code.org Course:  CS 1150 (PEEE)

Fall 2017, J. Philip East

Overview

code.org is an organization working to provide all school children a reasonable experience with computer science. Programming/coding is a key aspect of computer science. Part of code.org's effort has been to create courses for elementary students. This assignment asks that you complete one of those courses—the 20-hour accelerated course.

The Course

The course should not actually take 20 hours. I expect it might take 4-10 hours. To access it you will need to:

As you work on the course, keep track of the time spent on it.

You will occasionally want to check your progress to make sure you haven't inadvertently skipped something—the unplugged activities seem not be to in the sequence of puzzles. Also, you will need to click on the "Finished: Continue to next stage" button to get credit for having done the unplugged activities.

Keep in mind that this course is meant (I believe) merely to expose folks to programming, not to "teach" or develop skill at programming or even to accurately show what is involved. As you work through the course (and explore other material on the site), be thinking about what programming is and whether it is useful to include in our schools. Also, keep in mind that you are to report/reflect on this activity.

Note that the course offers quite a bit of help through the unplugged activities, videos, etc. But, if you have questions or encounter difficulty, please let me know.

As you do the course, keep track of any noticeable thoughts, reactions, and wonderings/questions you have so you can include them in your PARR about this activity.

Most assignments may be done in partnership, but this one should be done individually. You may, however, work side-by-side with a friend.

Grading

After the due date for the assignment I will check the progress chart for each person. All levels and unplugged activities completed with "perfect" results will get maximum credit. All levels completed but a (few) with less than perfect results will merit a different A grade. More less-than-perfect completions will merit some sort of B grade. Some levels or unplugged activities not completed will merit some sort of C grade. A D or F will result if much of the course is not completed. If the course is not done when due and you wish to complete it, please notify me and I will postpone checking it for a bit. A late penalty will apply (about 1 letter grade per day).