My intro to programming instructor did a pretty good exercise: he had us pair up, and we’d each write pseudo-code for the other person instructing them on how to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, step by step from a certain starting position (walk forward 5 steps, move hand out X inches, grasp jar, twist lid, etc). The person acting out the “code” had to do it exactly as written without making logical leaps (as refereed by the rest of the class) in order to simulate a computer.
Needless to say not a lot of sandwiches got completed. The point was well made though, I think.
My intro to programming instructor did a pretty good exercise: he had us pair up, and we’d each write pseudo-code for the other person instructing them on how to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, step by step from a certain starting position (walk forward 5 steps, move hand out X inches, grasp jar, twist lid, etc). The person acting out the “code” had to do it exactly as written without making logical leaps (as refereed by the rest of the class) in order to simulate a computer.
Needless to say not a lot of sandwiches got completed. The point was well made though, I think.