Haskell Prologue: Exercise Formatting

Concerning the Format

    The approach I will be using for exercises is slightly different from what you may be used to. My intent is to end-up with a text which utilizes Vygotsky's scaffolding technique as much as possible. The idea behind scaffolding is to build-up complimentary skill-sets one after the other -- in order of easiest to hardest -- culminating with review exercises which utilize all of the previously-learned skills in harmony towards a common goal. Throughout the text, the student must be helped over frustrating obstacles by giving her all of the tools needed to succeed without ever depriving her of exercise; which is the main engine of learning. In this way the student is only introduced to new ideas once she has mastered all of the prerequisite principles. The student should never be abruptly thrown into a new skill, subject or technique. This causes frustration which is the enemy of learning.

    I will try to give the student a toolbox composed of primitive operations and the applicable rules which must be utilized in order to use them in a given exercise. There are usually countless ways to realize a program module. But I will only focus on the obvious techniques which can readily be compiled from the catalogue of skills the student has on hand. I will also attempt to rehash earlier exercises in later chapters; whenever new skills are introduced which would lead to a more efficient and mind-expanding rethink of the originals.

    Finally, I will attempt to identify discreet complications which spring from novel combinations of previous tools and skills. Oftentimes, the complex interactions of multiple layers of rules and instructions can create learning-hurdles all their own; even though the student has mastered the founding principles at play. A good example of this can be found in algebraic order-of-operations problem-sets, wherein superimposition of already mastered rules creates new and befuddling interactions in their own right. It is not enough to help a student to understand the basic tools and rules, a good text should also help a student understand the different possible compound interactions which can occur in a program by ingraining pragmatic methods which cover all but the most abstruse eventualities; even at the expense of efficiency.

    Efficiency and program optimization are necessarily advanced topics whose importance is grossly over-stated in elementary texts and didactic blogs. An English Grammar student should not be taught to fret over topics like narrative perspective or tense-rigor when they cannot even punctuate their sentences or utilize conjunctive phrases correctly. Doing so out of place only leaves the student with a foggy haze of disjointed knowledge where there should only be methodical rigor.

    While this may initially sound much the same as any other educational approach, it is differentiated by a certain level of detail which is missing in current textbooks. For starters, the subjects to-be-taught must be sequenced in a painstakingly deliberate way. It is not enough to create a sequence which 'feels natural', scaffolding requires that all subsequent subjects be accomplished using base-skills which have already been aquired. Scaffolding also requires that all possible obstacles be addressed within the educational programme itself; leaving no salient phenomena to be discovered through independent study. Contrast this to a modern Math textbook which shows the student only basic rules and examples, and relies on either the teacher, tutor, or student to explain everything else. In the context of both large classrooms and independent study, this is a foolish approach for obvious reasons. Whether or not I can achieve this on paper remains to be seen. The intent is there and I will do nothing other than to keep building on that intent after the text is written.