Have students draw a scalable smiley face through programming to motivate the importance of using variables.
Run a pair programming contest in Python to motivate, challenge, and boost students’ self-confidence.
Have students create a game of Tetris in Java to work on object-oriented programming and decomposing complex programs.
Have students follow the 3-Steps Method to simplify the task of designing a deterministic finite automaton in order to further develop their problem solving skills.
Ask students what tools and skills they’d need to write a long research paper in another language using a quill pen to begin a discussion on what learning is like in an Intro CS course.
Teach students the Total Turn Theorem to help them reason about drawing regular, closed polygons in Scratch.
Misconception: Students think that “turn” blocks in Scratch imply a change in position within the coordinate plane.
Start teaching Scratch with blocks that run for a set amount of time to avoid the common misconception that blocks are executed simultaneously.
Tell young students that computer programming is simply writing rules for a computer to follow, similar to bossing around a younger sibling, to help them connect programming to everyday life.
Misconception: Students forget that without instructions, other users won’t know how to correctly run their code in Scratch.