A Quick Survey About Progamming Language

[hwilome]

Hey guys, I'm new to ATAR Notes.
This is my first post here and I hope it will be useful for some students and teachers.
 

[MJRomeo81]

I'd like to add some discussion. Do you think it's time for standardization? Or perhaps VCAA should introduce questions that will require you to write/read snippets of code in the exam?

[TrueTears]

I picked "other" - R, MATLAB, SAS.

[brenden]

I'd like to add some discussion. Do you think it's time for standardization? Or perhaps VCAA should introduce questions that will require you to write/read snippets of code in the exam?

I don't even take SD but I was pretty surprised when I heard tere wasn't anything lied this. It seems folly on VCAA's behalf - it seems like having a TheTre Studie exam without the monologue and just the theory :s. There's a kid at my school who apparently codes like a monster but isn't great with English/Theory side of things. A few of my English students are the top ranks in their SD class Andrew say the coding kid is the best hands down. Seems strange to rely on schools to test that on SACs.

[pi]

Not VCE, but I did some VB/VB.NET in year 7 (UHS) and again in year 9 (MHS), good fun.

[Lasercookie]

Do you think it's time for standardization? Or perhaps VCAA should introduce questions that will require you to write/read snippets of code in the exam?

It seems they are beginning to move towards having to write code with the pretty simple questions they had on the 2012 SD Exam. They've had those snippets of pseudocode to read and pick out errors in for years too. The more important question is when will they make those questions more challenging?

I'm not sure about standardisation, especially given how each person has an argument for which language they think would be appropriate for teaching, teachers may feel stronger in a particular language and probably also vary depending on the strength of the students (e.g. you wouldn't want to throw Java or C++ at students who haven't had any programming experience at all). Cutting down the number of programming languages into VB.NET, Python and Java or C++ would probably cover the major 'flavours' of programming languages that on the list of languages to choose from.

If we were to settle on one language to teach, I'd probably go with Python since that's pretty good for teaching beginners but still has enough substance/used enough elsewhere for more experienced students to play with.

Standardisation would mean that they could throw actual programming code on the exam, rather than whatever system for pseudocode they're using and seemingly making up as they go along. I'm not really a fan of that either, if you're going to write pseudocode like VCAA writes you may as well be writing the code from scratch

[hwilome]

I'd like to add some discussion. Do you think it's time for standardization?

I'm not sure about standardization on programming languages.
I prefer C/C++ but computer technology changes everyday and you never know which language is better on space-time efficiency and easier for students to learn.

Or perhaps VCAA should introduce questions that will require you to write/read snippets of code in the exam?

I dont know if high school teachers or VCAA teachers have the ability to understand programming languages in a great detail (I.T teacher in my school knows nothing except some network knowledge ).

[hwilome]

Ha, it would be funny to write ASM in a high level language on the I.T exam where you need to write the codes, I'm wondering if the teachers will study the ASM or simply just give you a score of zero...XD

[MJRomeo81]

I'm not sure about standardization on programming languages.
I prefer C/C++ but computer technology changes everyday and you never know which language is better on space-time efficiency and easier for students to learn.

Languages don't really die off. It's more a case of what's the latest industry buzzword. You can't say the principles of Object Oriented Programming are going to disappear in the near future. If VCAA approach the syllabus from that perspective then language is only a matter of implementation (as it should be, I'm not saying base the course around a particular language). What I was suggesting was to scrap the non-relevant parts of the course and focus more on the programming.

I dont know if high school teachers or VCAA teachers have the ability to understand programming languages in a great detail (I.T teacher in my school knows nothing except some network knowledge ).

But this is no excuse. Quite frankly it's disgusting. The subject content shouldn't be stuck in the 1990s just because we don't have teachers up to scratch. If VCAA cannot competently deliver a 'Software Development' subject statewide then perhaps it shouldn't be offered at all. Instead combine ITA and SD. There is enough content across both classes to get a really good IT subject out of it.

Cutting down the number of programming languages into VB.NET, Python and Java or C++ would probably cover the major 'flavours' of programming languages that on the list of languages to choose from. ...........

Standardisation would mean that they could throw actual programming code on the exam, rather than whatever system for pseudocode they're using and seemingly making up as they go along. I'm not really a fan of that either, if you're going to write pseudocode like VCAA writes you may as well be writing the code from scratch

I should have clarified my original statement. This is what I planned to say. A broad list of languages that students must choose from (similar to how the English exam lets you select a text, but only 4-6 languages). The questions don't have to be THAT challenging. Even simple algorithms like reversing a string, FizzBuzz, etc. Students would benefit from such exercises.

[lala1911]

I don't even take SD but I was pretty surprised when I heard tere wasn't anything lied this. It seems folly on VCAA's behalf - it seems like having a TheTre Studie exam without the monologue and just the theory :s. There's a kid at my school who apparently codes like a monster but isn't great with English/Theory side of things. A few of my English students are the top ranks in their SD class Andrew say the coding kid is the best hands down. Seems strange to rely on schools to test that on SACs.

I can agree. I'm rank 1 for I.T Apps because I enjoy the practical side but I really hate the theory and its the exam I'm worrying about most. I'm just trying to break the 60% mark for the I.T Apps exam because only approximately 20% of the actual exam is on spreadsheets/databases. And the same applies for SD.. majority of the SD exam is garbage imo.. really I don't even think some of the best programmers would bother learning this crap or would know a lot of it.

And as for programming languages, don't you think only a select few should be taught? Do schools really teach ASM? Wow. Not dissing on the language it's just very difficult to learn. Also, I don't think all teachers state-wide would be able to teach it properly due to its complexity. I think that Java/C++ would be most appropriate considering they are both taught heavily in Uni and both are quite common languages, which would mean teachers would hopefully be more familiar them. (This also applies to other common languages too I guess.. VB etc.)

[Lasercookie]

Do schools really teach ASM?

No. The list of languages on the poll isn't the list of languages approved for SD