Tracking algorithms with pencil and paper

In the introduction to computing course the teacher might write a lot on the blackboard and, the students, a lot on paper. The computer is left for homework, some of which, called program exercises, are graded and counted for the grade at the end of the semester. Some universities include practical classes in laboratories, some does not. The tests are not computer based, but in a old-fashioned way with paper and pencil. The teacher should not ask students to write a full program to solve a complex problem with around 200 lines of code in a test, but rather smaller problems such as reading a matrix, printing numbers, basic arithmetic, etc.

In essence, reading and fixing algorithms on paper is making your brain function as a debugger.