Decoding CS Principles: A Curriculum from Code.org (Abstract Only)

Code.org is developing a complete curriculum and professional development program for the new (AP) Computer Science Principles course. In this hands-on workshop, modeled after the professional development program, participants will get access to, and interact with the new curricular materials for this course: daily lesson plans, instructional guides, assessments, and custom-built software tools woven throughout. Code.org's CS Principles curriculum engages students by having them invent and create their own solutions to some of the great problems in computing upon which many CS principles are based. For example, the course begins by asking students to invent their own bit-sending device to send a single bit of information from one place to another. The curriculum employs a variety of instructional strategies, plugged and unplugged, to build a classroom experience that is engaging and emphasizes accessibility for both the students and instructors. The curriculum also emphasizes student preparation for the AP Performance Tasks by including model tasks at the conclusion of each unit of study. Participants will experience a snapshot of the professional development program, engaging with lessons from the curriculum as they would in a realistic classroom context (i.e. diving into the materials and planning to teach the lesson rather than just talking about it). Participants will hear from high school teachers who have taught the lessons in their classrooms during the 2014-15 field-testing year. Code.org's partner schools will pilot the course in the 2015-16 school year, but the course and its materials will be open and free for all to use.