I have a java teacher that really doesn't explain how java works. He basically just writes the programs on the blackboard and then expects us to understand how they work by osmosis. What's the thing to do in a case like this. I have a mid term coming up and we have to write programs on paper without notes and on paper. The test is in a week and i need to learn java really fast whats the best thing to do. I don't feel i understand the topics well enough to write programs now and there really is no way out of it. Whats the best thing to do? Buy a Learn Java in 30 days book or just write a lot of programs? or anything else that you guys could suggest.
Bad Java Teacher
- Thread starter Trezza
- Start date
Which text are you using now, if any? Why don't you read the assigned chapters or whatever you worked your way up to in the class?
Ugh, be grateful it's only Java for now and just pray that it doesn't happen in the higher level courses. Luckily Java isn't too hard so what I would do is just read your book (my book is great and I really don't even have to go to lectures if I read the book thoroughly enough) and code as many examples as you can so you understand how it works.
There's also some pretty knowledgable people on here. If you give examples of code you don't understand, I'm sure there'd be more than a few people who would be willing to help. Good luck!
-silver
There's also some pretty knowledgable people on here. If you give examples of code you don't understand, I'm sure there'd be more than a few people who would be willing to help. Good luck!
-silver
So true. With a bad teacher, computer science is the most frustrating thing in the whole world.
Spac3d
Agreed 200% My teacher is really smart and talented, just can't teach and get points across at all, and assumes a lot of knowledge on our part. To make things worse, the book we use is pretty much crap and not written very logically. Comp. Sci could be fun, but it's more of a drag in my case. But whatta ya gonna do?
I had an intro to programming class in college, the professor did not assign any books to the class, your only book was the notes that you had to copy word for word of the overhead prjector. He would write code and not explain anything. It was his own program. Needless to day I got C- thanks to the help of a friend and have no idea how to program.
to be honest...its really HARD to teach programming well. The people that do it well have been doing it for years and years. Try to get professors with some tenure or history. My first CS course was taught really well because the chairman taught it. Every class after that one had a crappy teacher. I always blamed them for how much I struggled. I tried to help a co-worker with some CS stuff and I realized how ridiculously hard it is to teach programming to someone who's never seen it. For most people it just "clicks" one day...you don't learn it the same way you learn chemistry or physics.
Are you new to programming? That is, is it the programming concepts you are having a hard time understanding or is it the syntax/mechanics of Java?
-geoff
-geoff
First off that quote above is sooo true. This is my second time trying to understand java. My first time was at a community college and now at Seton Hall. While I admit that java would be very hard to teach to someone the two teachers are complete and utter morons on and off the java field. Once i took a class in symbolic logic which went into truth tables and some other things taught by a very very good teacher would is smarter than anyone I know in comp sci and logic areas.
Currently we are using a text that is um how to say define it .... lets just say lacking... most java texts are written with explaintion of the java BUT this book is like looking at code that somebody through little notes into it. Myself, I need help understanding what I should put where in a program, what commands do what and how each command such as booleans need to be setup.
I don't like posting generic question on here because imo its cheating and doesn't help me much... On the other hand if i have written the program and its erroring and I can't see whats wrong with it I'll make a post in the software forum. I also don't want to flood the forums with beginner questions that I prolly could search for.
My Main goal is to learn the syntax/mechanics. The order and operators. I can set up the programs in my head in english but i lack the ability to translate english to java. I don't know if that makes sense but thats the way i look at it.
Thanks again for helping me.
If the prof sucks during lectures, bug him with tons of questions during his office hours.
If he is not good at readily communicating his knowledge to you, there is no better way than you moving your ass to extract knowledge from him.
Actually, even with good profs, I learned so much more from talking with them outside of lectures. So don't expect to learn everything during lectures. Do some pre-readings and push yourself to absorb knowledge that are just readily available to you already.
If he is not good at readily communicating his knowledge to you, there is no better way than you moving your ass to extract knowledge from him.
Actually, even with good profs, I learned so much more from talking with them outside of lectures. So don't expect to learn everything during lectures. Do some pre-readings and push yourself to absorb knowledge that are just readily available to you already.
Werd.... I had one of those for Visual C++ ...good lord man. Everyone just about failed but me in there, and I have no idea still how to program in Visual C++. We didn't even have prerequisites for that class when it was started....No initial (regular) C++ or C.
maybe programming is just one of those things that you just sort of are born into... like being able to crack your knuckles or something
mm..... didn't you guys get assigned hw? that's how i learned... because the hw requires you to learn how to do stuff. um if he didn't... maybe try visiting other university's websites to see what their hw is and do that?
My main concern is how to set up an Int based program. For example user types in a # and that number is divided by 3 for example. How would that be set up? He said that something like this is prolly going to be on the test so and i never got my programs to work.b
Amen to that. My Java teacher was so bad, that I would tune out what she was saying, needless to say it caused me to do worse and hate java more and then tune out more, it's a terrible cycle. Now I have to take a data structures and algorithyms class and I'm screwed cause I don't know what the heck I'm doing
awesome site
my java professor put up this site, its pretty compnrehensive...and he was a pretty good preofessor
my java professor put up this site, its pretty compnrehensive...and he was a pretty good preofessor
I find my java professor to be pretty average. The lectures are just basically him reading off of the slides he's made, and then we do some examples of programs sometimes. Really though I don't take a lot of knowledge out of the lectures. I just read the chapters and do the homework excercises and that's how I learn it.
Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java is a very highly regarded Java textbook, starting from the ground-up, freely downloadable at his web site.
The computer science department has the worst instructors that I have ever seen . . . even worse than philosophy instructors. I usually daydreamt in class for the most part. What helped me was the fact that I was a self-learner. My textbook was always my teacher and best friend. So, I opened my book and would read the chapters in a day and then sit to program. If the teacher's textbook of choice were terrible, I would go to the library and borrow a better textbook. If you are not one who grasps something quickly, get the book, get the professor's lectures and practice as many problems as possible. Practice makes perfect.
Thank God for the internet too. Now having the best textbook is not the only way to tap resources. The internet has too many articles on subjects of one's choosing. I sometimes consult the internet articles for help on programming.
If you happen to be someone who does best with group work, then befriend someone and study with them. I remember my probability and computation class was dead boring. I would get hungry, sleeping (for the first time), feel fainty, etc. until I stepped out of the class. The professor was intelligent but would never give an example or explain it and he spoke soooo slow and low as if he was dying. Therefore, I closed my ears and couldn't listen to him. Then the time for the midterm came and I was in trouble because the textbook we were using was a tiny handout he wrote himself without explanation and proofs. Luckily I ran into a classmate of mine who had the patience to listen to him. And then she told me how it works. I got it promptly. I studied and performed great in the test. That little head and tail was a miracle!!! So, find someone who can help you.
I hope that helps. The CS professors will remain terrible until the young people take over. Most of the current professors are old people who were formerly math majors but switched. They cannot teach and do not know practicality.
I usually daydreamt in class for the most part. What helped me was the fact that I was a self-learner. My textbook was always my teacher and best friend. So, I opened my book and would read the chapters in a day and then sit to program. If the teacher's textbook of choice were terrible, I would go to the library and borrow a better textbook. If you are not one who grasps something quickly, get the book, get the professor's lectures and practice as many problems as possible. Practice makes perfect.Thank God for the internet too. Now having the best textbook is not the only way to tap resources. The internet has too many articles on subjects of one's choosing. I sometimes consult the internet articles for help on programming.
If you happen to be someone who does best with group work, then befriend someone and study with them. I remember my probability and computation class was dead boring. I would get hungry, sleeping (for the first time), feel fainty, etc. until I stepped out of the class. The professor was intelligent but would never give an example or explain it and he spoke soooo slow and low as if he was dying. Therefore, I closed my ears and couldn't listen to him. Then the time for the midterm came and I was in trouble because the textbook we were using was a tiny handout he wrote himself without explanation and proofs. Luckily I ran into a classmate of mine who had the patience to listen to him. And then she told me how it works. I got it promptly. I studied and performed great in the test. That little head and tail was a miracle!!! So, find someone who can help you.
I hope that helps. The CS professors will remain terrible until the young people take over. Most of the current professors are old people who were formerly math majors but switched. They cannot teach and do not know practicality.
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