Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators: Variables and Nested Loops

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Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators: Variables and Nested Loops

This course is part of Computational Thinking & Block Programming in K-12 Education Specialization

Instructor: Beth Simon

Included with Coursera Plus

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6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Beginner level

No prior experience required

15 hours to complete

3 weeks at 5 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Beginner level

No prior experience required

15 hours to complete

3 weeks at 5 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

11 assignments

Taught in English

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Computational Thinking & Block Programming in K-12 Education Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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There are 6 modules in this course

How can students learn about abstraction by creating a movie scene? Or make an interactive map using lists? You'll learn (and do it yourself) in this course!

This class teaches the concepts of abstraction (methods and parameters) and lists. For each concept, we'll start by helping you connect real-world experiences you are already familiar with to the programming concept you are about to learn. Next, through a cognitively scaffolded process we'll engage you in developing your fluency with problem solving with abstraction and lists in a way that keeps frustration at a minimum. Along the way you will learn about the common challenges or "bugs" students have with these concepts as well as ways to help them find and fix those concepts. You'll also be guided in running classroom discussions to help students develop deeper understanding of these concepts. Finally, you'll learn about the importance and logistics of assigning creative, student-designed programming projects. Additionally, you will create a personal plan for increasing your skills in supporting a culturally responsive learning environment in your classroom.

Meet Dr. Simon and fellow learners in this class! Find out what you’ll be doing and learning.

What's included

2 videos2 readings1 discussion prompt

How can we simplify instructions further with repeats? How do you dance the chicken dance? We’ll cover these questions and more in this module! Learn how nested repeats work by making dance instructions, solving programming puzzles, and creating a program. Prepare for class discussions around challenging questions about nested repeats.

What's included

6 videos4 readings2 assignments1 app item1 discussion prompt

6 videosTotal 48 minutes

What are interactive puzzles?5 minutesPreview module
(Optional) Writing Programs: What's special for teachers?4 minutes
Debugging: Nested Repeats6 minutes
(Optional) More programming puzzles -- but different!9 minutes
(Optional) Demo: How to do Non-Interactive Puzzles8 minutes
Classroom Discussions: Nested Repeats15 minutes

4 readingsTotal 130 minutes

Design your own language40 minutes
Interactive Puzzle Instructions: Nested Repeats25 minutes
Create a Nested Repeats Program40 minutes
Non-Interactive Programming Puzzles25 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 10 minutes

Puzzle It Out5 minutes
Check your knowledge quiz5 minutes

1 app itemTotal 60 minutes

Collaborative Knowledge Construction: Nested Repeats60 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Other examples for students to explore?10 minutes

Be prepared for teaching nested repeats with code.org’s Bee and Zombie programming challenges, and get ready to learn about events! Find out how to grab your students’ attention with events, and practice your understanding by imagining: what if you could control someone with a game controller? Learn more about events by playing with programming puzzles and creating your own program.

What's included

2 videos6 readings3 assignments3 discussion prompts

2 videosTotal 7 minutes

Snap detail: switching sprites2 minutesPreview module
Debugging: Events4 minutes

6 readingsTotal 103 minutes

Experience a code.org Maze lesson: nested repeats45 minutes
How do things happen in video games?4 minutes
Events you already use every day!5 minutes
Interactive Puzzles Instructions: Events20 minutes
Create an Events Program4 minutes
Non-Interactive Programming Puzzles25 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 40 minutes

Concept Mastery Quiz: Nested Repeats30 minutes
Puzzle It Out5 minutes
Check your knowledge quiz5 minutes

3 discussion promptsTotal 30 minutes

Compare: Nested Loops in code.org versus non-block-based languages10 minutes
What to remember about learning nested repeats?10 minutes
Your Favorite Classroom Attention Grabber!10 minutes

In this module, we’ll explore how events are taught in the classroom and go through another code.org challenge: this time, we’re creating the game of Bounce (or Pong), which is just like air hockey! We’ll also introduce how variables are placeholders for data by displaying them as a real-world placeholders: envelopes. Work on getting comfortable with variables in a variety of programming puzzles.

What's included

3 videos7 readings3 assignments1 discussion prompt

3 videosTotal 16 minutes

Variables Unplugged Warm Up5 minutesPreview module
Variables in Envelopes Activity3 minutes
Debugging: Variables7 minutes

7 readingsTotal 128 minutes

Events: What do students struggle with?5 minutes
Where and how are Events covered in code.org curriculum?10 minutes
Events in code.org: A Seminal Lesson30 minutes
What are variables?3 minutes
Finish the Activity Yourself!15 minutes
Interactive Puzzle Instructions: Variables25 minutes
Create a Variables Program40 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 26 minutes

Concept Mastery Quiz: Events14 minutes
Variables In Envelopes Assessment7 minutes
Puzzle It Out5 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

How would you identify struggles with events?10 minutes

After working through some tricky examples of changing variables, we’re ready to bring variables to your classroom! First, we’ll cover a more thorough lesson plan for the “variables as envelopes” metaphor. Then, we’ll head back to the code.org Artist environment to show the true power of variables and how much they can affect our drawings!

What's included

1 video3 readings2 assignments1 app item1 discussion prompt

1 videoTotal 12 minutes

Classroom Discussions: Variables12 minutesPreview module

3 readingsTotal 95 minutes

Non-Interactive Programming Puzzles35 minutes
Review an Unplugged Lesson Plan for variables20 minutes
Variables in code.org40 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 37 minutes

Check your knowledge quiz5 minutes
Concept Mastery Quiz: Variables32 minutes

1 app itemTotal 40 minutes

Collaborative Knowledge Construction: Variables40 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

What to remember about learning variables?10 minutes

We take a break from programming concepts to ensure that your classroom environment encourages a healthy learning environment. Learn how to make fun assignments a little more approachable by using Parsons’ problems, and explore how you can make your computer lab a respectful and supportive environment for all, especially students that might be underrepresented.

What's included

4 videos3 readings1 assignment1 app item1 discussion prompt

4 videosTotal 31 minutes

Teach Programming with Parsons' Problems10 minutesPreview module
Assess Programming with Parsons' Problems12 minutes
Equity and Computing Lab Classrooms6 minutes
Pick the Right Posters (Signals and Stereotypes)2 minutes

3 readingsTotal 40 minutes

How to make a Parsons' Problem in Snap (or Scratch) for Teaching20 minutes
Optional: What languages can I make "Parsons' Problems for Teaching" in?0 minutes
CS Lab Rules20 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 18 minutes

Pedagogy/Equity Mastery Quiz18 minutes

1 app itemTotal 15 minutes

Impacts of Lab Classroom Design15 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

What lab rule is most critical for you?10 minutes

Instructor

Beth Simon

University of California San Diego

26 Courses24,219 learners

Offered by

University of California San Diego

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Frequently asked questions

In this course you will learn to guide students in learning about nested loops, events, and variables using Parsons' Problems to make learning less frustrating and give students more practice in less time.

You will also learn about common bugs students make in creating programs with nested loops, events, and variables and specific approaches to help them figure out and fix their bugs. You will prepare to lead classroom discussions to deepen students knowledge and hear expert explanations you can model.

Finally you will learn why Parsons' Problems support easier learning of programming concepts and design a Parsons' Problem to use in your teaching. You will also develop classroom resources to support a positive and equitable experience in your computing lab classroom.

Yes! This course is designed as component of a Specialization that is 1 of a set of 4 Specializations (all will be offered on Coursera) that will support the requirements of the California Supplementary Authorization. Additionally, the Specialization may support credentialing or authorization in other states. However, most states require a transcript from an accredited institution of higher education. See the FAQ question on “Will I earn university credit” to find out how to get such a transcript.

Yes, you can earn UCSD credit for completing this course, but only by completing the full Computational Thinking and Block Programming in K-12 Education Specialization. In addition, you will need to (1) Enroll in an additional UCSD Extension course before completing the capstone ($500) and (2), complete part of the capstone project via an online proctoring service. After this is done, your Specialization course grades will be accumulated and a transcript with your final grade (both letter grade or pass-only supported) will be issued from UCSD with 4 graduate-level units. These are eligible to count towards the California Supplementary Authorization.

There is no background knowledge, neither in education nor in Computer Science, required to take this course - just an interest in learning how to give computers instructions to solve problems! However, if you have no prior programming experience, we recommend you take the preceding course in this Specialization first.

Basic proficiency in the use of Googledocs will be needed to complete assignments within the course. Google help documentation will be provided, and with some extra attention, first time use of Googledocs should not be a barrier to successful completion of the course.

By providing this course online, our goal is to enable you to master all the material in the course at a pace that is appropriate for you, rather than the typical processes of picking a specific date and measuring how much you can learn by that date of in-person courses. Instead of the relatively bigger chunks of learning work found in traditional courses (e.g. go to class, read the book, do homework, study for the test) this course has a lot of smaller and more diverse activities that guide your learning experience.

We use a lot of online features to: break learning into smaller chunks; engage you more in thinking and discussing content with others; better integrate and more frequently test your knowledge (with a focus on mastery, allowing you to go back and learn what you missed then come test again); give you practice in teaching-specific skills you will need as an educator (finding and evaluating online teaching resources, critiquing and modifying lesson plans)

We hope you enjoy and learn a lot!

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators: Variables and Nested Loops

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Build your subject-matter expertise

Earn a career certificate

There are 6 modules in this course

Welcome!

What's included

Nested Repeats

What's included

More Nested Repeats & Events

What's included

More Events & Variables

What's included

More Variables

What's included

Equity & Pedagogy

What's included

Instructor

Offered by

Recommended if you're interested in Education

Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators: Conditional Loops and If Statements

Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators: Nested If Statements and Compound Conditionals

Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators: Abstraction, Methods, and Lists

Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators Capstone

Why people choose Coursera for their career

Open new doors with Coursera Plus

Advance your career with an online degree

Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business

Frequently asked questions

What will I be able to do upon completing this course?

Can this course help me get the California Supplementary Authorization to teach Computer Science?

Will I earn university credit for completing this course?

More questions