Group members: 

Xinran Wang        V00824705        (andrewwang1113@gmail.com)

Kaiheng Zhang    V00916108        (a199929abc123@gmail.com)

Yanyu Zhao                 V00927166        (justinzhao1996@gmail.com)

Kewen Zhao        V00899938        (zhaokewen1997@gmail.com)

 

Please contact us if you have any questions or want us to check your final result.

  1. An overview of the resource

Our learning resource is going to help K-12 students to learn the basic stuff about programming. We will show our students a video about programming and ask them to think about why we need code. After that, they will have 2 activities. They need to learn how to calculate binary numbers and how to write code and pseudo-code. Our main purpose is to let our students know why we need code; how to write simple code; and what code can do.

  1. A description and rationale for the learning theory upon which your resource will be based (behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism)

Cognitivism is a learning theory that promotes learning by understanding the mental activities of learners. Cognitive not only requires the teacher to explain and demonstrate knowledge for learners in the learning process but also requires the teacher to focus on giving feedback on exercises. Cognitivism lets learners find the appropriate learning strategy through the tips and exercises we provide.

In the learning activities we designed, our purpose was to give K12 students an introduction to programming. Our study resources include explanations of simple topics and corresponding practice questions. In order to understand some basic programming knowledge and deepen their understanding of programming.

We understand that personal experience will affect learning outcomes, so we try to design learning activities that are consistent with each learner. Make every effort to provide convenience for the hearing impaired and English learners. We will also use a common sense of life to introduce our learning content so that the new content can be well connected with the previously acquired knowledge and experience. We have also arranged feedback exercises to allow the learning content to be more effectively absorbed into the learners’ cognitive structures.

  1. A description and rationale for the learning design you chose (inquiry, project-based, direct instruction, etc)

Experiential Learning is a method of learning through thought, practice, review and summation. Based on our group’s discussions, we think Experiential Learning is a perfect fit for our chosen project. First, because programming is not about doing the same thing over and over again, it is about creativity, such as figuring out how to efficiently complete a given task with the simplest possible code. Therefore, learning how to program well requires students to keep practising, summarizing experience and improving. Only with accumulated experience can you program more efficiently. So we think Experiential Learning is the best fit for our project.

   

  1. A description of your learning context (K-12, higher ed, corporate, individual, etc)

First of all, our teaching target is k-12 level students, so we will set the teaching environment to be relatively relaxed and pleasant. Due to the impact of COVID-19, we will adopt an online teaching model by using PPT and opened.ca website to show our students what all the stuff that they need to learn. The reason why we choose relatively young students is also very simple, because in the future when they grow up, ARTIFICIAL intelligence will substantially replace the existing basic labour force. In order for them to have better prospects in the future, it is important to lay the foundation of programming for them from an early age. Getting kids to learn programming early on is critical for their future.

  1. 2-4 learning outcomes (copied or revised from your blueprint)

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

  • understand the basic logic of programming language
  • calculate binary numbers 
  • understand some simple pseudo-code
  • rewrite or make some changes to the given source code
  • complete a simple programming task as a group or individual

 

  1. Brief commentary about each topic and activity

Topic 1: Watching the video. 

The video shows a little bit of history about coding and why we need to use code. It also talks about binary numbers, which we will ask students to do some binary calculations. 

Activity 1: Binary calculations.

We will ask students to do some calculations about binary numbers. The mean purpose of that is the binary number is like the foundation of a computer. We want our students to know the basic stuff about computers.

Activity 2: Learning code by doing it. 

We will give them some sample codes for them to run, and at the end of our learning resource, we hope they can write their own code.

 

  • Here is the link to do all of our activities!

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ocKM6Jd7X5lWII0OAnBzxwzVFEy8WGTD/view?usp=sharing

  1. An overview of your assessment plan.

There will be two parts we will assess their result. The first one will be binary practices. We will check either they understand how to calculate binary or not. We will give them feedback based on the answers they give us and mark them as well. The second part is about coding. Once they finish their code, they can send us their code. We will run it, and check the syntax of it. If there is something which can be improved we will give them feedback. We will mark their code as well. 

  1. An overview of your plans to design for inclusion of diverse learners (choose two from the list above, and specify in your resource).

Considering that our students may have special circumstances, for example (ELL and loss hearing). All of our teaching materials and teaching content will provide subtitles in different languages for students to correctly understand the vocabulary used in our teaching and the meaning it represents. During the group discussion, we will also divide students into groups according to their special situations, so as to minimize the obstacles in communication.

  1. A rationale for your technology choices.

YouTube:

YouTube is a video site that is widely used in the world. Students can just click the link shared in the lecture notes to watch teaching videos. This operation is very convenient and easy for learners. Moreover, teaching videos provide subtitles in multiple languages. This is very friendly for both people with hearing loss and English learners. Because we cannot determine the native language of English learners, we must use technology to translate the most familiar language for them, in order to help them understand the learning content. At the same time, people with hearing loss can also learn by watching subtitles. Good listening is not necessarily learning ability.

Online code compiler (Execute Python-3 Online)：

The advantage of the online compiler is that learners do not need to install a complicated programming environment when they just start learning to code. Learners only need to click on the link on the learning notes, according to the tutorial to implement simple operations on the Internet. Then learners can successfully run the code. This is very important for those who have just started to learn to program. The simple entry will make it easier for learners to become interested in programming, rather than being treated under complicated installation steps.

PowerPoint:

A slideshow is also a software widely used in the world. We tell our learners step by step through ppt.

Opened.ca website:

The opened.ca website is a very convenient and easy to use blog site. We can pass on the learning content by publishing blog posts on it. We will open a comment area under each blog post, and learners can freely discuss online.

Reference

Ertmer, P. A. & Newby, T. (2018). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features From an Instructional Design Perspective. In R. E. West (Ed.), Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. EdTech Books. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/behaviorism_cognitivism_constructivism