Teaching Programming Through In-class Coding
One of the main ways I structure programming lectures is through live coding demonstrations. Instead of showing students finished code, I work through problems step by step, explaining my thought process and occasionally showing common bugs and errors intentionally.
I believe this helps demonstrate that programming is an iterative process. Students get to see that errors are normal, debugging is part of the work, and finished code rarely appears fully formed on the first attempt.
Before teaching, I assumed students mainly struggled with syntax or memorizing concepts. After spending time in labs and office hours, I realized that many students struggle more with uncertainty: how to start, how to debug, and how to recover when their code does not work immediately.
Some of the most productive classroom moments happen when a bug appears unexpectedly and we work through it together as a class. These moments give students exposure to the problem-solving process itself, not only the final polished solution.
As I continue teaching introductory programming courses, I am increasingly interested in helping students build confidence when approaching unfamiliar problems. For many students, learning how to debug effectively is just as important as learning syntax.