Class Logistics & Content
Class meets at 3:30-4:45 on Tuesday and Thursday in ITTC 328. The final exam time is Tuesday, December 13 at 3:00 pm. My office is ITTC 315 and office hours are MWF: 9:45-11:45 and TuWThF: 1:30-2:30.
We will not formally use a text in this course but you will need to read some Net Logo documentation. You may also wish to read about programming, programming instruction, etc. to enhance your reflection or project (see discussion below).
The University Catalog indicates that this course should address:
Introduction to computational thinking and computer programming. Taught as a survey of programming environments used by elementary education teachers. Topics include structure of programming and the study of several programming environments used by students at a variety of age/ability levels.
You should have already completed a Level One Field Experience. Also, remember that this is a two credit course and we will spend three "hours" in class. A substantial portion of that will involve hands-on activity or class discussions.
Why Programming for Elementary Teachers?
It is increasingly likely that some knowledge of programming will be useful to you as a teacher. Currently, our state and nation are considering ways to make programming available to or required of all students at all levels. Additionally, programming is a problem solving activity and (I believe) the more experience one has with problem solving, the better at it one is. Finally, it is a requirement for students seeking endorsement in secondary (and perhaps elementary) mathematics teaching—it is included in the programs offered for those groups here at UNI.
My own perspective is that one important purpose of K-12 education is to expose students a variety of experiences and to the basic tools of modern society. Programming is a very reasonable experience for students to have (and currently there is little or no programming in Iowa schools). The basic tools include mathematics (quantitative problem solving), reading & writing (communicating), critical thinking, and programming. Not everyone will use those tools every day but they should know about them and have enough facility with them to choose whether they might want to learn more about them. Programming is at least as important (and probably more useful) to the general populace than are biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics beyond the basics of algebra.
The hope is that this class will be engaging, useful, and fun & interesting.
Learning
Learning related to this course will occur in your head. It will depend on what you do and think. Participating in class and doing the assignments will help useful stuff happen in your head. If you seriously reflect on class activity you will likely learn a lot. I welcome your questions (and suggestions) in class, in office-hours, via e-mail, etc. about anything that you think will improve your learning or that of your classmates or of future students (mine or yours).
General Course Plans & Assignments
We will use four different programming environments:
- Blockley via
code.org's course—angry birds, zombie, artist, farmer activities - Scratch (the biggest chunk of the course)—animation, joke/story telling, drawing (having the computer draw via turtle graphics), quizzing/trivia, games
- Robotics—defining basic movements, something interesting (to get a sense of the difference between screen actions and robot action, and kids like robots)
- Net Logo (or similar system)—turtle graphics, agent-based simulation ("real"er coding)
After the course introduction, I plan to mostly use Thursday class days as work days during which you work on the next programming assignment/activity in class. You would finish working on it before Tuesday's class where you would have the opportunity to share what you did, difficulties you had, and what you learned. And, a part of Tuesday's class would be used for introducing the next activity. Most of the assignments can be done individually or in partnership. The weekly tasks are meant to serve as examples of what you might do with your elementary students.
The homework activity is programming but what I will be asking you to submit is a reflection on the activity and what you learned. The learning could relate to programming itself and/or to insights into the utility of programming, learning programming, teaching programming, etc.
There will also be a programming project to be completed individually or in pairs and a report on the project. While it is expected that most students will do their project in Scratch, it is possible to use NetLogo or robotics.
There will be a final exam that will ask you to show that you know something about programming in each of the environments used and that you have thought seriously about programming and supporting the learning of programming. The programming part will be in-class during final exam time and the conceptual part about programming and teaching & learning programming will be a take-home exam.
Grading
I have experimented with all kinds of grading scales. This semester I am trying a different approach that I hope will allow me to communicate my assessment of work using the grade assigned. When I assign scores while grading I will use a 14 point scale, i.e.,
14:A+, 13:A, 12:A-, 11:B+, 10:B, 9:B-, 8:C+, 7:C, 6:C-, 5:D+, 4:D, 3:D-, 2:F+, 1:F, 0:F-
Some graded activities (such a attendance & participation) will have default scores which will be added to or deducted from. Most others (e.g., exam items, reflection assignments, etc.) will have a merit score reflecting the judged overall quality of the submission. For merit/quality scores the following general rubric applies.
| Grading Element | F & D (missing/ poor/marginal) | C (okay) | B (good) | A (excellent) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submission characteristics | Missing or incomplete submission; only some directions followed; quite late | Most directions followed; (close to) complete submission; (close to) on time | Very minor problems with directions and/or submission completness; on time (or vice-versa) | All directions followed; complete submission; on time |
| Completeness/ Comprehensiveness | Most central/basic elements missing; few other supporting elements included; | Most central/basic, and some additional supporting, ideas/elements are present | All central/basic, and most additional supporting, ideas/elements are present | Very few or no noticeable deficiencies in ideas/elements |
| Understanding | Substantial errors or clear misunderstandings; little apparent understanding | Few errors or obvious misunderstandings; some questions about understanding | No errors or obvious misunderstandings; few questions about understanding | No understanding issues |
| Writing & Communication | Grammar & spelling are problematic; intended meaning hard to discern; | Some grammar & spelling errors; some superfluous material; some disjointed elements; some clarity issues | Few grammar & spelling errors; little superfluous material; few disjointed elements; few clarity issues | At most 1-2 grammar & spelling errors; very few issues of superfluity, disjointedness, clarity, etc. |
Course grades will be based on the items indicated below.
- Task-specific Activity & Reflection Report (TARR) — 30%
For each assignment, each student will be expected to report their class-related activity and reflect on what was done and learned while working on it. These submissions will be typically be due Tuesday, before class. See the TARR assignment description for more information.
- Programming project (& report) — 20%
See the project assignment description for more information.
- Final Exam — 30%
There will be a take-home part about programming and the teaching & learning of programming; There will also be an in-class, pencil & paper part examining code from the various languages/environments we used and some conceptual. A sample final exam illustrating most of the possible kinds of questions is available on the course web site.
- Class attendance & participation — 20%
Showing up and seeming to pay attention is worth a B- (9 out of 14 points). Simple "interactions" (questions/comments) will usually add about 1 point. More involved interactions seeking or causing deeper understanding should add about 2-3 pints. Sharing your program and/or TARR information during class can add 1-3 points. A combination of multiple interactions and interactions deemed very important (or that seriously question the instructor) may raise the score 4-5 (to an A or A+). Texting, web-surfing, etc. during class will substantially erode the daily A&P score. Tardiness or early exits will also. Finally, obvious lack of involvement in class activity can lower the score.
Extra credit. The goal of extra credit is to encourage sharing your work and reward extra learning, not to "fix" a grade. Small amounts of extra credit can be earned by sharing programs produced for homework and by contributing to the coding templates/suggestions list. At most one letter grade's worth of extra credit will be awarded to any individual.
Communication, Support, & Feedback
I enjoy one-on-one discussion with students about anything course related (or non-course-related discussion if I have time). I also use e-mail extensively, particularly for announcements. Most course-related information will be posted on the course website and/or distributed via e-mail. For privacy reasons, I tend not to use FaceBook and other social media or to link to students in Linked In (unless there is a substantial working relationship).
I prefer to provide feedback about grading or quality of submission in person (or as part of "sharing" in class) so I can ensure it is understood. If you desire feedback beyond a grade, please let me know and we will make an appointment to do so.