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Computer Programming: The Basics
Shodor > SUCCEED > Curriculum > Workshops > Computer Programming: The Basics

Course Description:


Every day, most of us interact with technology that runs a computer program in some aspect. Whether our cell phone or our car, everything increasingly relies on computer programs to work. Learning computer programing allows us to better understand the programs in our machines and gives us the tools to create almost anything we can imagine.

This workshop is designed to introduce students to different concepts of computer programming. Over the course of five Saturdays, students will be given a coding project and will learn many skills in order to complete the project. In this hands-on, interactive workshop, students will learn a variety of concepts such as algorithms, data structures, conditional statements, loops, and functions. Students will run, modify, and build highly-interactive, web-based applications used to study important problems in science; such as forest fires, the spread of contagious diseases, and predator-prey interactions.

Structure of activities:

Session size is limited to 15 participants in order to assure a high-quality learning atmosphere. Participants work both in teams and individually in a supervised, hands-on learning environment. Each day students learn about new scientific approaches and tools and then have the opportunity to try them out for themselves in our computer lab.

Educational Objectives:

This course introduces students to various programming environments and tools to solve real-world problems.

Facilities and equipment:

All activities take place at the Shodor offices on 807 East Main Street, Suite 7-100, in Durham, North Carolina. Participants have access to laptop computers with internet access.

Prerequisites:

Participants are expected to be 9th - 12th graders (or the equivalent) and should have an interest in computers and learning. While some experience with computers is helpful, it is not required.