Overview How To Use This Guide

Exploring Computer Science (ECS) Alignment

The learning activities presented in this guidebook include an introduction to computing topics aimed at sparking students’ interest and engagement, fostering a student-centric approach in which they are seen as rich holders of prior knowledge which are assets and opportunities for connection to computing. The curriculum allows students to explore their ideas while learning about human-computer interaction, web design, privacy, coding, debugging, and more using an inquiry-based, constructionist approach to teaching and learning.

This guidebook was developed with and endorsed by a team of experienced learning science and curriculum development professionals as well as several Boston-area Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science teachers. The content in this guidebook is aligned with the first five units of the nationally-recognized Exploring Computer Science (ECS) curriculum, which is an introductory high school course designed to engage students in both computer science content as well as computational thinking and practice. Although the ECS assessments released by the Principled Assessment of Computational Thinking (PACT) team at SRI Education were not administered to students as part of the educational research process, the ECS content and assessment model served as foundational resources during the development of this curriculum and assessment framework.

Content in this Guidebook

This guidebook has been organized into 6 units and contains detailed examples on how to lead engaging activites and discussions focused on the aforemorentioned goals:

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UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION
ACTIVITIES

Icebreaker & Introductions

Sharing Our Characters

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UNIT 2: DATA STRUCTURES AS BUILDING BLOCKS ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITIES

Introduction to Computing Virtual Identities

Developing Front & Back End Virtual Identities

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UNIT 3: SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, & CULTURAL ISSUES IN COMPUTING
DISCUSSIONS

Stylin’, Profilin’ (How We Socialize & Express Ourselves Online)

Stereotypes (How People Are Perceived & Represented in Computing)

Surveillance (How People Manage Privacy-Related Issues)

Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems (How Companies Make Money Off Your Data)

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UNIT 4: MAP DESIGN & COMPUTING
ACTIVITIES

Exploring Map Games

Maps as Design Tools

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UNIT 5: PROTOTYPING MAPS
ACTIVITIES

Introduction to Prototyping

Low-Fidelity Prototyping

High-Fidelity Prototyping

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UNIT 6: MAP PATHFINDING & SEARCH
ACTIVITIES

Map Pathfinding Strategies

Introduction to Search Algorithms

Strategies For Implementing This Curriculum

The general run-of-show schedule implemented in the Boston-area program case studies by the MIT ICE Lab is presented below. However, educators are strongly encouraged to customize their curriculum implementation to the unique needs of their students and learning setting, and the below durations should not be considered requirements.

	Suggested Duration	Units & Activities
Day 1	~ 1 hr 25 min	UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION (25 min) ACTIVITIES Icebreaker & Introductions Sharing Our Characters UNIT 2: DATA STRUCTURES AS BUILDING BLOCKS ACTIVITIES (1 hr) ACTIVITIES Introduction to Computing Virtual Identities Developing Front & Back End Virtual Identities
Day 2	~ 1 hr 25 min	UNIT 3: SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, & CULTURAL ISSUES IN COMPUTING (30 min) DISCUSSIONS Stylin’, Profilin’ (How We Socialize & Express Ourselves Online) Stereotypes (How People Are Perceived & Represented in Computing) Surveillance (How People Manage Privacy-Related Issues) Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems (How Companies Make Money Off Your Data) UNIT 4: MAP DESIGN & COMPUTING (55 min) ACTIVITIES Exploring Map Games Maps as Design Tools
Day 3	~ 5 hrs	UNIT 5: PROTOTYPING MAPS (2 hrs) ACTIVITIES Introduction to Prototyping Low-Fidelity Prototyping High-Fidelity Prototyping UNIT 6: MAP PATHFINDING & SEARCH (1 hr) ACTIVITIES Map Pathfinding Strategies Introduction to Search Algorithms MENTORSHIP ACTIVITIES (2 hrs) Mentor Networking Lunch MIT Campus Tour