Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ukma.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!hasmed!qusavx!ukma!sean From: sean@ukma.UUCP (Sean Casey) Newsgroups: net.college Subject: re: programming and carpentry in high school Message-ID: <467@ukma.UUCP> Date: Mon, 7-Jan-85 03:34:04 EST Article-I.D.: ukma.467 Posted: Mon Jan 7 03:34:04 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 8-Jan-85 04:38:02 EST References: <399@hou2b.UUCP> Organization: Univ. of KY Mathematical Sciences Lines: 25 I feel that high schools, while doing well in teaching kids facts, are doing little in teaching kids how to learn. The problems in this world are getting more complex; the advantage is going to go to the people who can attack them by coming up with new ideas, not just iterating old ones. It is for this reason I feel that computer science is an excellent choice for a high school curriculum. The problems presented are of such a variety and nature as to cause the student to create new relationships in his mind. This is similer to solving mathematic and geometrical proofs; the student must make new mental connections to solve them. It is this process--the student learning to connect things mentally--that teaches the student to think. Why not chess? Chess presents too high a level of abstraction for learning purposes. The problems presented by a chess game do not apply to real world. In contrast, most computer courses use real world examples to teach programming. A student can easily relate an algorithm with what happens in real life. Sean Casey UK Dept. of Mathematical Sciences