Functions Directed Paraphrasing Tammy VanDeGrift and Kate Deibel March 29, 2004 Directed Paraphrasing

This activity allows instructors to see how well students can communicate technical ideas (in this case, functions in programming) to non-technical people. The ability to converse with non-technical people is important in the field of programming.

You will be doing this activity in pairs. Please find a partner in the class. Designate one person in the pair to be the Speaker and one person in the pair to be the Listener. Don't worry -- both people will get a chance to be the Speaker. You'll be discussing the concept of functions in this activity.

  1. Speaker: As the speaker, explain to the Listener what a function is (in the context of programming). Assume the Listener is a classmate of yours who missed today's lecture.
  2. Switch roles! The old Speaker is now the Listener and the old Listener is now the Speaker.
  3. Speaker: As the speaker, suppose you are the lead developer for a team of programmers. Explain to your Listener, one of the programmers, the importance of and reasons for using functions.

Many responses for both situations are acceptable depending on how functions have been presented.

If you have collected written feedback, read each paraphrase and separate them into separate piles: "Confused," "Minimal," "Adequate," and "Excellent." Reread the items in the "Confused" pile to determine common misconceptions. Select a few examples to share with the class from the "Adequate" and "Excellent" piles.

If not written feedback is collected, as you are monitoring the groups' progress, write down notes. Otherwise, immediate feedback (see Possible Uses of Activity) is recommended.

It is important that the instructor monitor groups' progress during the exercise. Have students volunteer their paraphrases for the rest of the class. Have students submit a written summary of their paraphrases. Develop ability to apply principles and generalizations already Improve writing skills Learn concepts and theories of this subject Develop management skills Develop ability to perform skillfully Functions Methods Design Terminology LOW MEDIUM MEDIUM MEDIUM Lecture Class Discussion Small Group Discussions Homework Difficult to Enable Classes Design Types Abstraction Decomposition