Anyone have luck teaching Unit 6 and Circuit Playgrounds as a stand alone unit? I am thinking of teaching Circuits Playgrounds through Unit 6 to a different class than my CSD class, hence the stand alone Unit 6.
Has anyone tried to using “Intro to App Lab” or “App Lab 1 Hour Workshop” as an intro before teaching a stand alone Unit 6?
How did it work out?
Hello @apatel,
This is a great question that I’m sure others have tried. While all of the units in the CSD curriculum are designed to build upon one another, they are also fairly independent. I have been told that the Hour of Code App Lab activity is helpful in giving students an introduction to the functions of App Lab. There are some concepts in Unit 6 that rely on the content provided in Unit 3. You may find that you have to do some extra lessons to fill the gaps. I don’t know that this is super helpful. I would love to hear from those that have tried this in their own classes.
Yours,
Elizabeth
Yes, it is helpful. Thanks.
I too would love to hear from those that have tried this in their own classes.
Anyone?
It’s been a few years, but the first year I taught CS Discoveries, I did teach unit 6 without prior units. My students did pretty well, but the curriculum has changed since then. Units 3 & 4 are definitely helpful to prepare students for the kinds of challenges they will encounter in unit 6, but I’m guessing if done right and if well explained, you could do unit 6 as a standalone unit.
Mike
Unit 3 is a pre-requisite for Unit 6. However, you can fill in some gaps, like someone else said, and teach it that way. The students probably need to start in Unit 4 Lesson 12 and 13 though. Those lessons teach them how to design and use the app lab, which they will need.
There are some levels in those lessons that are for use during Unit 4, just have them skip those. Using these will really help the students when they are working through Unit 6.
Todd
We’re also trying to run Unit 6 as a stand alone course. Today my colleague and I have some curriculum writing time to develop Unit 6 as a stand alone course as a physical computing class. We’re happy to share resources as they’re developed.
Hi Michelle.brunik,
I would love to see the resources you developed for Unit 6 as a standalone. I am teaching Units 2 and 3 this year, but am moving through it more quickly so am considering hopping to Unit 6. Would you be willing to share what you developed?
@tdieck,
I know I’m not the one this is addressed to, but a quick note on the question of Unit 6 standing alone. It is possible for Unit 6 to be a stand alone unit, however, students would really need some of the concepts built in unit 3 for the JavaScript purposes and you may want to use the Hour of Code Intro to App Lab as a quick introduction to App Lab if you’re not going to complete Unit 4 with students prior to Unit 6. Hope this is helpful.