This project was challenging but will allow student creativity and provide critical thinking skills. I found it difficult to come up with the item i would encode. But the suggestions and examples provided in the forum helped a great deal. I look forward to seeing the projects my students come up with in class.
My project included the absolute location of Virginia and the cities within it using latitude and longitude locations.
I feel the same way but I am noticing aha moments as I get closer and closer into the lessons and sometimes as I teach them. From day one I had students ask me about the AP exam and there was so much I could not answer.
This was a fairly challenging topic. I based my encoding project on my model slot car collection. There are many factors that need to be captured and several issues that I would have to account for when developing a real world schema.
A model of a Mustang that was based on a 1965 Ford could have been manufactured by Aurora in 1971. Many of the descriptions would require long ASCII strings to accurately capture the necessary information. I would use a binary number to describe the relative condition of the model. RGB values for the primary model color, racing stripes and windows require 8-bits per color.
I would also want to record information on the engine type, traction magnets and modifications that were performed on the base slot car.
I actually contacted members of a Facebook group that caters to HO slot car collectors for inspiration. Many catalog their collections for trading, selling and insurance value. I would think that my students should use resources particular to their own âcomplex thingâ to help determine what they should include in their encoding scheme.
I really like this exercise â it strikes to the heart of data structures.
In past classes getting students to think through all of the parts that are needed to represent something is a very difficult task â this calls it out as the task, not just a pre-step to development. I look forward to seeing what my students do with this, and how they can refer back to it in the later programming sections
This is a great example for students to see to understand what this project entails, with items they are familiar with. I am still trying to wrap my mind around this project. If I can find 1 or 2 more examples like this it will be so much easier for students to be ready to begin.
I am nervous that students will bring up an idea and I wonât be able to help guide them through the thinking of their project.
I also had some problems understanding the desired end product. I chose a track meet results to encode. How are people able to post their formatted table? 
Track Meet Results
Component
Encoding
Copies
Description
Name
ASCII
1
200
up to 25 characters
Team name
ASCII
1
24
each school will have a uniques 3 character name
Gender
number
1
1
M or F
numEvents
number
1
2
no more than 4 events
Event
EventType
numEvents
numEvents*(12)
Event type
Component
Encoding
Copies
Description
eventNumber
number
1
4
up to 16 events
result
number
1
8
recorded in number of seconds or inches
Still being in summer mode made doing this a lot harder than it had to be.
My protocol had to do with organizing the results of a TRACK teams season. I started out with basic data:
Track Meet Name, ASCII 15 characters
Date Number
Event Type Number 1 or 2
---- running __Name ASCII
Distance ASCII
time Number
----- jumps/throws__ Name ASCII
Event ASCII
result Number
Still have to work on size of each entr
I had a hard time getting excited about this project but I did see how it helped me reinforce the concepts the unit went over. It will be interesting to see how it goes with students.
Hello Everyone and Happy Labor Day!
I wanted to let you know that I made a few additions to my example Encode a Complex Thing Project, most notably by adding responses to the reflection questions. I know a lot of people were interested in seeing completed examples of this project so you should have a look at what Iâve created and let me know what questions come up as a result. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yEhP1AX-KvawHhXMOtlR4lmHeoRjhXlgA6GQyOQolbk/edit?usp=sharing
If you want help designing your own version of the project or figuring out how to translate a topic of your choosing into an encoding you should feel free to reach out to me. I want to make sure you all have the supports you need and feel confident presenting this project to you students. I really believe that this project is a great opportunity for students to be creative with the concepts theyâll have learned and once you get the hang of it is actually a great deal of fun to think about what you want to add and how you would do it.
Thanks for keeping us posted about your questions and ideas. Looking forward to seeing more!
GT
The topic/thing I will encode is an office building up to eight stories high. The data will represent the name of the company, the floor it is located on, and the suite number it is in.
Since the maximum number of floors the building can have is eight, this will be represented by a 3 bit binary number. The total number of decimal numbers that a 3 bit binary number can be converted to is 8 (0 - 7). This will require that the first floor is represented by a 0 (zero).
Suites are identified with uppercase letters starting with A - P, a maximum of 16 per floor. The corresponding ASCII decimal number will be used to represent the suite letter. Auxiliary rooms such as custodial, mechanical, and electrical will be identified with lower case letters a - f, a maximum of 6 per floor.
My feeling is that this is going to be a challenge for students as their ability to think abstractly might be limited in some cases. I anticipate needing to sheppard them through this but it will be interesting to find out how eeveloped their thinking/reasoning skills are.
My approach will begin with presenting the strategy of problem solving that takes a big problem and breaks it in to smaller pieces. By solving the pieces of the whole, the difficult problem becomes easier to deal with. Itâs the challenge of breaking up the big piece that Iâm intested in seeing them do.
This has been quite a test for me. I was really lost and am nervous my students will be feeling the same way. Reading through it a few times helped a little. The posts by many others has helped me further. I am still in the process of developing this and I may try to do one or two more before my students reach this point so I can show them some different examples (and so I can get a better handle of what is expected).
This is the beginning of what I am working on. I have been trying to break down the sub-tables and am still not sure so any feedback anyone might be willing to give would be extremely helpful.
Thanks to all who have posted examples and explanations. For us newbies, this is definitely going to be a challenge⌠one I am sure we will be able to meet, but it is nice to feel like you arenât completely alone!
I agree with some of the other teachers that this could get pretty challenging for some students. The thing I like though is the multiple layers of abstraction. I chose to encode different clothing we wear, and I think a pretty easy entry point is the more general layers of abstraction. It isnât too hard to encode just types of articles of clothing - hats, shirts, jackets, pants, etc. However, the more detailed we get, the more complex the encoding can become, as clothing comes in a variety of styles and the details can be endless⌠colors (especially since not all clothes are one solid color), patterns, materials, and other features like buttons, zippers, shapes of collars, etc.
Overall, I think itâs something that at least students can start moving forward with and connect it to a topic they are interested in.
I also had trouble wrapping my head around how to start this assignment, but after looking at a few more examples, I was able to get started. I definitely plan to show my students my example so that they have 2 starting points to look for similarities and differences that will hopefully help spark their own ideas.
Encoding Description:
I have chosen to encode a practice for a sports team. As a softball coach, I am often creating practice plans and this would be a good way to record my information. The encoding protocol starts with the basics of a specific practice â which practice it is, a description, where it is taking place (softball field, gym, weight room), list of coaches and players attending and what activities are expected for each coach and player. There are other items such as a date and activity used to encode the practice further. The date will include the hour, minute, and a field for am/pm. The activity will include a description, start time, end time, location within the overall practice space and information about the materials that would be needed (bats, balls, infield, outfield, pitching machine).
This was a challenging and interesting activity. I worked on developing tables for an image and sound of the view from the top of Mt. Borah. It was a good exercise to teach me to follow a design process. Also, I had a chance to grapple (though not very successfully 
) with the terms and concepts.
Wow, do I have âsome learningâ to do here! What worked for me was to first figure out the flow from table to table. Then, I drew tables on printer paper and practiced encoding. I am not very familiar with ASCII so I played around for a while with an ASCII converter. In my small class, this would be another lesson that I would want to do as a large group; working with the students on a shared topic. Then, having the students step out on their own.
Ok, just for the sake of disclosure. I have not done my PT. I have a selection that I think works (Harley Davidson Motorcycle Parts List) but what I think is missing is actual examples and pointers on where the abstraction lies. I know, most of you whizzing through this but since I have no real examples I have no idea if I am doing the correct thing, much less feeling confident advising my students. In teaching, modeling and examples of the correct way are proven strategies. Here, I have instructions that can mean different things. Maybe I am making too much out of this and I should just develop my tables.
I will get something done, even if it exposes me as a third rate computer teacher (oops⌠Trump language). I donât care, I totally understand the concepts I just need more support on the PT.
Was trying to send a screenshot of this, but didnât seem to work on this computer. I will redo it, but you might be able to get an idea of my encoding.
Dance Routine
Component Encoding How Many? # of bits Description
Dancer ASCII 1 80 10 characters of text to encode names
Movement ASCII 1 80 10 characters of text to encode movement
Direction of the movement number 1 3 forward, right forward diagonal, right side, right backward diagonal, backward, left backward diagonal, left side, left forward diagonal (0,1,10,11,100,101,110,111)
Part of the body doing the movement body part
The level of the movement number 1 2 high, middle, low (0,1,10)
length of time it takes to do the movement number 1 8 number of beats the movement takes
body part
Labanotation captures movement on the page so that it can be shared in all parts of the world and with future generations
http://dancenotation.org/lnbasics/frame0.htmlI decided to Encode a double-elimination 8 team softball tournament. First I read through the forum because I was confused on what to do. The next step was to outline my encoding going from broad to smaller chunks. I copied the table from the google doc and started filling it out with my components. I still feel confused on whether my unfinished project was done correctly. Please give feedback.
I chose to use the telephone keypad. I find that given that there are already values associated with each number, one can compose a short or a long message with it. I think that I will also give pause to my students to see how their parents had to âsufferâ to send messages. 