Get started with the basics of Java, and prepare to teach others using the free, online interactive CS Awesome textbook. In this course for teachers we'll guide you both in learning Java concepts and skills but also in how to effectively teach those to your students. This course will support you in teaching the Advanced Placement Computer Science A course or a similar introductory university-level programming course.
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We'll begin with simple instruction sequences, primitive types, and using objects, as covered in the APCS A Units 1 and 2. Each topic will begin by relating Java to block-based programming languages and then provide video overviews of CS Awesome content along with additional materials to supplement learning for your students.
You'll engage with additional materials to support your teaching including "deep dive" classroom discussion questions and assessment overviews and options for your students.
Course 1 of 5 in the Learn to Teach Java Specialization.
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Welcome!
Meet Dr. Simon and fellow learners in this class! Find out what you’ll be doing and learning.
Sequences of Instructions and Primitive Types (Unit 1): Learn as a Student
Instructions are the basic building blocks for programs. The sentences in our "essay", if you will (not a popular analogy for students - but true). Using CS Awesome, we'll learn some basic instructions in Java -- which focus more on storing and manipulating data (numbers and words) than we did in most block-based programming languages.
WEEK 2
Sequences of Instructions and Primitive Types (Unit 1): Teacher Powerup
This week we'll go deeper and engage with some resources to support your teaching. You'll explore some questions to use in classroom analysis discussions (Peer Instruction), learn how these concepts are commonly assessed, and prepare to help students who are having trouble with CS Awesome assessments. Finally, you can check your own Unit 1 Java and Java Teacher mastery on our end of Unit 1 quizzes.
WEEK 3
Using Objects (Unit 2): Learn as a Student
One of the key features of Java (as well as some other modern programming languages) is that it is "object-oriented" -- that we can design programs based around modeling of objects as a combination of data and methods (or actions) on that data. Using CS Awesome, we'll learn how to use already defined classes (classes are types of objects), to increase our power in solving problems in Java.
WEEK 4
Using Objects (Unit 2): Teacher Powerup
This week we'll go deeper and engage with some resources to support your teaching. You'll explore some questions to use in classroom analysis discussions (Peer Instruction), learn how these concepts are commonly assessed, and prepare to help students who are having trouble with CS Awesome assessments. Finally, you can check your own Unit 2 Java and Java Teacher mastery on our end of Unit 2 quizzes.
