Python With Google Colab 1.b: Decisions (1 on 1 Private)

In these 4 classes we will continue our work with the interactive and incredibly popular jupyter notebooks in Colab.

I have prepared four notebooks different notebooks.  Each of these notebooks explores different aspects of the if/elif/else programming construct and how they it is used with different objects.

Week 1 - if statement, 'Interview' project 
Week 2 - else statement, 'Interview' cont.
Week 3 - elif statement, 'Madlibs' cont.
Week 4 - 'Typing game' project

Each class we will go through the notebook running code together and reading the explanations.  I will add further commentary which will be available for review on Outschool.com if needed.  The important ideas are all spelled out in the notebooks and are available for review by the student.  Students keep their notebooks in their Google Drive.

There will be some exercises to be done in class by the students.  There will also be homework, part of which will be done in class most likely.  I am available to students via outschool and I encourage them to contact me with any questions or  doubts they are experiencing.

Why teach decisions next?  Well, our programs are pretty limited if they always do the same thing.  if/elif/else statements open a whole world of possibilities in terms or interactivity.  With these powers we can have our programs actually interact with users and perform different tasks depending on the user's preferences.  Many simple programs can be awkward to code without the if statement.  Though we could have spent more time with objects, the if statement is an essential part of any programming language and should be introduced early in the teaching process.

I base my teaching on the Socratic methods, encouraging students to figure things out for themselves by asking them a series of questions .  This may take some getting used to, as the student may feel 'picked on', however, coding is not the kind of thing you passively absord.  Luckily, most students experience an increasing amount of joy as they learn more about Computer Science.  You can catch the bug as they say.

Learners participate in class discussions and I encourage them to help each other's understanding.  All work is individual however.  There are no prerequisites for this class though experience with Scratch can be helpful.