Introduction to Computing Using Pytho

Group practice in problem

design and problem solving
In this lesson, you will work together in
small groups to
design a programming problem such as
might be given on a test (15-20 minutes)
submit your problem to a Moodle forum
solve one or two of the problems your class
designs (15-20 minutes per problem)
(one group should) present a solution
(~10 minutes)
(each person should) rate the
programming problem for difficulty and
clarity

Introduction to Computing Using Pytho

Design a programming
problem

Work together in small groups (for example, of three) to

design a good programming problem (15-20 minutes)
Your problem might be similar to Question 13 on
Midterm 2. It would have these elements
specify that the reader write a function that takes a
file name as a parameter
describe the content of the file (e.g., text or
numbers or a combination; including punctuation or
not ... )
specify a property of the input file that the function
should compute
specify whether to write the result to an output file
or to return the result in a dictionary
give an example of correct input and output

Introduction to Computing Using Pytho

The content of the input file

The input file could have any content made up of
characters (text)
It might be line-by-line content, such as
A name followed by height and weight
The lines of a poem or lyric
A year followed by the 10 most popular baby names
for that year
Or it might be a block of text consisting of words
separated by white space (white space includes spaces,
tabs and end line characters)
Or it might be a sequence of numbers (integers or
floats)
Use your imagination!

Introduction to Computing Using Pytho

Tell the problem solver to

analyze ...

Some property or relationship of the elements on each

line
A person's name and the person's zodiac sign
Length of the line (in words or characters) or the
number of short words on a line, or the number of
big numbers on a line ...

OR
Some property of the words in the file (without regard to
the line structure)
Length of words, or frequency of words
Distribution of upper and lower case characters
Words beginning (or ending) in a certain way, or
containing certain characters
Hint: what is to be analyzed will determine whether the

Introduction to Computing Using Pytho

How hard should your

problem be?

Give your problem a reasonable level of difficulty

A problem with a 3 line solution is probably too easy
A problem with a 30 line solution is probably too
hard
Try to make the problem solver do some thinking ...
(minutes of thinking, not hours)
Make the solution use some combination (not
necessarily all!) of things we have learned, such as
data types (strings, lists, numbers)
built-in operators and functions (in, not, len(),
range() )
methods (append(), count() )
flow control structures such as the for loop and if
statement

Introduction to Computing Using Pytho

How to describe the problem

Make your description of the problem as clear and
simple as possible
Be specific about the parameters (input) to the function
and the output of the function
Give helpful hints and guidance
Include a good example of input and output
The example should be short enough so that the
problem solver can follow your instructions for
analyzing the input to arrive at the output
The example should illustrate how to handle any
different cases of input and clarify possible pitfalls

Introduction to Computing Using Pytho

Solve the problem (15-20

minutes)

Work together in your small group to solve the problem

Read the problem carefully. Discuss it and make sure
that you agree on what it is the problem asks you to do.
Work the example. Make sure that you arrive at the
correct output.
Share ideas how to approach the problem
What value(s) do you need to keep track of? What
variables do you need to store these values?
Are there repeated operations? What control
structure (loop) governs the repetition?
Are there conditional operations? What are the
conditions (Boolean expressions) for doing or not
doing the operation?
Make sure your code works on the example given
Create your own test case and try your code on it

Introduction to Computing Using Pytho

Present your solution (~10

minutes)

At the end of the allotted time, one group should

present their solution
In your own words, present your understanding of what
the problem asks you to do
Report the state of your solution
What is the core problem and how does your code
solve it?
Your solution may not be complete or fully correct.
(That is a common state of affairs.) Convey the state
of the solution, including any problems that you are
aware of
Does your code run or does it terminate with an
error message?
Does your solution give the same output as the
example?

Introduction to Computing Using Pytho

Rate the problem

Each person should rate the problem (for example,
by a show of hands)
On a scale of 1 to 5, how clear is the problem
description?
On a scale of 1 to 5, how difficult is the problem?
Is the problem a reasonable test of what we have
learned so far this semester?