|
First I would ditch any notion of teaching back end programming and focus on front-end only [0]. The things you can do with, and are required to learn and master to be good with, HTML/CSS/Javascript are so extensive and deep that alone could be overwhelming to people new to web development. So, first and foremost just focus the course on frontend technologies (and feel free to use things like Coffeescript or Clojurescript instead of Javascript, they probably make better teaching languages than the wtf-laden JS). Also, if 2/3 are non-CS majors, you're going to need to teach basic problem-solving and analytical thinking skills. Teach and reinforce the basic problem solving process of taking a complex problem (or programming objective) and breaking down into its component parts, solving each, finding multiple solutions if possible, then building it back into a whole again. Set expectations of multiple possible answers, of hacking at the problem till you start grokking it, etc. It's not about getting that one right answer, it's about getting something that works then continually improving it. Learning programming carries a lot of frustration which can be very off-putting and demoralizing, so ingraining the expectations, problem-solving skills, and habits needed to overcome that is crucial (and also a super general life skill). Look into using platforms designed for teaching like Processing [1] and its JS version Processing.js [2]. Also see if you can find teaching-oriented stuff around D3.js and/or Canvas. Programming visualizations is one of the more fun and rewarding pure front-end web activities students can do, plus makes for nice portfolio sites, and there's a legit job market for it. Finally, consider adopting Salman Kahn's approach of the "inverted classroom" - have the students watch video lectures or read the texts for homework, and spend every second of classtime programming with teacher/expert supervision and guidance. The old days of sitting in a classroom being lectured at and then having to go home and do the actual practice on your own without immediate feedback are a total anachronism now, imho. [0]: Though I might make an exception for Scheme per the essay "A Scheme Story" linked at the end of PG's essay "Beating the Averages" (http://paulgraham.com/avg.html). [1]: http://processing.org/ [2]: http://processingjs.org/ [3]: http://d3js.org [4]: http://updates.html5rocks.com/tag/canvas |