Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators: Variables and Nested Loops

• When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

  Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

  • The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.

  • The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

• What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?

  When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

• Is financial aid available?

  Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

• What will I be able to do upon completing this course?

  In this course you will learn to guide students in learning about nested loops, events, and variables using Parsons' Problems to make learning less frustrating and give students more practice in less time.

  You will also learn about common bugs students make in creating programs with nested loops, events, and variables and specific approaches to help them figure out and fix their bugs. You will prepare to lead classroom discussions to deepen students knowledge and hear expert explanations you can model.

  Finally you will learn why Parsons' Problems support easier learning of programming concepts and design a Parsons' Problem to use in your teaching. You will also develop classroom resources to support a positive and equitable experience in your computing lab classroom.

• Can this course help me get the California Supplementary Authorization to teach Computer Science?

  Yes! This course is designed as component of a Specialization that is 1 of a set of 4 Specializations (all will be offered on Coursera) that will support the requirements of the California Supplementary Authorization. Additionally, the Specialization may support credentialing or authorization in other states. However, most states require a transcript from an accredited institution of higher education. See the FAQ question on “Will I earn university credit” to find out how to get such a transcript.

• Will I earn university credit for completing this course?

  Yes, you can earn UCSD credit for completing this course, but only by completing the full Computational Thinking and Block Programming in K-12 Education Specialization. In addition, you will need to (1) Enroll in an additional UCSD Extension course before completing the capstone ($500) and (2), complete part of the capstone project via an online proctoring service. After this is done, your Specialization course grades will be accumulated and a transcript with your final grade (both letter grade or pass-only supported) will be issued from UCSD with 4 graduate-level units. These are eligible to count towards the California Supplementary Authorization.

• What background knowledge is necessary to succeed in this course?

  There is no background knowledge, neither in education nor in Computer Science, required to take this course - just an interest in learning how to give computers instructions to solve problems! However, if you have no prior programming experience, we recommend you take the preceding course in this Specialization first.

  Basic proficiency in the use of Googledocs will be needed to complete assignments within the course. Google help documentation will be provided, and with some extra attention, first time use of Googledocs should not be a barrier to successful completion of the course.

• What is the value of taking this course online?

  By providing this course online, our goal is to enable you to master all the material in the course at a pace that is appropriate for you, rather than the typical processes of picking a specific date and measuring how much you can learn by that date of in-person courses. Instead of the relatively bigger chunks of learning work found in traditional courses (e.g. go to class, read the book, do homework, study for the test) this course has a lot of smaller and more diverse activities that guide your learning experience.

  We use a lot of online features to: break learning into smaller chunks; engage you more in thinking and discussing content with others; better integrate and more frequently test your knowledge (with a focus on mastery, allowing you to go back and learn what you missed then come test again); give you practice in teaching-specific skills you will need as an educator (finding and evaluating online teaching resources, critiquing and modifying lesson plans)

  We hope you enjoy and learn a lot!

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.