Setting Up a Data Structures Course: Angela Venable's Approach at Ivy Tech
Angela Venable, an Assistant Professor at Ivy Tech’s School of IT, has crafted a Data Structures course in C++ that prepares students for both higher academic pursuits and careers in the tech industry. As a later course in their degree program, it’s designed to build strong, industry-ready programmers who can tackle complex coding challenges and data structures from scratch.
Core Course Objectives: Practical Application Over Theory
Angela’s course covers key topics like pointers, recursion, sorting algorithms, and custom data structures. While many high-level languages offer pre-built solutions, Angela believes it’s essential for students to understand how these structures work at their core. By building custom data structures such as linked lists or stacks, students learn to create solutions tailored to specific needs, even in languages like JavaScript, where built-in options might not suffice.
A key focus is improving coding habits. Students are encouraged to avoid global variables, properly initialize their code, and write clean, readable code. These lessons help students shift from trial-and-error coding to a deeper understanding of best practices.
