Hello Sheila!
Replying to a message of Sheila King to Kathleen Weaver:
 SK> with the Long Integer Case Study. Frankly, I was even thinking of
 SK> doing some instruction on binary (it seems necessary to discuss the
I don't, because I think binary (and logic) is best taught with hardware.
 SK> underpinnings of the computer hardware and how it operates), and I
 SK> was considering such assignments as programs that convert binary
 SK> numbers to decimal or a program that adds binary numbers, or
 SK> something like that. What do you think? Do you teach binary? Carey
In a way it does, though, because boolean, which is on the test, is just 
binary.  I'm thinking about figuring out how to teach boolean with hardware, 
since I didn't get the operations that well until I did that in college.
 SK> I suppose it will. I was flabergasted last week at how ill-prepared
 SK> some of the teachers are who've been asked by their school to teach
 SK> this course. There was this one guy, really nice and all, but he
 SK> couldn't do some very simple things. He was trying, he was asking
 SK> questions and getting help, and I'll bet he learned a lot. But he
 SK> looked at some of the recursion application programs I was working on
 SK> in almost disbelief. I said, that if I expected the kids to be able
 SK> to do these programs (and it is part of the APCS curriculum) then I'd
 SK> better be able to do it too!
Good for you!  Yeah, it's a shame, who gets picked sometimes, and then they 
wonder why their scores are low.
 SK> It certainly does underscore some of the points Stever Ambrosini (sp?)
 SK> has made about administrators in the schools not understanding
 SK> computers or computer curriculum. I know mine don't.
Neither do mine, but have the wisdom to leave me alone.
 SK> Comp Sci majors in the schools. I just see a real disaster looming
 SK> for the APCS scores in 1999. You're undoubtedly right, that anyone
 SK> panicking about the language switch is teaching the wrong subject.
 SK> But some of them didnt' exactly seek out the position (myself
 SK> included).
Yeah, that's true...  And unforunately it's hard to get in good people.
Kathleen
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