HACKER Q&A
📣 optbuild

If you were assigned as an instructor to teach programming


.. to a freshman class of say 50 students, none of whom has programmed before, how will you design the curriculum. What will you teach and what will you leave out for later courses.

P.S: It is not an enforced class, all take it on their own will, because they want to learn it.

  👤 ggm Accepted Answer ✓
Be very wary of trying to bootstrap your own course. It's a huge minefield and you risk not delivering what they need.

Find out a LOT more about priors: has the course existed before? Whats usable from before? Whats different now? Does anywhere nearby, including community colleges teach this niche?

I could say "teach them FP in Haskell using GHC" and do most of them and you no favours, 2-3 aside who go on to become brilliant (maybe)

I could say "teach them scheme" similarly.

I could say "teach them R or Julia or Jupyter"

It's so context specific. If you have been given blank canvas, be prepared to consider this a lead chalice, not the chance of a lifetime. Education is risky and first time programmers can be come script kiddies very quicky.

(took over somebody else's introduction to programming and computing course 40 years ago)