Week 2
Principle #1 - Lead with Concepts

Weekly Coding

You do not need to complete every weekly coding activity to be competent. But, you should make an effort to complete at least half of the assignments over the course of the semester.

 

 

Monday

 

After class

How to Reflect

Over the course of this semester you are going to read about 12 principles of computing pedagogy. Each of these focuses on a singular idea, but frequently consists of 3-6 articles representing different, often related, ways to approach that idea. I think one of the important actions you can undertake while you are studying these principles is to make sure you are actively reflecting on those readings. I used to formally assign reflections each week and collect these to make sure that teachers were completing them. The challenge with this is that a refection should be for you and not for me. That is, it should help you process the weekly information, but it rarely should be used to assess your learning and progress.

Therefore, this semester, I am not going to formally assign reflections. However, I still firmly believe in their power in the process - in particular in helping structure a discussion with your small group members. Therefore, I will strongly encourage you to complete one each week even if it is for your own benefit.

As you read the assigned readings each week I encourage you to begin by taking notes regarding what stands out to you in the readings.

Then, to help you start to make sense of the week's readings as a whole, I would encourage you to complete a readings reflection - formally or informally - that tries to bring the set of readings together. Over the years I have collected a variety of strategies for completing weekly reflections. I would like you to read about a couple of these and see which one(s) resonate with you. Recognize that a single technique is likely not the best approach every week. Different material may be processed different ways. So feel free to try each one out over the course of the semester and see what best works for you.

Textbook Readings

 

Wednesday

 

After Class

Concept Map

Last week I asked you to brainstorm about the essential elements of computer programming. This was supposed to be a list focusing on specific elements of programming and the skills needed to be a successful programmer. While that list is probably helpful on it's own, one thing that is really helpful is to understand how the different topics and skills relate to each other as concepts.

This week you read about the use of Concept Maps and Learning Graphs

In this activity I would like you to identify what connections and dependencies you think there are in the topics/skills on your "essential elements" list. While I don't think there are definitive right answers I do think there are some fairly definite wrong answers/connections. Make a real effort to give this serious thought. But don't nitpick and worry to death about the details. Give it your best shot.

Note, this is probably most easily done paper/pencil but you are welcome to use any computer based tool you might be familiar with if that helps YOU. If you do paper/pencil you will need to find a way to scan into a pdf for sharing and eventual submission.

 

Friday

 

 

Weekly Deliverables