Misconception: Students believe that in a primitive assignment, x = y could be the equivalent of y = x; they think that the computer science “=” sign is the same as the mathematical “=” sign.
Have pairs of students aim to achieve the same patterns on Battleship boards to teach them the precision necessary for algorithmic design.
Use in-class clicker questions to identify students struggling at the beginning of the course so you can reach out to them.
Have students find the best method of sorting a group of unknown weights to teach them about sorting algorithms.
Have students act as elements walking through a network to sort themselves to teach students about how Sorting Networks function.
Use physical activities to demonstrate sorting algorithms and help students build intuition about how these algorithms work.
Introduce students to App Inventor by starting with buttons, images, labels, and text boxes because they tend to find these basic tools intuitive and easy to use.
Have students play a game of Telephone and trace the path of a message to introduce how computers create phylogenetic trees.
Direct students in an activity to find Treasure Island by sailing from one island node to another to help them conceptualize finite-state machines.
Organize an activity in which one student gives other students precise instructions for how to draw a certain picture to teach students how a computer executes code.