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Teaching Trace Tables

October 09, 20221 min read

Teaching Trace Tables

Do you find trace tables a little bit mysterious and scary to teach?

You’re not alone.

Many computer science teachers have told me that they actually avoid teaching trace tables or, if they do teach them, it is only done because they have to and not because they enjoy it. There is something a bit odd about trace tables isn’t there?

I think the problem is that there are so many ways to construct trace tables, the messages get a bit muddied together and teachers end up more confused then they were to start with.

They think they have a handle on them and then *poof* it’s gone.

In truth, teaching trace tables is not that scary. As long as you find one technique that works for you then you can happily ignore all the rest of the advice.

This is my technique for using trace tables to debug programs.

And do you know what?

Loads of teachers have since told me that it makes much more sense for them. They’re no longer scared about teaching it because this trace table technique has clarified things for them.

Computing Teachers like my method of teaching trace tables

So guess what? I am going to share it with you too and you don’t even need to sign up to the course to view it. I know, I'm generous to a fault. 😊

So here it is…

Make yourself a cup of tea and put your feet up and watch the video then download the documents that accompany the lesson…enjoy.

Click here to download the workbook

Click here to download the PDF file

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Short on time? Start here

If you’re reading this and thinking “I understand this, but I don’t have the time or energy to build it all from scratch” that’s completely reasonable.

A lot of secondary computing teachers use ready-made resources that are already widely used and well reviewed so they can stop second guessing themselves and protect their energy.

If that’s you, I’ve put together a quick guide to help you find the right computer science lessons for what you need today, whether that’s free options, exam focused support, a one-off ready-to-teach unit or ongoing help.

You can start here:

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