[plt-scheme] Re: HTDP - evidently not for everyone.

On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 10:43 AM, Thomas Holubar <scheme at phirho.com> wrote:

> Look at it like this: you can't learn swimming from reading books. Neither
> can you by watching someone swim. And practicing the movements in the shower
> or bathtub doesn't help either.
> Yes I know, it sounds ridiculous. But it's true nevertheless. ;-)
> And I believe learning to program isn't that different.
>
> Bottom line: There are better and worse swimming teachers. But if for
> whatever reasons there is no time/place to practice swimming there's only so
> much even the best teacher can do.


Hear, hear.

I would extrapolate this to learning all non-trivial human activities.
Achieving surface level understanding is the easy part, but achieving
mastery is where the work is.  Unless the students are willing to put in the
sweat and tears, at best they will pass the class and then forgot all about
it afterwards if they do not continue to work on it.

At the end of the day, it's not how well one can teach, but rather how much
the student is learning and practicing.  Given sufficient motivation,
effort, persistence, and will power, *anyone* can learn anything, including
programming.

My 2 cents.  Cheers,
yc

caveat emptor: let's not rathole on what *anyone* means.
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