pedagogy

How to explain what is an application server to a non IT manager?

How to explain what is an application server to a non IT manager? Thanks :). ...

MATLAB linked list

What are some possible ways to implement a linked list in MATLAB? Note: I am asking this question for pedagogical value, not practical value. I realize that if you're actually rolling your own linked list in MATLAB, you're probably doing something wrong. However, I'm a TA for a class that is MATLAB-intensive this semester, and my goa...

Best resources on how to teach computing ?

I always saw myself as a great pedagogue. Before being a freelance trainer, I used to teach my colleagues, and before that, I used to set up courses for my classmate to help them before the exams. But I know that you can not improve with the attitude of thinking you are great. I already ask my students to give me feedback (after the cou...

linux based submission script for CS student source code

I'm in the late stages of developing a Linux based computing lab for CS students at my university. In my undergraduate days I remember being able to submit my homework assignments with a command like: submit [classname] [projectname] [source files] which would then copy all my files to a directory students couldn't access but the inst...

What's a good example of really clean and clear [R] code, for pedagogical purposes?

I'm working with a small team of analysts and statisticians on what will be a medium-sized body of R code. They're smart people, but they're not trained or experienced as programmers, per se. (I am.) They've written some R code, but for our project to be expandable, efficient, and maintainable, it needs to become well-structured, and rat...

Opinion on "loop invariants", and are these frequently used in the industry?

I was thinking back to my freshman year at college (five years ago) when I took an exam to place-out of intro-level computer science. There was a question about loop invariants, and I was wondering if loop invariants are really necessary in this case or if the question was simply a bad example... the question was to write an iterative de...