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Computing An introduction
EV681
University of Brighton, School of Education
Starter activity
I
In pairs discuss the activity you carried out
and think about the following questions:
How did the children respond?
What strategies did you use to support their
learning?
How does this link to the Plowman or
Stephens?
How does this support the ELGs of the EYFS?
Programming with Daisy the
Dinosaur
Open the Daisy the Dinosaur app
on your iPad (swipe down to
search).
Work through as many of the
challenges as you can.
As you work, think about which aspects of the task children aged 5-7 might find most challenging.
By the end of today’s session you should…
● Be familiar with the expectations for the teaching of computer science
at Key Stage 1
● Be able to understand the term algorithm
● Understand the term debug and know the difference between syntax
errors and logic bugs
● Know what is meant by the term logical reasoning
● Be familiar with simple block-based programming and be able to create simple sequences of instructions to achieve a specific outcome
Intended Learning Outcomes
The National Curriculum Programmes of Study for computing state that
children at Key Stage 1 should be taught to:
● understand what algorithms are; how they are implemented as programs
on digital devices; and that programs execute by following precise and
unambiguous instructions
● create and debug simple programs
● use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs
Computer Science at Key Stage 1
An algorithm is a sequence of precise and unambiguous instructions that are followed in order to achieve a specific outcome.
What is an algorithm?
Learn more >
Debugging is the process of
finding and correcting errors in a
computer program.
Learn more >
What is debugging?
Logical reasoning is the process
of applying rules to problem
solving.
Learn more >
What is logical reasoning?
ScratchJrIn pairs, work your way through the ‘Spooky Forest’ Hour of Code Activity (see handout)
See also link here
“The core of computing is computer science”
Information TechnologyDigital Literacy
Computer Science
DFE, National Curriculum
“A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational
thinking and creativity to understand and change the world.”
—DfE, National Curriculum
What is computational thinking?
– Jan Cuny, Larry Snyder, and Jeannette Wing
“Computational thinking is the thought processes involved in formulating
problems and their solutions so that the solutions are represented in a form that
can effectively be carried out by an information-processing agent.”
Abstraction
Logical reasoning Generalisation
Decomposition
Pattern recognition Algorithmic thinking
Computational thinking
How is this computing?
Watch the ‘unplugged’ activity at the link below. Think about how this relates to the National Curriculum content for computing at KS1 (shown in the previous slide).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zVpWu1i5qM
Subject content for KS2:
• design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts
• use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output
• use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs
Sequence, repetition & selection
“use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs”
- Subject content KS2
Sequence: putting instructions in an order where each one is executed one after the other
Repetition: one or more instructions are repeated a number of times or until a condition is met or the program is stopped
Selection: instructions are executed depending on whether a particular condition is met
Scratch: Hungry Monkey 1
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23390939/
Can you make the monkey sprite move left and right when the left and right arrow keys are pressed? When you have completed the task use ‘Add comment’ (right click) to explain how ‘repetition’ and ‘selection’ are used in the programming structure.
Save to your profile.
Scratch: Hungry Monkey 2
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23390750/
Can you make the monkey jump to catch the bananas? You will have to use a ‘wait block’ somewhere in the algorithm. Add a comment to explain the importance of ‘sequence’ in the algorithm you create. Save this to your profile.
Variables“work with variables” - Subject content KS2
Variables are containers for data. They enable us to store, retrieve or change data. A variable could be used in a game to keep track of a user’s score or to remember a player’s name.
Scratch: Hungry Monkey 3 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23390
032/
Can you make the bananas disappear when the monkey touches them and the score board work to keep track of the number of bananas monkey has caught? Add a comment to explain how sequence is important when placing the variable blocks (see opposite) into the algorithm.
Readings
Berry, M (2014) Computing in the national curriculum: A guide for primary teachers. Available http://www.computingatschool.org.uk/data/uploads/CASPrimaryComputing.pdf
Chapter 8 ‘Programming and computational thinking’ in Turvey, K. Potter, J. Burton, J. (2016) Primary Computing and Digital Technologies; Knowledge, Understanding and Practice, London: Sage, Learning Matters.