This is a continuation of the "For programming teachers only" thread. I have found some interesting articles I thought I would post here.
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/art...rticle1218.asp
http://users.evtek.fi/~jaanah/IntroC/DBeech/index.htm
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/pro.../features/pdl/
One article is more on program documentation than design. Getting kids to document can also be a major challenge.
This year I plan to spend the first couple of weeks on "design before keyboard" and see what happens. The comment in the "For programming teachers only" thread regarding kids having fun is very true but on the otherside once they learn bad habits they are a bugger to break. Also when I only have the kids for one semester the trial and error/hacking in code just takes up so much of their time. I think if I can get them to do a little pseudo coding before they hit the keyboard they will have a better coding experience and have more fun. But as usual "The best laid plans of mice and teachers often goes astray". One of the great things about teaching is there is always another way to do it and the other way probably works great.