Intro to Computer Science

Syllabus

Instructor: Stacey Shannon Room 3212

Remind: @shannonics Phone: 919-562-3600 (School)

Email: sshannon@wcpss.net 919-295-2537 (Google Voice)

Office Hours/Tutoring: Wednesday / Thursday 2:30 – 3:30 Make a Canvas "Observer" Account: https://www.wcpss.net/domain/19097


About this course: This is an introduction to coding and computer science by way of making and design, using the revolutionary new micro:bit microcontroller board, and Microsoft’s easy and powerful MakeCode block-based coding environment. It is a project-based curriculum with a maker philosophy at its core; the idea is that by making physical objects, students create a context for learning the coding and computer science concepts. Mathematics is reinforced.

Equipment

Students are asked while using any CTE equipment while in the classroom care and respect. In the event that a piece of equipment/technology is damaged due to a student being harmful or careless, that student could be responsible for the financial burden of its repair or replacement.

Grading System for each quarter:

  • Homework 15%

  • Classwork 30%

  • Tests / Major Projects 30%

  • Quizzes 25%

Class Policies:

  • Check Canvas Daily

  • Communication: Please use your student WCPSS email to communicate with me. I will not reply to personal emails.

  • Office Hours: Parents, please use my office hours to make appointments. If those hours do not work, I can make myself available at other times.

  • Student Expectations: Students should review the syllabus, course materials and keep up with the assignments posted on Canvas. Please use Canvas to turn in all work.

  • Class Participation: Students are expected to participate during class and complete assignments on time.

Late assignments: For late work, students will earn a minimum of 70% of the grade they would have received if turned in on time. All students receiving academic credit for a course can recover grades through completing alternative assignments to demonstrate mastery, turning in missing work, and/or completing retest. Students will earn a minimum of 70% of the grade they would have received if turned in on time. Work that is submitted on time and meets the minimal completion requirements will receive a score no less than 50%. Teacher do not have to accept last work after one week prior to the beginning of the exam period for the grading term. (Midterms-1st and 3rd Quarter / Finals - 2nd and 4th Quarter).

Tests/Retests: It is the student’s responsibility to complete missed schoolwork and tests within the allowed time by contacting the teacher and filling out a retest request form. Tutoring is available during Office Hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 – 3:30. If a student is absent the day before the test, they are STILL responsible to take the test on test day. Retests should be taken within a week of when the scores come back.

WCPSS Honor Code Policy Honor Code Policy (4310) states: “Academic honesty is essential to excellence in education and is directly related to the Board's educational objectives for students to promote integrity and self-discipline in students. As all schoolwork is a measure of student performance, academic honesty facilitates an accurate measurement of student learning.

Each student, parent, family and staff member has a responsibility to promote a culture that respects and fosters integrity and honesty. Academic integrity and honesty requires that all stakeholders share responsibility in the fulfillment of this policy.

In fulfilling these responsibilities:

  • students will collaborate with their peers to foster a culture of academic integrity; refrain from participating, either directly or indirectly, in any form of cheating or plagiarism; and adhere to the honor code;

  • parents and family will actively support the honor code by encouraging their child(ren) to foster and uphold a culture of academic integrity;

  • staff will establish and annually teach expectations regarding academic integrity and honesty; and promote the honor code.

Prohibited Behavior

  1. Cheating: Cheating is an academic deception where a student intends in some way to receive or attempt to receive credit for work not originated by the student, to give or receive unauthorized assistance, or to give or receive an unfair advantage on any form of academic work.

  2. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is using passages, materials, words, ideas, and/or thoughts of someone or something else and representing them as one's own original work without properly crediting the source.

  3. Falsification or Deceit: Intentional acts of falsification or serious deceitful misconduct that threaten the health, safety, or welfare of others, or that cause a substantial detrimental impact on school operations or other individuals are prohibited.

Overall Course Scope & Sequence:

  • Making

  • Algorithms

  • Variables

  • Conditionals

  • Iteration

  • Review/Mini-Project

  • Coordinate Grid System

  • Booleans

  • Bits, Bytes, and Binary

  • Radio

  • Arrays

  • Independent Final Project