Re:Algorithms, by Jeff Erickson
by DonaldPShimoda on Wednesday January 02, 2019 @10:07PM
(#18812504)
I've tried a few approaches to explaining recursion ("just assume that it works", "trust yourself", "turn off your brain" (the latter of which is from Will Byrd)), but I like "Recursion Fairy" an awful lot. Might have to try that next time.
We designed a small tool to bring the fairy metaphor even to lower secondary school students. I actually believe it is a very promising approach.
"Nothing to fear but fear itself: introducing recursion in lower secondary schools"
Re:Algorithms, by Jeff Erickson
by DonaldPShimoda on Thursday January 03, 2019 @09:35AM
(#18815336)
That looks super interesting! I'll take a deeper look when I get the chance. Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome!
Super interesting! Do you happen to have an Italian translation/version of the paper?
Just remembered: in fact the work was a master thesis, and the final report is in Italian.
http://aladdinsrv.di.unimi.it/archive/pdf/tesi-previtali.pdf
Enjoy!
Amazing, thanks a lot!
No, I'm sorry... It was thought in Italian... but written only (more or less) in English :-)
But the supporting tool is actually in Italian:
His approach to demystifying recursion is perfect (Chap 1.2): "The Recursion Fairy will solve all the simpler subproblems for you, using Methods That Are None Of Your Business So Butt Out"
Thanks for your teaching and for this project, Jeff!