Hey CS Education community: Does anyone have any pictures of the build outs of their labspaces in their classrooms? I am looking to harvest organizational strategies. Please feel free to share or DM me. I've got nothing over here and am trying to get some ideas going. Thanks for reading.

I'm considering offering a course or two in data science, but don't really have background in the area. The target student would have a couple of semesters of computer programming, and probability and statistics. The target audience would be students from a variety of backgrounds who were interested in earning the accompanying certificate. If there is code, my preference would be Python as I am quite fluent in the area, and bonus points if it is a text that offers instructor materials (like lecture slides).

There are quite a few books in the area so I was hoping someone with more experience may help me narrow down my search to a text that would translate well for a wide, interdisciplinary audience.

I'm an assistant lecturer at my local university and we are giving a semester-long version of [MIT] The Missing Semester of Your CS Education. Our semester is 14 weeks long and we have already covered most of the basic material in the MIT course in 6 weeks; everything except profiling, cryptography, and build systems.

We are looking for more topics to talk about, the issue is that the course is given to first-year students with a basic programming background, so we can't really touch advanced topics as they won't any sense to them. So far they have been

What would you wish to learn if you were taking a course like that at the start of your CS degree given their background? What also your suggestion for a project in a course like that, the project equal to 20% of their whole grade?

Hello! I am currently a full time teacher who is taking some classes on UX. The focus of my current UX project is Google Classroom. Hello! I am interested in what others think of Google Classroom's strengths and weaknesses. I will only be using this information for my own personal research, and it is all anonymous. If you use Google Classroom in any way, please consider filling out the survey attached. I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

https://forms.gle/5MQAj25nDdRVdZsZ6

Hello,

As part of a school-wide PD session on "dual coding", I'm supposed to come up with examples of how we can use dual-coding in computer science / IT.

If you're not familiar, it's the idea of having verbal or imagery associations with key information.

It's great for things like learning vocab in a French lesson, or concepts in psychology. But computer science? I'm literally at a loss for any ideas at all. In French you can sing songs, repeat things, etc. But wtf for CS? lol

I’m working on a group project right now to redesign our school’s cyber security classroom. The idea is to make it functional, but utilize cutting edge technology.

What would be some of the technologies on your wish list if you were taking cyber security classes and utilizing a cyber war room? Or what functions would you want that room to have?

I will be starting college in about 7 months and I was wondering if there are any online courses/books that explains topics at a university level, like data structers and algorithms because those seem to be the courses that poeple struggle with the most, along with math stuff (discrete math, calculs 1&2 and linear algebra) and any other subjects needed for a CS degree.

I should also mention I have an above average knowledge of programming in general, I have been playing with programming since 14 and made several projects such as a mobile chatting app with dart(flutter) that implements lower level api's like camera and storage in kotlin and swift, multiple websites in javascript using nexjs, and some side projects with python like machine learning and web scraping, in terms of backend some of the above uses firebase and others use a custom backend using node, postgres, Mongodb and expressjs, and some of them are production sites.

Ultimately I think I might be able to get a job as a self taught but basically everybody advised on getting a degree, because of the benefits it provides, so I am looking for a way to make getting the degree easier or in a best case scenario finishing in a shorter amount of time.

We are UX Researchers looking to build an advanced calendar application that both organizes and motivates students in the learning process. We would like your advice and feedback on students’ ways of learning, management of time, and what specifically would motivate them in studies. Please participate in this user survey and help us out. Irrespective of whether you are a student, parent or instructor, your opinion will be heard.

I am aware that this can be a particularly stressful and busy time for you all and I know you're all super busy, but please could any primary/early years/ college students (ages 10 - 20) and teachers willing, complete the short survey (8 minutes).

https://forms.gle/cNFaHi5zkVfGuG237

Curious to know the audience here. Are we mostly educators, cs students, people in cs related fields? Just curious to see the demographic.

View Poll

Hey guys! As a CS major, I know how challenging it can be to grasp some of the core concepts in programming. That's why I've created a video that introduces the basics of variables in Java through fun analogies and examples, like comparing variables to math class equations and boxes that hold things inside.

My goal is to make computer science more accessible to all, so whether you're a beginner or just need a refresher, this video will help you understand the essentials of variables in Java. We even use boba orders as an example to show you how to store all your order information into variables and have your drink made for you.

Please let me know what you think, and feel free to share any feedback.

https://youtu.be/TeCgnLoA2b8

I recently stumbled across Vocareum, which is allows instructors to embed Python challenges directly into Canvas and do auto grading with grade pass back. This is my dream workflow, however, at $10/student/month it is way out of my budget.

I used to use Mimir which was really great and ran $600 for my classes for the year. I now use GitHub Classroom, which is nice, but does not support grade pads back to Canvas, leaving me to have to manually enter a lot of grades.

Are there any tools you are using out there that could be put into an inline IDE that goes right I to Canvas and allows for grades to be automatically updated.

My end goal is a 99% hands off scalable CS course that I can share with the district.

Hey all,

I am doing some research and trying to get a better sense of what some of the biggest hurdles/challenges are to teaching computer science in high school, specifically within equitable computer science programs (e.g. to students that have historically been excluded from CS education or offerings due to race, gender, or rural living in the USA). I'm trying to think of ways to scale helpful tools for CS high school teachers but I'm not super clear on what the big pain points are (specifically with respect to delivering the curriculum for say an intro to CS or CMU CS1 type program).

Any inputs from practicing CS High School teachers in the USA would be super.

Thank you!!

Hello everyone,

I am majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Mathematics. I'm going for Ph.D. in Computer Science (Specifically, Deep Learning). I have already taken courses the basic courses in Calculus, Linear Algebra, Probability & Statistics, and Discrete Mathematics but I want to take a few more and my advisor suggested that I could for a BA in Mathematics given that I'm done with CS requirements this term and would need to pick up another minor anyway to maintain full-time student status.

Given this, I wanted to ask about what kind of courses should I be looking at. Real Analysis? Abstract Algebra? Topology? Differential Equations? Combinatorics & Graph Theory? Advanced Linear Algebra? Advanced Probability & Statistics? Proofs?

Just a general sense of what might be useful in a Computer Science context.

Thanks.

I am starting my masters in computer science and my code background is pretty iffy but I dont have a problem solving problems. At work if i am given a coding assignment, i never know how to do it off the top of my head but I always can figure it out, whether it be from looking things up online or reading it in a book.

So, how confident are you in solving a coding assignment from start to finish with no resources. Is there any situation where you dont have resources and need to solve a problem? Should I be concerned starting gradschool without the confidence of being able to do this?

Hi everyone I'm looking for resources for the Business Education CST exam. I'm having trouble finding them and am wondering if anyone here has had any experience with this. I also know that this is for computer science teachers but there doesn't seem to be a separate place for business teachers which goes to say just how small this area really is. Thank you!

This is the third or fourth time that this has happened to me, but another fantastic site of challenge problems has created a paywall for most of their resources (Edabit.com). This has been my go-to for beginners for a year or two now, after having to bounce around when that happened to other sites. I wish these sites would use an advertising business model instead of tiered membership, because every time that happens the site is now completely useless to me and my students (and I stop recommending it entirely).

Which brings me to my point -- do you educators have go-to sites for beginner-level challenges? It can be language specific, or something that lets you choose between languages. I'm specifically looking for JavaScript sites, but it would be great to share more resource links that others can use. I've found that I can't use sites like Leetcode with beginners. It is just too overwhelming for them, which is why I'm emphasizing: sites for students who are probably programming for the first time in their lives (regardless of age).

Hey there. I teach AP-CSP through code.org. As we inch closer to the “Create a Task” project, I am worried about my student’s understanding of Traversals. They understand the purpose, but when it comes to actually writing them they are getting stuck time and time again. This is my first year teaching CSP and I’m having a tough time coming up with a new way to help them understand it (I have picked apart the code.org resources with no luck). Did anyone have this issue? Are there resources out there that could help me break it down for them?

Hi all. Coding Quest (https://codingquest.io) is a programming competition I created which is now into its second year. The 2023 competition is 10 days of problems from Monday 6 March to Friday 17 March. Last year I had over 30 schools and ~250 students participate. I'd love to have double the participation rate this year!

The original inspiration was drawn from Advent of Code (which I love doing every year!) but I wanted something that was a little more accessible to my students so they could enjoy the fun of something similar. Additionally, I wanted the skills required by the competition problems to align with those taught in my classes, and so Coding Quest was born. As a general rule I aim for week 1 problems to be achievable by Key Stage 4 CompSci students (Grade 9/10, 15/16 years old), and week 2 will progress into the skills taught in the final two years of school (A Levels, IB Diploma, AP Computer Science etc).

Students compete for an internal school leaderboard, and additionally there is a school-vs-school leaderboard for a bit of light-hearted rivalry (which school gets to brag at having the most hot-shot programmers?!). The overwhelming emphasis however, is on the learning experience and maximum participation. Students will be able to download an individualised certificate of achievement upon completion of the event. Example: https://codingquest.io/certificate-example.pdf

If you are a teacher, or you know a teacher who might be interested in using it - It is recommended that teachers sign-in to register their school prior to promoting the event with students. That will allow the school team to be listed and available for students to see and join when they sign up. When you are ready to invite your students, there is a promotional poster you can use here: https://codingquest.io/codingquest_poster_2023.pdf

There is no cost. This is a self-funded personal project which I have unleashed onto the world. The problems from 2022 remain available for students to use as practice in the lead up to the event.I'd love to know what you think.

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all having a lovely day. I wanted to get some advice on something thats being bugging me for a bit. I am currently a Masters student in CS, and I want to pursue a ML/DL related PhD. Having spoken to some professors at my university, they recommended me to take some math courses along with my CS coursework to better prepare myself.

While the plan is to take coursework in linear algebra, calc, probability and stats, there are quite a few of those courses and I do not want to end up taking whats more than neccessary, just how much ever would be enough for a PhD. With that being said, could you recommend me which of these would be best? I do have some background with the math, but I did it a long time ago during my bachelors in CS.

Sophomore level (definitely can do most of the math here by myself)

• Stats: basic level stats such as correlation regression hypothesis testing.
• Linear algebra: eigenvalues, eigenvectors, orthogonal projections, vector parametrization of 2D/3D curves.
• Multivariable calc: linear approximation, optimization, vector analysis.

Junior level (have some experience, but will have to learn and relearn some things)

• Probability theory: counting, random variables and related concepts.
• Applied stats: probability distribution, random variables, density and maximum likelihood estimation, monte carlo methods.

Senior level (little to no experience)

• Real analysis
• PDE and Fourier analysis: Also includes Laplace transforms and equations.
• Advanced stats: different types of regression (linear, logistic, multiple, non linear, lasso, ridge) likelihood ratio, distributions of estimators, theory behind hypothesis testing, resampling, Bayesian methods.

These are some courses which my advisor suggested. Do you think I should take the foundational courses which I already know and should be an easy grade, or some of the advanced ones which I do not have much experience with?

Thanks for your time!

Newly added blog post! Dry Isn't Always Best

I created this blog as a resource for students and developers of all skill levels to share my experience and knowledge about coding best practices. I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback, so feel free to leave comments on the posts or reach out directly.

Building an emulator is a pragmatic way of understanding how CPUs work.

Part I: Building a fantasy CPU emulator
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ghwGfaOM00s

Part II: Building an emulator for Altair 8800 to run TinyBASIC
https://youtube.com/watch?v=cZNs1Wn5EdQ

​

https://i.redd.it/mzaj7wnr87ga1.gif

Hi all, ECT here.

I was told last week that I am being relocated all day on Thursday for Y7 to do CATS testing, and as you can guess, I am due to have GCSE all day. Two 2-hour lessons with Y10 and 1 hour with Y11. With all of the data capture/reports we're doing currently it slipped my mind until now.

I will not have access to computers (besides my laptop and hopefully a projector) and so I need to find some unplugged activities. Does anyone have any recommendations for what I could do?

For context, we use Craig n Dave, my Y10 are in the middle of unit 2.3, and my Y11's are finishing up 1.3.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you have!

TIAI would greatly appreciate any help

I'm a freshman and basically considered a minority (because I'm pretty sure there are certain summer camps that only accept minorities) and I was wondering if there were any good comp sci summer camps. It doesn't have to be exclusive to minorities or anything and preferably free, (however I could settle for a payment based summer camp).

I'm fine with in person or online