Section 1.1
ARC Topic Selection and Team Formation
Learning Goals
CRD-1.A.1: Define "computing innovation" as an innovation that includes a program as an integral part of its function.
CRD-1.A.2: The way people complete tasks often changes to incorporate new computing innovations.
CRD-1.A.3: Not every effect of a computing innovation is anticipated in advance.
CRD-1.A.4: A single effect can be viewed as both beneficial and harmful by different people, or even by the same person.
CRD-2.C.1: Program inputs are data sent to a computer for processing by a program. Input can be a variety of forms, such as tactile, audio, visual, or text.
CRD-2.C.6: Input can come from a user or other program.
CRD-2.D.1: Program output is any data sent from a program to a device. Program output can come in a variety of forms, such as tactile, audio, visual, or text.
CRD-2.D.2: Program output is usually based on a program's input or prior state (e.g., internal values).
IOC-1.A: Explain how an effect of a computing innovation can be both beneficial and harmful.
Practice 5.C: Describe the impact of a computing innovation
Objectives and General Description
The objective for this section is to lead students through a facilitated innovation topic exploration and decision making process. Students should understand the definition of a computing innovation and provide examples of computing innovations. By the end of this section of activities, students will have researched multiple innovations that are of personal interest using credible sources and will have identified the associated industry (healthcare, education, entertainment, etc.) as well as determined real life problems that are associated with the innovation. Students are introduced to the concept that all innovations have both beneficial effects and harmful effects.
Students have a tendency to want to rush through the topic selection. The teacher should ensure that a dedicated amount of time is used to thoroughly investigate topics of interest. Students will ultimately be selecting a topic & innovation that they will research throughout the school year and will be building digital artifacts revolving around this topic. Furthermore, collaborative teams will be formed around common topics and those teams will work together on these projects during the school year. Students who are personally invested in their chosen topic will be more engaged and the abstract topics within computer science will carry more meaning and relevance. Therefore it is highly recommended that the teacher allow students the freedom of school appropriate topic selection.
Activities
It is important to invest time for the problem and innovation selection process. Students need to have a personal interest in both the problem and the innovation in order to maintain engagement throughout the semester. The selection process has three iterations.
Activity 1.1.1 (Budget 10 minutes)
This activity is designed to be completed at the end of a class period. Teachers could implement a lesson from Unit 0 and add this activity at the end of one of those class periods.
Iteration #1: Brainstorming (Individual)
During the last 10 minutes of a class period, instruct the students to brainstorm 10 - 15 topics/problems that interest them or that they are curious about. Give them no more than 5 minutes for this initial brainstorming session.
Provide a google form in which each student selects his/her top three choices from their personal list of brainstorming ideas. Sample Google Form V1 You will need to create your own form for use in your classroom. Google forms are convenient because the submissions are collected and can be saved in a spreadsheet format. Here is a video tutorial on basic google forms. You can accomplish the same task with Microsoft Forms.
Here is a sample of student responses . The highlighted rows were removed for iteration #2 because they were irrelevant responses.
Activity 1.1.2 (Budget 55 minutes)
Iteration #2: Investigating interests & innovations (Individual)
Prior to the class, the teacher should take the responses from iteration #1 and compile them into a sample class list of topics. Remove any duplicates or silly responses. This is a great job for a TA if you have one. You should also make sure that your list of topics includes: 1) physical innovations like VR headsets, 2) nonphysical innovations like software/apps (augmented reality), and 3) computing concepts like e-commerce. If any of the categories are missing, you can have a class discussion to probe further about their interests.
Give the students an entire class period for this next step. It could extend to two class periods if you feel they need more time. This is an important step so don’t rush it.
Begin the class by giving a mini-lecture on “What is a computing innovation?” Introduce the College Board definition of a computing innovation which is:
A computing innovation is an "innovation that includes a computer or program code as an integral part of their function".
Discuss examples of computing innovations. This discussion can be a whole class discussion, a think-pair-share session or students can submit examples via padlet, sticky notes, etc.
In general, a computing innovation takes an input, processes it or transforms it in some way, and produces an output. The YouTube video, "How Computers Work: What Makes a Computer, a Computer?" is a resource to help students understand these concepts.
Prior to beginning step 5, have the students describe what the phrase "credible source" means. Generate a list of things to look for when determining if a source is credible.
Watch the first six minutes of College Board's 5.1: Daily Video 1 titled, "Beneficial and Harmful Effects." You will need to log into AP Central to do this. This will explain how computing innovations can be both beneficial and harmful. You can play the video for the class or assign it to the students in AP Classroom to watch on their own.
The students will be going through the class list of ideas and selecting three to investigate further. They start by selecting a topic area from the list. They determine what industry this topic generally fits into (medical, education, productivity, space, business, etc.) Then they look for computing innovations related to this topic. Students will use the Guided Research Notes Worksheet to jot down computing innovation ideas. The notes will have the students thinking about the benefits of the innovation, harmful effects of the innovation, and possible solutions.
This activity gives the students an opportunity to do a “deep dive” into a broad topic to determine if they have a strong interest in it and if there is an innovation that could be sufficient for the projects for the fall semester.
Each student should research at least three topics.
Create another google form and have students submit their top two topics of interest. For each topic, have students list: topic, innovation, problem. Sample google form V2.
Activity 1.1.3 (Budget 55 minutes)
Iteration #3: Topic Network Event and Selection (team formation)
Prior to class, the teacher should compile the top two choices of each student into one class list. Be sure to remove any duplicates. Sample list of topics is provided. Print summary of each option on one page and hang around room or in the hallway.
In class , the students are given time to network and exchange information. They move around the room and examine the possible topic/innovation options. Give them some scratch paper to make notes on so that they can remember which ones they are interested in. I would recommend 15 - 20 minutes for this activity.
Explain that the students will be making their final topic selection. This topic/innovation will be used for multiple projects and challenges throughout the fall semester.
Announce that students need to make their decision and move to the sign representing their topic choice.
This choice will represent the teams for the semester. It is up to the teacher’s discretion regarding the size of the teams but it is recommended that group sizes are 2 - 4 students. If more than 4 have selected a specific topic, students should divide into two or more teams.
Example of Images of the Network Event are provided as a teacher resource.
Resources
1.1.1: Sample of student responses (Teacher Resource) - link to resource page on the site
1.1.2: Sample class list of brainstormed topics (Teacher Resource) - link to resource page on the site
1.1.2 YouTube video "How Computers Work: What Makes a Computer, a Computer?" (Teacher Resource)?"
1.1.2 College Board's 5.1: Daily Video 1 titled, "Beneficial and Harmful Effects" available through AP Central and AP Classroom (Teacher Resource)
1.1.3: Sample class list of topics, innovations & identified problems (Teacher Resource) - link to resource page on the site