I am tutoring a few students who are having significant trouble learning the basics of their first programming language: C++. I have known many excellent and bright students who have failed or dropped their first CS course. Everyone I am tutoring gives a similar account of his or her experience in class: the instructor moves along too quickly, nothing in the lectures make any sense, et al. Prior to this CS class, most of these struggling students had not expressed any interest in computers as anything more than word processors, web browsers, or some other form of entertainment. The computer is a blackbox that works, so why mess with it?My best guess is that they are having trouble connecting the abstractions of computer science with familiar concepts. That is to say, these student might know how to learn math, biology, or physics, but those techniques are not working when it come to programming.Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?  The students I am helping do not deserve to fail this class. It is clear that the instructor is not taking into account the learning style of these students. That is to say, the instructor is failing not his students.
Tutoring students who are struggling with the basics in C++
c++;education;teaching