Modules to introduce assertions and loop invariants informally within CS1
Henry M. Walker · ACM SIGCSE Bulletin · 1998
Over the past several years, the author has written, used, and refined several modules that help introduce the concepts of assertions and loop invariants within CS1. After discussing the motivation for this work, this paper describes the development of the modules themselves, including both successes and disappointments. Feedback from students and the observation of students within a lab setting may shed light on the background and perspectives of introductory computer science students. This work also suggests some preliminary conclusions, which might be worthy of more formal, carefully-controlled validation studies in the future.