Is there a recommended CSA prerequisite crash course and/or unit?

CSA
1

Hello Friends - I understand that the new CSA curriculum is meant to be accessible for students who don’t have any prior CS course experience. That said, I’m wondering if there is a recommended warm-up activity.

One Code.org unit that comes to mind is the CS Discoveries > Interactive Animations and Games > Chapter 1. I know it’s not Java (it’s JavaScript), but I find it to be a solid introduction to some core concepts.

My plan is to give the students about a month before class to help them prepare, especially those with zero programming experience.

If you have any other suggestions I’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

2

Hi @gaylon.alfano,

Thanks for reaching out! To clarify, in Code.org’s CSA Curriculum Guide, we state the following on requisites.

The Code.org CSA curriculum is recommended for any high school student who wishes to continue their computer science education after completing an introductory course such as Computer Science Principles (CSP) or Computer Science Discoveries (CSD).

That being said, there is no single concept where the curriculum says “as you learned in CSD/CSP…” Every topic is introduced fresh but the introduction is shorter than how CSP and CSD introduces them.

Hope that helps!
Kaitie

3

Thanks, Katie!

For students with zero background knowledge, would you recommend they attempt the CS Fundamentals Express course or do you have any other suggestions? I know Codecademy has an intro Java course, but ideally I could utilize Code.org.

No worries if you can’t think of anything but certainly appreciate the quick reply! Best for now!

4

@gaylon.alfano I think it depends on your goals. What are your goals for students by assigning something prior to starting Unit 1 with students? What do you hope students will gain as individuals? What do you hope your class(es) to gain as a whole?

Code.org has no other recommendation other than what is stated in the curriculum guide.

5

Appreciate your input! It’s really just some core programming concepts for those with zero background knowledge. Code.org has been an invaluable resource. Thanks again!