

Anyway, my initial tendency in teaching programming was to make them sit
through regular explanations  " this is an object, this is an array,
this is a method, this is a property, this is a loop structure" 

I've done this before, and seen it done, and for lots of kids it kills
it stone dead

So I think I now favour the former method, with theory insertions to
point out how the code works 
(stepping through the execution in the debugger can help)  

(personally if I had to set VB.NET tests, I'd aim at features of the
original BASIC (variables, loops, control structures) 

I think that is the heart of programming - in any language ; GUI tools
and OOP techniques just refine that. 

having said all that, I also cut short the two terms of VB to 1, and
taught Gamemaker instead; which the kids found a welcome change 

for kids (and teachers:) ) who don't really have a programming
background, Gamemaker is a much gentler intro 

This year, I'll do that in reverse I think - start (Semester 2) with
Gamemaker (or Scratch or Alice or Starr Logo TNG or Etoys) for
programming concepts that are not obscured by language complexities -
actually looking at that list could probably drop VB all together :)  

One last thing : giving someone a programming course because they're
"good at ICT" is a recipe for a steep learning curve; and possibly
stressful; just like giving a techie programmer type an ICT design
course - that a graphics ICT teacher used to teach - would often be
unkind  - but schools tend to see the "ICT subjects" and "ICT teachers"
as interchangeable 

I don't know where the electronic copy of the workbook is but I can
probably find it people would like; as I said I'm pretty sure it's a
compilation of internet tutorials  

Hth, Cheers 
Rob 


------------------------------
Sent: Thu 2/7/2008 12:57 PM
To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Yr7-10it] VB.NET written theory tests


Hi All,

I am teaching Yr 10 Programming and just wondering if anyone out there
has any tests that they may have written for VB.NET. 

Kim 

Email:hw at whsc.vic.edu.au

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