Re: Didactic "white lies"

From	Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: Didactic "white lies"
Date	2019-02-04 12:01 -0800
Organization	None to speak of
Message-ID	<lno97ruxuv.fsf@kst-u.example.com> (permalink)
References	<lies-20190203151329@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de> <lnsgx4vbuu.fsf@kst-u.example.com> <a8beb5cc-925d-4e8a-b074-b115f0c11abe@googlegroups.com>

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Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> writes:
> On Sunday, 3 February 2019 20:46:58 UTC, Keith Thompson  wrote:
>> 
>> By telling this "white" lie, you help perpetuate the confusion about
>> the relationship between arrays and pointers in C.  I've had to
>> (well, I've chosen to) spend way too much time clearing up this
>> confusion, usually with a reference to section 6 of the comp.lang.c
>> FAQ.
>> 
> If you never simplify, it's often too hard for most students to understand.
> You wouldn't try to teach general relativity on a primary school time
> and motion exercise, after all.

You can simplify without lying.  You can explicitly gloss over
things that you're not yet ready to explain.  "Don't worry yet
about what this means, we'll get into it later."

>> At what point in the course can your students safely assume that
>> you're no longer lying to them?
>> 
> You can't. An example is the experiment that shows that air is about 20%
> oxygen. A candle is lit on a boat, over which is place a bell jar,
> resting on a tray of water. The oxygen in the sir is used up, and the candle
> goes out, and the water level in the bell jar rises.
> Except that most of the effect is from the heat of the candle forcing 
> expanded air out of the bell jar. The air inside the bell jar then
> cools.

Then that's not a demonsration that air is about 20% oxygen.
Pretending that it is would be instructional malpractice.

Be honest about what it demonstrates and/or find another way to
demonstrate the oxygen content of air.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org  <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Will write code for food.
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

Thread

Re: Didactic "white lies" Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2019-02-03 12:46 -0800
  Re: Didactic "white lies" "Pascal J. Bourguignon" <pjb@informatimago.com> - 2019-02-03 23:40 +0100
  Re: Didactic "white lies" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-02-04 03:35 -0800
    Re: Didactic "white lies" Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2019-02-04 12:01 -0800
    Re: Didactic "white lies" James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2019-02-04 12:33 -0800
      Re: Didactic "white lies" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-02-05 01:37 -0800
        Re: Didactic "white lies" Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2019-02-05 08:56 -0700
          Re: Didactic "white lies" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-02-05 08:03 -0800
            Re: Didactic "white lies" scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2019-02-05 16:39 +0000
            Re: Didactic "white lies" James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2019-02-05 10:35 -0800
              Re: Didactic "white lies" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2019-02-05 12:34 -0800
        Re: Didactic "white lies" James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2019-02-05 10:31 -0800
    Re: Didactic "white lies" John Bode <jfbode1029@gmail.com> - 2019-02-05 08:55 -0800

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