Programming Pedagogy in Primary Schools: Developing Computing Teaching

About

During this course, you'll examine a range of pedagogies suitable for teaching programming to primary school pupils, particularly block-based programming languages. You'll look at general pedagogical concepts like Bloom's verbs, semantic waves and cognitive load, as well as approaches specific to programming, such as Parson's Problems or designing lessons using levels of abstraction. You'll also have the opportunity to reflect on your own teaching practices, and how you could adapt your own lessons to make the most of these approaches.

What you will learn

Over the following four weeks, you will:

• Describe a range of pedagogical approaches, including unplugged approaches, 'Use-Modify-Create', and Parson's Problems
• Explore the key programming concepts of sequence, variables, selection, and iteration, and how these can be taught
• Model a learning sequence as a semantic wave
• Synthesise different pedagogies into a lesson plan
• Evaluate the use of these pedagogical approaches in your classroom

Syllabus

You will cover:

• Pedagogical content knowledge
• Bloom's taxonomy and SOLO
• Semantic waves
• Instructivist and constructivist learning theories
• Continuum of scaffolding
• Levels of abstraction
• Programming concepts: sequence, repetition, variables, and selection
• Using guided exploration and targeted tasks
• Teaching programming using 'Use-Modify-Create'

Auto Summary

This foundational course from edX focuses on effective pedagogical approaches for teaching programming to primary school students aged 5 to 11. Ideal for educators, it offers professional and starter subscription options, covering essential strategies to develop computing teaching skills in a personal development context.