Honors Advanced Topics in Computer Science

“It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”

                                                                                                                                          Steve Jobs

By 2013, the Computer Science program at Warren Hills had grown so that there were numerous underclassman taking APCS who wanted to take another computer science the following year.  The problem was that my knowledge as a teacher didn't extend far beyond the curriculum of APCS.   So I scheduled a meeting with one of the CS@WH alumni, Gus Catalano, who works at Microsoft.   He explained that at Microsoft his bosses don't necessarily tell him what to do, but that he make proposals for projects.  If approved, he creates timelines, keeps logs and at the end makes a presentation as to what went right, what went wrong and what could be done with it in the future.   Perfect.   Sounded like a great way to run a class.

In 2014 CS@WH introduced Honors Advanced Topics in Computer Science for students who have completed APCS.   Throughout the year they work on learning modules within a team to teach themselves about a variety of technology and hopefully create a digital artifact.   In the beginning of the year the Learning Modules are 6 days long so they can become familiar with soldering, the Arduino and Raspberry Pi.   As the year goes on, the Learning Modules get longer (8, 12, 20+ days).  For each Learning Module the students must work in teams, make an initial proposal, keep a daily log and make a presentation at the end:  What did you learn, what mistakes did you make and what could be done with this in the future.   They are encouraged to be mentors for other teams that builds upon something they worked on previously.   By the end of the year, hopefully they have developed collaborative skills, self instruction, perseverance and how to learn from their mistakes.   All this, without any teacher lead instruction, mostly because they know more than I do about these digital technologies.

Learning Module 1-3 Grade Sheet (no presentation)

Learning Module 4+ Grade Sheet

Sample Log and Student Sample Log (during remote/no partner)

Portfolio Grade Sheet