The Arc of Computer Science at Long-View

Too often, people may conceive of the pedagogy of computer science in primary and secondary school as mainly the process of teaching learners to code. At Long-View, we try to approach the academic discipline of Computer Science, which began well before the invention of the personal computer, in an authentic way. As learners progress in computer science from first encounters to diverse applications of the discipline in later years, a throughline remains: we focus on thinking and learning, not syntax or language-specific features. To engage in computer science at Long-View is to learn the process of identifying the next best step in a computational problem, rather than memorizing a narrow set of solutions.

The arc of computer science at Long-View begins with ‘unplugged’ experiences (no computers necessary) that connect to big ideas….

computer scienceLisa ZapalacFebruary 12, 2024Long-View Micro Schoolcomputer science, coding, principles, ideas

Coding for the “Long-View”

In the world of computer science the term “wireframing” is a common phrase widely used by programmers. Wireframing is a way to design a website at the structural level and is used to lay out content and functionality on a page which takes into account user needs and user journeys. Wireframes are used early in the development process to establish the basic structure of a page before visual design and content is added. A website wireframe, also known as a page schematic or screen blueprint, is a visual guide that represents the skeletal framework of a website.

So, what does that have to do with the learners at Long-View?

CodingLisa ZapalacJanuary 19, 2019Long-View Micro Schoolwireframing, designing, critical thinking, coding, CSS, HTML, JavaScript

Build Week 5: Data Science Clandestine Op

Build Weeks are a part of the rhythm of the yearly calendar at Long-View, opening our schedule up to allow us to dive into special activities and challenges. Build Weeks help us grow intellectually, help us make connections between disciplines, give us a chance to break the “routine” of school life, and give us an opportunity to try new things.

Build Week #5 involved an undercover op led by senior CIA agents but executed by Long-View junior CIA agents. We first found out that our math teacher, Mr. Moore, who is (suspiciously) a very private person, actually had a prior career within the CIA. Because of his prior relationship and due to a particularly pressing problem his ex-colleagues were tackling, a CIA unit based in Austin reached out to Agent Ames (aka Mr. Moore) to engage the Long-View students in an effort to leverage their stellar computer science skills....

Build WeekLisa ZapalacOctober 29, 2017Long-View Micro School CIA, coding, python, pandas, data science, pythagorean theorem

Getting "Loopy" in Computer Science

Right now in Computer Science/ Coding we are learning about a very powerful tool – loops. Loops describe when we repeat an action for every item in a group or while a certain condition is true. Thus, we have two types of loops when programming with Python – for loops and while loops.

It can be helpful to think of loops in our everyday lives. Take icing cupcakes, for example. You bake 24 cupcakes and put icing on one cupcake at a time until you have iced all 24 cupcakes. Or you add pictures to Facebook and go through each one tagging your friends’ and family members’ faces until you get through all of the pictures. Both of these are examples of for loops. For each item in the group (cupcakes, pictures, etc.), something happens to the item (the cupcake gets iced, the picture gets tagged, etc.)

While loops are a little different…

Computer ScienceLisa ZapalacApril 18, 2016coding, python, computer science, for-loops, while-loops

Coding a Card Game: Using Loops

A card game we played together recently inspired a new project we are working on during Computer Science/Coding. After breaking down the game and getting to the core of the rules and how the game flowed, we moved to writing pseudocode together. Then, a demonstration lead by Mrs. Lai involving articulating the steps of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich helped us refine our understanding of the importance of not assuming anything while writing a program. We learned that writing our code out in a very clear and incremental fashion is necessary . . . when we didn’t have the steps of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich articulated clearly enough, we almost put the peanut butter on the packaged loaf of bread! We refined our pseudocode with this new understanding and prepared to begin to code our game…

Dr. Lai Visits our Coding Lab

Dr. Mark Lai visited our Coding Lab this week and offered up support, encouragement, and tips to the children about how computer scientists think and work.

Dr. Lai is a postdoctoral fellow at UT's Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences and holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics (i.e. he is a fascinating guy and a great mathematician-role-model)…

Coding, Computer ScienceLisa ZapalacOctober 15, 2015Long-View Micro Schoolcoding, python

Hello, World!

Our coding/computer science program began this week and we kicked off the first day with the traditional initiation into the world of coding: the "Hello, World" program. We'll be learning about Python and having the chance to experience the creativity and excitement behind programming, but more important we'll be focusing on growing our logical thinking skills, bridging to the reasoning we practice in mathematics, and learning to think like a computer scientist…