Hi everyone, I’m seeing some issues surrounding students not having access to needed information, within some of the current Computer Science Principles course bubble activities for 2020-2021. Here’s a summary, and if you have any insights into how to make things more feasible for AP students, that’ll be great:
It’s anticipated that a portion of my AP students will be facing significant difficulties with self-paced virtual learning and classroom learning, per the missing information. This will be especially when they are either ahead or behind others being engaged with me in the collaborative community learning process. While providing the missing information to students within collaborative learning is feasible, it is anticipated to be a potentially confusing situation and slowed process for some students. As parts of the course have the needed information readily available to the students for addressing questions/activities in the unit lessons’ bubbles, and yet other parts do not: for students when they are in a self-paced learning mode (ahead or behind others in the collaborative learning), the parts that are missing needed information are anticipated to significantly affect various students’ ability to access that information from myself and others in a timely manner. This is anticipated to significantly impact their ability to do well during the College Board AP assessment process.
Here’s an example on how this issue arises: In Unit 6/Lesson 1/Bubble 2, the question is “In your own words explain the difference between a problem and an algorithm.” While with the preceding Bubble 1 not having the needed information, I can provide it to the students myself, here’s the issue: a portion of my AP students may well face significant difficulties in such circumstances where they need to engage in self-paced virtual learning and classroom learning. This will be especially when they are either ahead or behind others in the collaborative community learning process, and yet do not have the needed information readily available on their own as they encounter this question and other questions/activities. Here’s all the units and lessons’ bubbles where needed information is likewise missing for addressing their questions/activities within the Computer Science Principles course ( https://studio.code.org/courses/csp-2020 ):
Unit 6/Lesson 1/Bubble 2
Unit 6/Lesson 2/Bubbles 3 and 4
Unit 6/Lesson 3/Bubbles 2 and 3
Unit 6/Lesson 4/Bubbles 4 and 5
Unit 6/Lesson 5/Bubbles 2 and 3
Unit 7/Lesson 5/Bubble 2
Unit 9/Lesson 1/Bubble 2
Unit 9/Lesson 2/Bubbles 2 and 3
Unit 9/Lesson 3/Bubbles 2, 3, and 4
Unit 9/Lesson 4/Bubble 2
Unit 10/Lesson 9/Bubble 4
Unit 10/Lesson 10/Bubble 2
If you can provide any insights on how these issues are to be addressed in an effective manner for AP students, any information available on reviews being done with decision makers at Code.org on this, etc., that’ll be great. Many thanks for your time on this matter.
Many thanks,
Ivan
Hi @ifidler,
Thanks so much for your question about how to use our curriculum with students who are working asynchronously. We are committed to supporting teachers and students in classrooms, whether in-person or virtual.
The curriculum team has created a number of resources to help teachers make lesson modifications for different virtual classroom settings. General guidance can be found in Modifications for Common Teaching Practices. Additionally, the team is developing lesson-specific modification guidance. These resources can be found in the ‘Teacher Guide’ section of the lesson plan.
For example, the Unit 6 Lesson 1 suggested modifications includes a digital activity guide to distribute to students as support for the unplugged lesson. Resources for Units 1- 6 are published and be on the lookout for similar resources for Units 7 - 10!
I also encourage the continued use of this forum to discuss best practices and share resources with other teachers. Have a great year!
Best,
Andrea
Hi folks, I’m seeing some issues surrounding students not having access to needed information, within some of the current Computer Science Principles course bubble activities for 2020-2021. Here’s a summary, and if you have any insights into how to make things more feasible for AP students, that’ll be great:
It’s anticipated that a portion of my AP students will be facing significant difficulties with self-paced virtual learning and classroom learning, per the missing information. This will be especially when they are either ahead or behind others being engaged with me in the collaborative community learning process. While providing the missing information to students within collaborative learning is feasible, it is anticipated to be a potentially confusing situation and slowed process for some students. As parts of the course have the needed information readily available to the students for addressing questions/activities in the unit lessons’ bubbles, and yet other parts do not: for students when they are in a self-paced learning mode (ahead or behind others in the collaborative learning), the parts that are missing needed information are anticipated to significantly affect various students’ ability to access that information from myself and others in a timely manner. This is anticipated to significantly impact their ability to do well during the College Board AP assessment process.
Here’s an example on how this issue arises: In Unit 6/Lesson 1/Bubble 2, the question is “In your own words explain the difference between a problem and an algorithm.” While with the preceding Bubble 1 not having the needed information, I can provide it to the students myself, here’s the issue: a portion of my AP students may well face significant difficulties in such circumstances where they need to engage in self-paced virtual learning and classroom learning. This will be especially when they are either ahead or behind others in the collaborative community learning process, and yet do not have the needed information readily available on their own as they encounter this question and other questions/activities. Here’s all the units and lessons’ bubbles where needed information is likewise missing for addressing their questions/activities within the Computer Science Principles course ( https://studio.code.org/courses/csp-2020 ):
Unit 6/Lesson 1/Bubble 2
Unit 6/Lesson 2/Bubbles 3 and 4
Unit 6/Lesson 3/Bubbles 2 and 3
Unit 6/Lesson 4/Bubbles 4 and 5
Unit 6/Lesson 5/Bubbles 2 and 3
Unit 7/Lesson 5/Bubble 2
Unit 9/Lesson 1/Bubble 2
Unit 9/Lesson 2/Bubbles 2 and 3
Unit 9/Lesson 3/Bubbles 2, 3, and 4
Unit 9/Lesson 4/Bubble 2
Unit 10/Lesson 9/Bubble 4
Unit 10/Lesson 10/Bubble 2
If you can provide any insights on how these issues are to be addressed in an effective manner for AP students, any information available on reviews being done with decision makers at Code.org on this, etc., that’ll be great. Many thanks for your time on this matter.
Many thanks,
Ivan
Hi Andrea, thanks for the update. While these suggestions are very appreciated, any progress seen on needed information in the bubbles, that precede the questions/activities within the specified bubbles of concern, will be helpful. There is not only information missing in preceding bubbles, but also in the spirit of critical thinking approaches, there is likewise a need for further transitional language, links, etc. in preceding bubbles that can at least guide students on how to guide themselves in researching out the related information. This is especially the case where a portion of AP students will need to do self-paced learning, due to being behind or ahead of others engaged in the collaborative community learning process.
For example, with the suggestion about the Unit 6 Lesson 1’s digital activity guide to distribute to students as support for the unplugged lesson: while the students have immediate access to needed information in various parts of the course, yet for Unit 6/Lesson 1/Bubble 2 they need to have it distributed to them. With that as well as other parts of the course needing further information to address questions/activities, a portion of students who may be behind the pace of others in the collaborative community learning process are anticipated to need to take further time to sift through a guide for the information as they engage in self-paced learning to catch up. While that example in Unit 6/Lesson 1/Bubble 2 has a very basic question in the bubble, as one goes into the more complex ones such as dataset work in parts of Unit 9, this is a situation of genuine concern. I applaud the parts of the 2020-2021 course that have been both adjusted further in relation to past years, and likewise possess needed information readily available to the students for addressing questions/activities in the unit lessons’ bubbles. Yet with other parts not reflecting that, it’s my hope that like course structure issues that existed in past summers, and were ultimately addressed by the beginning of each school year, the same can occur here as well.
With this in mind, in case I may be not realizing something, any additional information you can provide will be helpful here: on how as the course has always needed extensive time management in the past, this new unplugged lessons/digital guides approach can achieve the objectives of both learning and effective AP assessment preparation. Insights would be especially helpful to ensure equity for the kind of students who are facing challenges of keeping pace with fellow students plus challenges in distance learning, and have benefited in the past with needed information that is readily accessible in a time-intensive course.
Thanks,
Ivan
Just tried to adjust this reply, but encountered a technical issue. You’ll see the adjustment in a separate reply.
Hi Andrea, just a bit more follow-up to my earlier response: if you can review these concerns on my and other teachers behalf who may share them, with someone who would be best positioned to address them as a regional manager, director of curriculum, etc., that will be very helpful. Please update me on possibilities that emerge for further review, follow-up contact by them with me, and so forth. Your insights and the goals of Code.org are very positive, and any opportunities to have further adjustments will be both very appreciated and a definite benefit for our students.
Best,
Ivan
@ifidler,
We are committed to providing support and resources that align with our curriculum values rooted in our pedagogical approach to curricula. I understand you have been in contact, through our online support system, with someone from our curriculum development team who can address your feedback.
Happy computing,
Andrea
