Big Idea 1 Overview: Creative Development

Developing an Understanding

Collaboration is really important when creating new computing ideas because it allows us to get different perspectives and improve our designs. In this big idea, students work together to design and make programs using a step-by-step process. They talk to people from different backgrounds and groups to understand what they need. After making the program, they test it to make sure it meets those needs.

Collaboration is different from just working in a group because everyone has to take part and share their ideas. At the beginning of the school year, it can be helpful for teachers to set up ways for us to work well together and give us time to practice. This big idea often goes along with Big Idea 3: Algorithms and Programming.

Building Computational Thinking Practices

When programmers create solutions to problems, they think about two things: the program itself and how users will interact with it, known as the user interface. A good user interface makes it easy for users to understand what information they need to provide for the program to work correctly. 

When students make diagrams of their programs, it's helpful for them to think about how they want the program to behave based on the inputs it receives. Planning ahead can help identify mistakes early and figure out ways to simplify the program.

When implementing the program design, programmers often use documentation to explain what different parts of the code do and how they work together. Students can start writing their documentation in their diagrams. It's better to focus on documenting small sections of code rather than trying to describe large sections all at once.

The AP Exam

For the Create performance task, students will get to choose and make their own program. They have the freedom to pick any topic they like, but they must include specific things like lists and procedures in their code.

To help students understand what their programs should look like, it can be useful to show them examples of other programs that meet the requirements.

To prepare for the AP Exam, students should practice finding and fixing mistakes in their code. One way to do this is by giving them prewritten code that they need to correct. This gives them a chance to improve their error-spotting skills.

Summary of Upcoming Topics:

1.1 Collaboration: Collaborating with different people and considering different viewpoints helps to make better computer innovations as they are created.

1.2 Program Function and Purpose: Having a goal is super important in developing programs! A program is only useful if there's a goal in mind, whether that be work or fun. Focus on your interests, you can develop anything from an educational calculus game to a guess the Taylor Swift lyric riddle. 

1.3 Program Design and Development: Now that you have a goal in mind for your program, it's time to plan! Figure out how you're going to code; programs such as Snap! are fantastic for beginners. 

1.4 Identifying and Correcting Errors: Developing a program is difficult, as many issues such as bugs can arise. That's why developers work hard to smooth out programming bugs. This may take many iterations and requires patience!

Good luck computer scientists! 👩‍🔬 👨‍🔬 🥼