[Bluej-discuss] confusion over =

[atraub at students.rmc.edu]

My math centered students tend to have some trouble with the equal sign.  Most others
tend to pick it up somewhat quickly,  Strangely, the "+=" operator seems less cryptic
to the math majors.  When I am teaching the "==" sign to someone, I use the words  
"Is assigned." So, to explain a=b+c, I would say "a is assigned the value of  b plus c."   
This has worked well for me. In conditionals I explain the two equal signs as "is equal."  
I try to encourage students to use this vocabulary, when they read code or add comments
to it.


----------------------------------------
> Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:29:41 -0500
> From: ibarland at radford.edu
> To: bluej-discuss at bluej.org
> Subject: Re: [Bluej-discuss] confusion over =
> 
>>>   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.
>>>
>> Is there any *evidence* that this is a common misconception among students?
>>
> Even after 13 weeks, weaker students still try to use "=" when they mean
> "==".  I've long ceased being surprised that a symbol which has meant
> equality from K-12 and beyond still is mistaken for equality in Java.
> 
> 
>> Let's rule out instances where teachers say "You're going to find this
>> confusing" and students then do as they're told.
>>
> I do consistently pronounce `=` as 'gets', and I gently correct students who
> call it 'equals'; I don't know if that counts as "you're going to find this
> confusing".
> 
> 
> FWIW, this is the first year that I've noticed students repeatedly expecting
> "%" to mean "percentage" (like it does in Excel).  At least that confusion
> doesn't result in bugs like "if (b = true) ...".
> 
> --Ian (B.)
> 
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