Computer Science for Non-Technical Professionals: Art, Games and Simulations

For each topic after the introduction, we demonstrate the processing example that we will work toward. We write code to create the final product together (with some code provided ahead of time), learning new concepts as they are needed.

• Introduction: computer science and computational thinking
• Drawing Pictures with Processing: data and variables
• Interactive Painting: functions, switch statement
• Jukebox: Booleans, conditionals
• Sheep AI: while loops, arrays
• Foreign Student Visualization: parallel arrays, strings, algorithms, objects, recursion
• Set Cover Problem: for loops, object references, object copying, shared data
• Image Processing (bonus topic)

Learners are organized into guilds of 4-5 learners. One mentor is assigned to each guild; mentors are the guild leads, much like a team lead. Guilds will learn together and support each other. Guilds will ideally stick together through the entire course but can be reconfigured if needed.

Students will obtain 6 digital badges after finishing the course, one “Fundamental” digital badge after finishing each chapter (5 digital badges in total) and one professional digital badge upon course completion.

Here is the list of badges:
o   Overall badge: “Introduction to Computer Science: Art, Games and Simulations.”
o   Sub-badges, (which would correspond to completing each chapter):
·       Computational Thinking and Variables
·       Functions and Conditionals
·       Iteration, Arrays and State Machine Simulations
·       Data Visualizations with Objects
·       Getting Smarter with Algorithms