Quick Start: Intermediate Coding

Overview

  • This is a complete intermediate Python coding course that includes videos, slides, worksheets, exercises, and an assignment
  • A simple step-by-step classroom for your students can be found here
  • This course assumes introductory coding knowledge. Students and teachers should have completed our introductory course before attempting this course
  • The course is taught using Python, the world’s most popular programming language
  • The course is designed for classes of two hours per week over ten weeks, that is, twenty hours in total
  • It is built by the team at CS in Schools for Australian secondary schools
  • CS in Schools offers free support to teachers who want to develop their coding skills and teach this programme
  • Australian Digital Technology curriculum Years 7/8. Read more here
  • The materials are free and open, you can use them for any purpose as long as you keep the attribution to the CS in Schools team

Structure

  • The Intermediate Coding programme contains 6 core lessons that cover intermediate coding concepts using the Python language:
    • Integer or number variables, and simple maths using variables
    • String and integer variables, variable casting, and formatted printing
    • More complex decisions using if, else, and elif
    • Boolean variables and while loops
    • Calling functions and random numbers
    • Calling functions in libraries and APIs
  • In addition, the following supplementary lessons accompany our Introduction to Coding programme and may be useful additions to this programme:
    • An artificial intelligence discussion (Lesson S1), which is useful when there’s a need to avoid coding content. Best used after Lesson 2, but can be used anytime
    • Unplugged activities (Lesson S2). See the lesson plan for details

Using the Lessons

  • Always start by watching the teacher preparation video and reading the lesson plan for each lesson.
  • The teacher preparation video shares an overview of the lesson goals and plan, helps teachers set up required tools for the classroom, explains each of the worksheets and tasks, and shares tips and tricks for teaching the materials
    • The teacher prep video is easily accessed through a URL shortcut that combines the lesson number and “tv” (for “teacher video”). For example, to watch the teacher prep video for Lesson 2, use: https://csinschools.io/inter/2tv
    • Teacher prep videos download to your computer and are mp4 format. They can be viewed using all popular media players
  • Lesson plans download to your computer and are PDF format
  • The lesson plan is a written document that contains:
    • Steps to take before the lesson starts
    • Lesson overview: what’s in the lesson
      • Goals and outcomes
      • Content that’s covered
      • Exercises that you’ll do
      • What to distribute to the students
      • How to extend your students
    • Learning notes: tips and tricks for the lesson
    • Logistics notes: suggestions on what and how to deliver the materials
    • Timings, topics, and links: how long to spend on each topic, and direct links to the key materials
    • Note that each lesson has suggested timings that sum to 90 minutes, while the recommended class length recommended by CS in Schools is 120 minutes; this creates flexibility to give the students a break, add in additional materials, and the ability to spend more time where it is needed.
    • The lesson plan is easily accessed through a URL shortcut that combines the lesson number and “p” (for plan). For example, to read the lesson plan for Lesson 5, use: https://csinschools.io/inter/5p
  • We’ve included slides, student videos, worksheets, an assignments, and unplugged activities in our course. Students do not need an account to access these
  • We don’t recommend downloading our materials and storing them in your Learning Management System (LMS).
    • If you do this, you’re missing out on updates and won’t necessarily be using the same version as everyone else
    • If you must download the materials, do it just before term starts, and download a new version every term

Using the Shortcut URLs

The folder that contains everything is: https://csinschools.io/inter/home

License Information

These CS in Schools lessons plans, worksheets, and other materials were created by Toan Huynh and Hugh Williams. They are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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