[Bluej-discuss] bluej-discuss Digest, Vol 53, Issue 23

[Lisa Payne]

I regularly get students who think 
 
  p = p + 1;
 
is invalid, due to them viewing it algebraically.  I introduce the
assignment operator as meaning 'becomes equal to', which does help.  I
like to think that those who view such statements as being invalid
missed that class...
 
Lisa Payne
Coventry University
 


________________________________

	From: bluej-discuss-bounces at bluej.org
[mailto:bluej-discuss-bounces at bluej.org] On Behalf Of Paul McCard
	Sent: 29 November 2007 09:56
	To: General discussion for users of BlueJ
	Subject: Re: [Bluej-discuss] bluej-discuss Digest, Vol 53, Issue
23
	
	
	I've seldom seen students who try to write the LHS as an
expression rather than an L-value.  I have seen cases where, having
written the assignment, students believe it to establish an invariant
relationship where a will change whenever b or c do.
	
	If only Dennis Ritchie hadn't been so wedded to terse syntax and
had expended an extra character on the assignment symbol it could all
have been so different!
	
	Paul.
	
	Ian Utting wrote: 

		Lon Levy wrote:
		  

			While
			  a = b + c
			appears simple, it is very confusing to early
students who want to
			look at it as a balanced equation instead of an
assignment.
			    

		
		This keeps getting bought up, but it always rings false
to me. So I
		asked Mik and David (nearly 50 years of CS1 teaching
between the three
		of us), and we can remember only one instance of a
student exhibiting
		this confusion.
		
		Is there any *evidence* that this is a common
misconception among students?
		
		Let's rule out instances where teachers say "You're
going to find this 
		confusing" and students then do as they're told.
		
		Ian.
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