In order to increase retention of these concepts, we begin all of our programs (first day) with a review of this presentation, and follow it up with some type of activity. Since repetition is key to understanding, the goal of these activities is to repeat these core concepts and how they relate to computer science in a fun way. Some of the activities we have used include:
- Review Sheet – Instructors and students complete a fill-in-the-blank worksheet (approx. 10 minutes)
- Core Concept Posters – Students divide into teams and create posters for each of the core concept categories (approx. 30 minutes)
- Jeopardy – Students divide into teams and battle to become Jeopardy! champions (approx. 60 minutes)
- Heads Up – Students divide into groups. Each person is given a core concept card that they should not look at. When it is that students turn, they put the card up to their forehead facing out. The rest of the group will give clues to what the concept is, without saying the word itself, and the student must guess the core concept.
Lesson Plans and Materials
Prerequisite: YWiC Core Concept Curriculum.
Age Range: None
Difficulty: Easy – Hard
Review Game: Jeopardy
[gview file=”https://ywic.nmsu.edu/files/2018/06/Santa-Fe-CS-core-concepts-2018.pptx”]
