I just finished lessons 1 & 2 in CSD Unit 4, and I am skipping straight to lesson 9 now, which is the start of chapter 2, the app prototyping. Has anyone tried something like this? I think the smart clothes design (lessons 3 & 4) is not very interesting. And the grandparents app (lessons 5 +) won’t hold my students’ interest. Not totally sure how I feel about it, but I am going to give it a try. After the super engaging Unit 3, I think my students need to keep building and move right into app prototype. Feedback???
I’ve heard people say that their students sometimes struggle with the change from unit 3 to unit 4. Unit 3 is so heavy on the coding and unit 4 returns to a less code heavy and more conceptual thinking. That being said, I wonder if it might be better to do shortened versions of lessons 5-8 so they build the skills needed to do the app in chapter 2. That is based solely on things I’ve heard others say. You’ll have to let us know how it goes in your class.
I struggled with that too. Students suggested doing Unit 4 first then Unit 3. I teach Unit 3, 4 and maybe 7 (if time allows) for computer sci 2 at my school. I have yet to try it but it seems like it’d make sense.
next year I am thinking about teaching Units in this order: 4, 7, 6 (partial), 2, 3