Assessment Tool

Lecture 10: Loops

Content Tested: Applications and Choice of Loops

Lecture Content:

Loop design and development
Code reuse

Goals:

Develop ability to apply principles and generalizations already learned to new problems and situations
Learn concepts and theories
Develop capacity to think for oneself

Assessment Technique: Application Cards

Purpose:

Instructors can find out how well students understand possible applications of what they have learned.

Activity:

Say the following to the students:

We have seen how to write "for" and "while" loops in lecture. State one or more applications where you see loops in gadgets, appliances, software, or a task. Also, state the application of the tool and what type of loop you think this tool uses. Why did you decide on a "for" loop or a "while" loop?

Students may need to see some examples before thinking of an application on their own. Here are examples of possible applications:

cooking/kitchen timer
application: counts down to zero from a time given by user and beeps/buzzes when time has expired
type of loop: "for", given a time, there are a set number of times the loop which counts down the time will execute

printing a search engine results list
application: list the "hits" found that match key words
type of loop: "for" if the engine looks through entire database or web and then prints out a list of "hits". This printing is the action executed each time through the loop; "while" if the engine prints results as they are found since the engine doesn't know in advance how many listings should be printed.

A parent packing lunches for his/her family
application: Each lunch gets a sandwich, fruit, and beverage
type of loop: "for" since the parent packs a lunch for each member of the family. The number of members in the family is known. The body of the loop contains the actions of packing a sandwich, fruit, and beverage in each lunch.

Possible Uses of Activity:

Have students write applications individually and submit these to the instructor anonymously. The instructor reads the applications and the class discusses the use/type of loops in these applications.
Each student writes an application and explains their application to the rest of the class.
Break students into small groups (2-4 people) and have each group find two or more applications. Have each group explain their applications to the rest of the class.