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Computing MATTERS: Computer Programming Concepts (online)
Shodor > SUCCEED > Curriculum > Workshops > Computing MATTERS: Computer Programming Concepts (online)

Workshop Schedule:

This workshop will meet online, 9:00am - 12:30pm ET, from August 2 - August 6, 2021.

Workshop Description:

Every day, most of us interact with technology that runs a computer program in some aspect. This workshop is designed to introduce students to the concepts of computer programming. In this hands-on, interactive workshop, students will learn a wide variety of computer programming concepts such as variables, conditional statements, loops, and functions. Students will learn how to program in a textual programming environment to create dynamic, visual, and interactive models that can run on the Web.

Structure of Activities:

Participants will learn by doing; they will be given demonstrations of coding practices and then work to complete the activities on their own computer with help from the remote instructors. Every workshop session and all communication will be held through Zoom.

Educational Objectives:

While there are countless opportunities these days to learn coding, too many of those opportunities do not answer the question, "Coding what?" For this workshop, the "what" are dynamic, visual, and interactive science applications that allow students to learn not just how to code but how to code something that would be useful to a scientist. Students will be introduced to programming techniques and tools for solving real-world problems. Students will work from existing examples to see how they actually work, rather than merely starting with a blank page and writing "Hello World" programs.

Facilities and Equipment:

All activities will take place online. Participants will need access to a laptop or desktop computer with Internet access. Also, participants will need to download the following free programs and make sure they can run on their computer prior to the start of the workshop:

Prerequisites:

Participants should be rising 9th–12th graders interested in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics. No prior programming experience is needed. Experience with typing is preferred.