Syllabus

Unit 1: Your First Computer Program

In this unit you’ll create your very first computer program! You’ll be introduced to basic programming
concepts and you’ll familiarise yourself with Scratch.

 Algorithms.
 Sequence.
 Selection: if-then.
 Iteration: infinite loops.
 Incremental development of programs.
 Simple software testing.
 Scratch: interface, motion palette, looks palette, coordinates.

Unit 2: Code Gone Loopy!

In this unit you’ll keep working with control structures, you’ll find out how to use events in your
programs and how to incorporate visual and sound effects in Scratch. You’ll also start thinking about
the requirements and the design of your program.

 Iteration: count-controlled loops, decision-controlled loops.

 Selection: if-then-else.
 Event-driven programming.
 Computational thinking: abstraction, decomposition.
 Software engineering: requirements, design.
 Scratch: control palette, events palette, pen palette, sound palette, sensing palette.

Unit 3: Remixing Games

In this unit you’ll have a go at modifying and extending existing games to create new versions. You’ll
also learn about software engineering practices for testing and documenting your programs.

 Variables.
 Complex conditions.
  Nested loops.
 Software engineering: documentation, testing, maintenance.
 User interaction.
 Scratch: data palette, operators palette, comments, paint editor, remixing.

Unit 4: Reusing Your Code

In this unit you’ll be introduced to procedures and cloning in Scratch, and you’ll apply these ideas to
reuse your code.

 Procedures.
 Good software properties: modularity, flexibility.
 Computational thinking: generalisation.
 Scratch: more blocks palette, clones, backpack.

Unit 5: Think Like a Software Engineer

In this unit you’ll follow all the steps of software development to create a fun computer game. You’ll
also learn about message broadcasting and concurrency.

 Software development process.

 Software development approaches: waterfall model, iterative and incremental, prototyping.
 Coordination: concurrency, message broadcasting.
 Computational complexity.
 Other programming languages.
 Scratch: message broadcasting, publishing projects.
Course Format
The course consists of 5 modules (also called weeks or units), where we will be looking at different
computing topics, as described in the Course Syllabus. The main components of the course are:

 Video Lectures: There will be around 1 hour of lecture each week, delivered as short videos
supported by slides and code examples. In-video quizzes will help you check that you have
correctly understood new concepts – these are optional and do not count towards your final
grade. Feature videos of interviews with computer scientists and non-computer scientists
reflecting on each week’s topics are also included.
 Weekly Quizzes: There are 5 weekly quizzes, one for each week. These will contain multiple
choice questions, which may require that you write, test or analyse short programs.
 Peer-Assessed Projects: There will be 2 programming projects, which will be assessed by your
classmates. These are meant to equip you with hands-on programming experience.
 Discussion Forums: You are strongly encouraged to participate in the discussion forums to
interact with your classmates and learn from each other. There you can post any questions,
comments or even whacky ideas that you have related to this course. Here you can find a
handbook of good practice for the use of the discussion forums.

Grading

The final grade for the course will be calculated based on your performance in the weekly quizzes
and the peer-assessed projects.

There will be 5 weekly quizzes. Each weekly quiz will contain 10 multiple choice questions,
contributing towards 10% of your final grade. Each quiz can be submitted at most 5 times within a 24
hour period, and you will be awarded the highest grade of all your submissions.

There will be 2 peer-assessed projects. Each of these will involve creating and uploading a
program in Scratch, as well as evaluating at least 3 projects of other students. You will be provided
with a detailed marking scheme for this. The first project contributes towards 20% of your final grade,
while the second contributes towards 30% of your final grade. The final grade for each project will be
calculated based on the assessments of your fellow students.

In order to pass the course, you will need to obtain at least 50% in each quiz and in each peer-
assesed project.