"Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." -- E. W. Dkijstra
"Computers are dull and boring; humans are clever and imaginative. We humans make computers exciting. Equipped with computing devices, we use our cleverness to tackle problems we would not dare take on before the age of computing and build systems with functionality limited only by our imaginations." -- Jeannette Wing
Schedule
There will be a break in both morning and afternoon sections to rest our brains.Monday, June 27
Time | Activity | Comments |
---|---|---|
9:00-9:10 | Julie: Connecting to Wifi, Books, Credit, Attendance, Video/Audio | |
9:10-9:40 | Robert: Intro to the class, Computer Science, The State of CS education | The Future is Computers. |
9:40-12:00 | Robert: Scratch Programming | Assignment: Read the first two papers in the readings section. |
12:00-1:00 | Lunch | |
1:00-2:00 | Robert: Scratch Programming | |
2:00-3:30 | Nanette: Your turn: a Scratch Project, scratchLogo Project Handout | Ask questions, work on ideas you have, share |
Tuesday, June 28
Time | Activity | Comments |
---|---|---|
9:00-12:00 | Robert: NetLogo Programming | |
12:00-1:00 | Lunch | |
1:00-2:00 | Robert: NetLogo Programming | |
2:00-3:30 | Nanette: Your turn: a NetLogo Project, netLogo Project Handout | Ask questions, work on ideas you have, share |
Wednesday, June 29
Time | Activity | Comments |
---|---|---|
9:00-12:00 | Robert: NetLogo Programming | |
12:00-12:30 | Lunch | |
12:30-2:00 | Robert: NetLogo Programming | |
2:00-3:00 | Nanette: Your turn: a Processing Project, Processing Project Handout | Ask questions, work on ideas you have, share |
Thursday, June 30
Time | Activity | Comments |
---|---|---|
9:00-12:30 | Robert: More Advanced Processing Programming including pictures and arrays | |
12:00-1:30 | Lunch at Azteca | |
1:30-3:00 | More processing | |
3:00-? | Visit Middle School Student Class |
Scratch
- The Scratch Web Site
- Some useful files for Scratch:
- Lesson material for Scratch (version 1)
- Lesson material for Scratch (version 2)
- battleship.png a battleship image for class project
- submarine.png a submarine image for class project
- explosion.png an explosion shockwave image for class project
- ocean640.jpg a picture to use as a background for the ocean for class project
NetLogo
Here are some NetLogo programs like the ones we developed in class:
Processing
The Processing Web Site
Some pictures you can access from processing
Here are some Processing programs like the ones we developed in class:
- randomPolyBurst.pde
- dots.pde
- colors.pde is a file with the definitions of 170 color names to make your life easier. Put this file in the same directory with your .pde file to get color names.
Python
Python is a great first computer language! I add it to this page even though we did not cover it in class because it adds a new dimesion that the other languages are a bit awkward about and that is text processing. While you can do graphics in Python, its strength is more numerical and textual. There are even some good "intro to programming" books on Python. Python is free and is available for all kinds of machines (see below). There are two versions of Python that a close but incompatible: Python 2.7 and 3.x. Beware which you are using.
- The Python Site for all things Python including downloads
- A good tutorial to start with
A Reading List
- We Can Code It! Fabulous survey article on the need for computer literacy and also on the associated diversity issues.
- The Importance of Computational Thinking Jeannette M. Wing, Carnegie Mellon University. Seminal opinon piece!
- Understanding Computer Programming as Literacy by Annette Vee, University of Pittsburgh
- The National Curriculum of England has 4 pages on computing and it crosses all grades!
- ACM Recommend Curriculum for K-12 A committee from the Association of Computing Machinery describes what they feel is a good curriculum for K-12.
- Computer Science Teachers Association Curriculum Resources
- A NSF funded curriculum from LA schools this includes not only curricular materials but statistics on the effectiveness of the program.
- A list of reference books for this course. Not required. Just for your information.
- The Future is Computers.