Programming and more - short courses for teachers of GCSE computing at @QMUL

Programming and more: CPD* for GCSE computing 
*CPD = continuing professional development

This is the third short course run by my colleagues at Queen Mary, University of London. The first ran over Wednesday evenings for 10 weeks and there was a second intensive week-long course over the Summer. My only real contribution is boiling water for the tea and some light admin, as I can neither program nor teach it ;)

The third follows the pattern of the first and so starting on Wednesday 2 October 2013 at 5pm teachers can come and learn some Python and tinker with a Raspberry Pi. The format is a short lecture to start with and then a session of programming.

There'll be free tea/coffee and biscuits too and there's a Sainsbury's across the road from the venue and a Co-op next to Stepney Green station for something a bit more substantial. That's not free alas ;)

Programming and more: CPD for GCSE computing
http://computingcpdautumn13-eorg.eventbrite.co.uk/
Queen Mary, University of London
Wednesday, 2 October 2013 at 17:00 - Wednesday, 4 December 2013 at 19:00
London, United Kingdom

Registration Information

Registration Type       Sales End      Price       Fee     
Course registration     2 Oct 2013     £150.00     £9.65     
Group discount          2 Oct 2013     £100.00     £6.65

Event details
This course is for teachers preparing to teach Computing at GCSE or beyond. The course focuses on programming using a textual language and on understanding the essential concepts of the workings of a computer.


The course will run for ten weeks, including during half term. Each session will last for two hours, from 5pm to 7pm. It will take place in the Engineering Building at Queen Mary, University of London, E1 4NS.

Programming Language: The main course language is Python, a popular language in schools, although the concepts you will learn using Python will be applicable to other languages.

Prerequisites: Programming will be taught from scratch but we recommend that you should have tried at least a little programming beforehand (for example, using Scratch, Kodu, Alice or a similar tool). It is not essential to have used a textual programming language before. 

Highlights include:

• The course fee includes a Raspberry Pi for each teacher to keep, used for programming and exploring computers, both during the course and in your own time.
• The course leaders are from Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London, the home of cs4fn, a respected resource for teachers and students about computing. As well as teaching undergraduate computer science, they have experience of talking in schools and producing fun computing activities for students.
• Flexible Study Pattern: Material will be available on QMUL’s VLE, which is accessible from anywhere and includes recorded lectures, forums and online tests. The study pattern provides flexibility, allowing for occassional unavoidable absence. The weekly sessions at QMUL will focus on practical programming work. To get the best out of the course, participants should expect to do additional study using the VLE.  

Topic outline

Week	Programming	How Computers Work
1	Python expressions and variables.	Component of the Raspberry Pi
2	Writing scripts; simple input and output.	The Operating System
3	Conditional statement; boolean expressions	Boolean logic and truth tables
4	While loops; finding faults	Binary representation
5	Dry running a program	Memory and storage
6	Arrays (lists)	CPU, caching and performance
7	Testing	Communication principles
8	Pseudo code and flowcharts	Internet components
9	Functions. Problem solving	Logic gates and boolean algebra
10	Using files; designing programs for file I/O	Binary adder circuits