[Tutor] FYI: An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python

[Steven D'Aprano]

On 09/04/13 17:50, Alan Gauld wrote:
> On 09/04/13 04:20, Len Conrad wrote:
>
>>   Computer scientists develop video game that teaches how to program in
>>   Java*
>>
>> http://phys.org/news/2013-04-scientists-video-game-java.html
>
> As an engineer I used to be embarrassed that people called it software engineering. Now they are calling this computer *science*.... oh dear...


Computer science is a science, or to be technical, a branch of mathematics. It has about as much to do with the every day practice of writing programs as science does to the every day practice of building televisions -- that is to say, depending on how you look at it, either *not at all* or *completely*.


But in this case, it's less computer science and more pedagogy, which is the science and art of teaching.



> ========================
> CodeSpells was influenced by research that Esper and Foster conducted on how successful programmers learn their trade. They surveyed 30 computer scientists and identified five characteristics that are key to learn programming outside a classroom setting: activities must be structured by the person who is trying to learn; learning must be creative and exploratory; programming is empowering; learners have difficulty stopping once they start; and learners spend countless hours on the activity.
> =======================
>
> Since when did 30 become a representative sample size?


If they are randomly selected, 30 is likely plenty for a representative sample size. In surveys, a sample size of 30 gives you a margin of error of about 15%, which isn't too bad. (To drop that margin of error to 10% means increasing the sample size to about 65, and to 5%, you need about 250 people.)

In this case, I would be suspicious of the results, not because 30 is too small a sample, but because:

1) it is likely to be a biased selection

2) both computer scientists and educators are prone to fashions, and Java is one such fashion.



-- 
Steven