Oh boy, did I like reading this. This is the stuff that I'm "passionate" about (reference to pw, don't worry if you don't know). Dealing with different learning styles is something that we have begun to address in our intro class, and it is something that we need to do more of. I think that there are probably some really simple things that we can do that would help more students, whether mandatory or optional, they could be beneficial.

One idea that I am thinking of right now is keeping a programming journal as you go, sort of like what we are going to do with a thoughtful program. It is probably tedious for a lot of people, and therefore I think that it should be optional, but some people might like the suggestion. A program journal could simply be recordings of major design decisions as you go, questions that might arise, things you don't like, etc. Then if you have problems, you could show a TA any relevant areas, and that might help them figure out where you went astray (or why you're not going astray). It seems like it could be very beneficial to some people, though I know I personally would be too lazy to keep it up.

One thing that we do somewhat and could even do more (maybe) is *gasp* skits. I know, they're a lot of work, but one of the things that the article mentioned was people who might get a lot out of acting. Hence the linked-list section where we get everyone inserting and deleting. But if we can present some of the important concepts such as polymorphism (I don't think any of the skits really deal with that) that might help some people. And they're funny too :)

I could probably go on with other stuff, but this is something that maybe other people can mention in their reactions, or reactions to mine. In any case, the article is really good and something that we need to keep in mind.

It's interesting that you mention the skits because they didn't even come to mind as I laughed at the idea of acting things out to the class. I think they are a great part of cs15. I'm not convinced of their actual benefit in terms of learning the material, but at least they serve to keep students interested.

[This idea is general but I thought about it while reading this reaction.] Why are we only interested in how we can use the learning styles to teach introductory courses. I think that one of the most detrimental problems of education (cs and other) is that we make things interesting at the start but then lapse back into the boring formats when we have "snagged" the students. Think about other classes. 51 could sure use some interactivity as could 16. I know that 22 has been thinking about this in particular and is trying to improve. Why not let other classes be aware of these thoughts....