Teach teens computing: Developing your programming pedagogy

Course description

In the first two modules of the course, you'll be introduced to a range of pedagogical approaches suitable for ages 11–14. You'll look at a range of pedagogies aimed at developing your students' computational thinking skills, from unplugged approaches to PRIMM, and more. You'll also investigate worked examples and targeted tasks such as Parson's Problems.

In the final module of the course, you'll see several of these pedagogies in action as you work on a rock-paper-scissors game, and you'll think about how the teaching could be adapted for use with your students.

Required knowledge or skills

A basic understanding of Python is necessary, for example gained from our Teach teens computing: Programming in Python course for beginners.

What you will learn

After completing these three modules, you will be able to:

• Describe a range of pedagogical approaches suitable for use with 11 to 14 year olds

• Demonstrate an understanding of how these approaches can be used in the classroom

• Evaluate the suitability of each approach for a particular audience and teaching objective

• Produce a lesson plan using one of the pedagogical techniques addressed in the course

What you will need

You'll need a Python integrated development environment (IDE) such as:

• Raspberry Pi Code Editor

• Mu

• IDLE