Computational Thinking with JavaScript 1: Draw & Animate
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Computational Thinking with JavaScript 1: Draw & Animate
This course is part of Computational Thinking with JavaScript Specialization
Instructors: Quintin Cutts
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What you'll learn
Use a computational thinking framework to approach new problems and technologies.
Read and write JavaScript programs that create drawings and animations.
Reflect on how programs express processes and support creative ideas.
Details to know
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There are 4 modules in this course
This is the first course in a four‑course sequence that develops essential 21st‑century computational thinking skills, using JavaScript as a practical and accessible vehicle. The course introduces computational thinking as a way of approaching problems, learning new technologies, and working effectively with others.
You will be introduced to a shared framework for computational thinking that will guide your learning throughout the course and the wider Specialization. Using this framework, you will begin to read and write simple JavaScript programs that create drawings and animations with the help of a specialised graphics library. Along the way, you will reflect on how programs behave, how processes are expressed precisely, and how creative ideas can be turned into working computational artefacts. This course is suitable for complete beginners, for learners with some prior programming experience who want to develop their thinking skills more deeply, and for anyone who wants to learn JavaScript in a supportive environment. Later courses in the sequence build on these foundations, extending your skills to data, the web, and larger software projects.
This module introduces the instructors for this course and for the longer Computational Thinking with JavaScript specialisation. A framework for understanding computational thinking is introduced and first steps are taken with JavaScript, applying it in the context of simple graphics - drawing and animation.
What's included
8 videos8 readings5 assignments3 discussion prompts
8 videos•Total 106 minutes
- Welcome to the course•5 minutes
- Where does CT fit into the larger technology landscape?•9 minutes
- What is CT? A first look at learning CT...•12 minutes
- Our first task and accomplishing it by hand•8 minutes
- The program for our first task, and introducing how to 'read' it using the TSTM framework•12 minutes
- Reading the program via the M (Machine) view•25 minutes
- Read some programs•20 minutes
- Describing repetitive activities in our programs•15 minutes
8 readings•Total 72 minutes
- Who am I? A little more detail about Quintin•10 minutes
- Introduction to Module 1•5 minutes
- Introduction to the second lesson•2 minutes
- Find out more about Turtle graphics and Seymour Papert•5 minutes
- Introducing the third lesson•5 minutes
- Turtle Library Reference•10 minutes
- Introducing the third lesson and a bit of repetition•5 minutes
- End of Module Summary, and lead in to Module 2 and beyond•30 minutes
5 assignments•Total 128 minutes
- Check on your understanding of CT•30 minutes
- What can you remember from that task and program?•8 minutes
- Repetition quiz•30 minutes
- A couple of questions to finish the module•30 minutes
- Read a program, answer questions•30 minutes
3 discussion prompts•Total 70 minutes
- Who are you, why are you here?•10 minutes
- What did you learn there?•30 minutes
- How are you getting on?•30 minutes
In this module, you take the foundations you have learned about computational thinking, some early programming constructs, and your program reading skills, and you start to learn about writing programs for tasks.
What's included
2 videos7 readings1 assignment1 peer review4 discussion prompts6 ungraded labs
2 videos•Total 35 minutes
- Problem solving walkthrough•30 minutes
- Walk through of posting a program on-line•5 minutes
7 readings•Total 70 minutes
- Introduction to program writing•10 minutes
- Preparing for programming in the next lab•10 minutes
- Doing your own thing•10 minutes
- Reviewing someone else's program•10 minutes
- Sharing your work on-line•10 minutes
- Summary of instructions to post on-line•10 minutes
- Where you are and what's next?•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 15 minutes
- End of Module Quiz•15 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Give and receive feedback on your programs•60 minutes
4 discussion prompts•Total 80 minutes
- Stuck? Post here. Respond to queries if you can.•10 minutes
- Post challenges with your task here; respond with advice on how to overcome them•10 minutes
- What did you learn there?•30 minutes
- Reporting successes and problems!•30 minutes
6 ungraded labs•Total 245 minutes
- Use this Lab to follow along with the walkthrough•5 minutes
- Review and experiment with the Walkthrough program•30 minutes
- Programming new tasks by changing existing programs•45 minutes
- Guided Tutorial on a new problem•45 minutes
- Now come up with your own task - write your own program•60 minutes
- Use this Lab to experiment with your peers' programs•60 minutes
As our drawings become more complex, their descriptions will quickly become unwieldy. To counter this, we introduce programming language constructs that allow highly complex drawings to be described in just a few lines. They're a bit harder to understand at first, but in the long term, they're essential.
What's included
3 videos6 readings1 assignment5 ungraded labs
3 videos•Total 69 minutes
- Breaking a large program down into manageable chunks•14 minutes
- Drawing the house more effectively using parameters•21 minutes
- Introducing a program that uses updating variables•34 minutes
6 readings•Total 65 minutes
- Introducing the module, and how we handle complex process descriptions•10 minutes
- A great start to learning about functions•10 minutes
- Parameterising functions•10 minutes
- Reflecting on parameters with functions•10 minutes
- Why are variables called variables?•10 minutes
- We've got a long way!•15 minutes
1 assignment•Total 10 minutes
- Can you read a program that uses functions•10 minutes
5 ungraded labs•Total 290 minutes
- Worked Example: Break some code into pieces•30 minutes
- Worked example: watching and contributing to solving a problem using functions•40 minutes
- Practise parameterizing the house yourself•40 minutes
- Exercises to practise and embed your understanding•90 minutes
- Working with the bar chart - and introducing colour & text•90 minutes
Drawing still pictures is one thing - but the process-oriented element of programming lends itself to animation - an activity taking place over time. In this module, we'll make use of all we've learned so far to create animations. Functions will be used in a new and important way - as a so-called "callback" - which form the foundation of interactive programming as we'll see in Course 3 of the specialisation.
What's included
2 videos5 readings1 assignment1 peer review2 discussion prompts5 ungraded labs
2 videos•Total 52 minutes
- Making a first animation•30 minutes
- Challenges with more complex animation•23 minutes
5 readings•Total 50 minutes
- Picking up a new Application Area, and the Building Blocks you know•10 minutes
- What have we learned while using animations?•10 minutes
- Handling more complex animations•10 minutes
- Final words for this lesson•10 minutes
- Stepping out•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 20 minutes
- Final Quiz for Module 1•20 minutes
1 peer review•Total 90 minutes
- Give and receive feedback on your programs•90 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 40 minutes
- Post challenges with your task here; respond with advice on how to overcome them•10 minutes
- What did you learn from seeing others' work and their eyes on yours?•30 minutes
5 ungraded labs•Total 440 minutes
- Experimenting with the animation•70 minutes
- More animations to work with•90 minutes
- Bursting the bubble, and a rolling wheel•90 minutes
- Creating your own thing•180 minutes
- Lab in which to try out your peers' programs •10 minutes
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If you are not confident with the skills you have, then this course, or rather this whole specialisation, will help cement foundational understanding and skills. Programming courses on the web often skim the surface, letting you see code and enabling you to put blocks of it together to achieve some outcome that the course designers set. But they don't necessarily help build your understanding of that code, and without it, you won't have the confidence to develop your own programs. In this course, we aim to give you the skills to properly understand the code constructs and larger fragments that we introduce, and that you will start to develop yourself. Simply getting a program working here is not the main aim - the goal is that you understand anything you create deeply, and that you are able to read and understand the creations of others, so that you can incorporate the releveant parts of their work, suitably adjusted, into your own. This is computational thinking - the ability to confidently address programming problems and come up with creative, well-crafted, solutions.
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
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