Computer Science (CS) Education
~ Ages 7-16 Years ~ Project-based Learning ~ Industry-approved Curriculum ~
In an increasingly digital society, every person (young and old) should be sufficiently enabled to actively participate in contributing to a future we all desire. Just like reading, writing, or math, computer science is foundational to many pursuits - it teaches problem-solving and critical thinking - it empowers individuals to draw on computational concepts, practices, and perspectives in all aspects of their lives, across disciplines and contexts.
Programming - the creative process of designing, writing, testing and monitoring code to perform specific functions and solve problems - naturally encourages creativity and problem-solving, and lays the foundation for learning the discipline of computer science.
Foundational CS Course
We offer a comprehensive creative computing course for learners ages 7-16 years. The curriculum is based on the popular Scratch programming language - a free visual computer programming language that can be used to create animations, interactive stories, games, music, art and more - and share those creations with others online. The curriculum is an adoption of the Creative Computing Curriculum (developed at Havard) and is designed with project-based learning at the core.
The course introduces foundational computer science concepts - fundamental computational concepts and practises. Course activities are designed to encourage learners to explore key computational thinking concepts (sequence, loops, parallelism, events, conditionals, operators, data) and key computational thinking practices (experimenting and iterating, testing and debugging, reusing and remixing, abstracting and modularizing). Additionally, students will develop their problem-solving, communication and reasoning skills.
Course Guiding Principles
- Learners engage in the creative process - designing and making, not just listening, observing, and using.
- Learners work on personal projects/interests - activities that are personally meaningful and relevant.
- Learners share and collabrate with others - interacting with others as co-creators, audience and coaches.
- Learners reflect on their creations - reviewing and rethinking their creative practises and creations to continously learn and improve.
Learning Environment
Our computing laboratory is equiped with laptop computers - with latest Scratch and supportive learning tools installed - for every learner, and stable internet connection. We provide learners with design notebooks (for documenting, sketching, and brainstorming ideas and plans). Our learning enviroment is designed to encourage play, experimentation and sharing/collaboration (group-based learning).