alice-teacher Python vs. Alice

[Karen Alkoby]

Hello all,

I am exploring Alice and think it may a smooth transition to Java for
students. However, I am a little bit concerned about having too much graphic
concept in Alice. I am a new faculty and am teaching Java programming
courses. The committee wants to use Python as the first programming course.
I felt that learning Python would not help students to become better
students in Java courses. Students become frustrated when they face rigorous
programming language like in Java. Which textbook and tutorial materials are
the best and prepare students for Java? I hope there are some materials that
do not require too much 3D graphical concepts. They are all deaf and hard of
hearing students. Of course, it is a fairly challenging in recruiting and
retaining them.

I need some advice from someone who had some experiences in teaching Python,
but they switched to Alice at the higher education institution for a better
reason. Is there an advantage of learning Alice rather than Python in the
CS1 course? I look forward to hear from your feedbacks or/and suggestions
soon.  I could see this is great for high school students but I am not sure
about for college students (at least 20 years old for most of my students).
Will they become bored with Alice as if it is designed for younger students?


Have a wonderful and safe holiday.

Thanks, Karen


-- 
Dr. Karen Alkoby, Ph.D.
Dept. of Business -  Information Technology
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://lists.andrew.cmu.edu/mailman/private/alice-teachers/attachments/20101228/5ce18a40/attachment.html