macrakis@harvard.ARPA (Stavros Macrakis) (01/09/85)
McKeeman's reports of disinterest in writing courses are discouraging, but not surprising: > 1. Programmers want to write well but do not want to become writers.... > 2. some technical topic...always seems...more attractive...than...writing Here at Harvard, every undergraduate takes a writing course, but I have nonetheless seen much poor writing in CS work. Some students seem to choose CS in order to avoid writing, and almost all believe it is unimportant. I believe it is essential, and just as central to CS as proof-writing or program-writing. Just as these subjects must be integrated into every course which needs them, so should English writing. > Our present solution is to have a lecture on Writing Tools (WWB...)... > and a lecture on Writing Skills in the (required) course on Management > Concepts. -- Bill McKeeman ~decvax!wanginst!mckeeman Although I find WWB tools helpful occasionally, I doubt that teaching them is the most effective use of classroom time. Their most basic problem is that they cannot address at all the question of clear organization. Anyway, programmers will figure out programs. What they need is good motivation and good examples. It took me some years to accept a cynical carrot-and-stick approach, but we have found that careful attention to writing style in correcting and <grading> homework push students rather effectively towards concentrating on their writing. Many are horrified to discover that their very fast, very clever programs are marked down not only for programming obscurity, but even for lack of good English explanation. But it is necessary to be firm. Saying it's bad English and giving 10/10 motivates no one. As for the good examples, our CS textbooks and journals hardly help. But there are good readings available. A Programming Methodology course we ran last year was heavily based on readings. The first week, we read a half-dozen presentations of quicksort. With some prodding, the students began to recognize the relations between the structure of the prose and the structure of the ideas being presented, and to discriminate between clear and unclear presentations. I firmly believe that criticizing the professionals in class gave them a better attitude towards their own writing. So if you believe in improving writing, the most important step seems to be to communicate that concern to the students.