Basic & Advance Coding Curriculum for School Level Students

Basic Coding Class Curriculum (Grade 8 - Nepal)

Overall Goals:

• Understand fundamental programming concepts like sequences, variables, loops, and conditional statements.
• Develop logical thinking and problem-solving skills through coding exercises.
• Create simple interactive programs and games.
• Understand the basic syntax and structure of a visual programming language (like Scratch) and a text-based language (like Python).
• Appreciate the role of coding in everyday technology and its innovation potential.
• Develop foundational skills for further exploration in computer science.

Teaching Methodology:

• Hands-on Learning: Emphasis on practical coding activities and projects.
• Visual and Interactive Tools: Starting with visual programming to grasp concepts easily.
• Gamified Learning: Incorporating game development and interactive exercises to maintain engagement.
• Collaborative Activities: Encouraging teamwork and peer learning.
• Real-world Connections: Relating coding concepts to everyday technology and applications.
• Age-Appropriate Content: Using examples and scenarios relevant to Class Eight students in Nepal.

Term 1 (Weeks 1-10): Introduction to Visual Programming with Scratch

Unit 1: Getting Started with Scratch (Weeks 1-3)

• Goals: Understand the Scratch interface, sprite manipulation, events, basic motion.
• Activities: Interface exploration, moving sprite, responding to events, changing appearance, simple animation.
• Assessment: Observation of student interaction, animation task completion, basic motion quiz.

Unit 2: Making Things Happen: Sequences and Basic Interactions (Weeks 4-7)

• Goals: Understand instruction sequence, basic control blocks (wait, repeat), introduce sound, basic sensing blocks, simple interactive stories.
• Activities: Dialogue story, repeating actions, adding sound, sprite interaction, simple interactive game.
• Assessment: Interactive story/game evaluation, sequence/control flow understanding, sound/sensing exercises.

Unit 3: Controlling the Flow: Introducing Decisions (Weeks 8-10)

• Goals: Understand conditional statements (if), make decisions in programs, use comparison operators, complex interactive stories/games.
• Activities: Simple quiz, sprite reaction based on conditions, choose-your-own-adventure story, improving simple game.
• Assessment: Interactive project logic, conditional statement understanding, conditional logic problem-solving.

Term 2 (Weeks 11-21): Exploring More with Scratch and Introduction to Variables

Unit 4: Remembering Information: Introducing Variables (Weeks 11-14)

• Goals: Understand variables as containers, learn to create/set/change/use variables, apply variables for score, lives, game elements.
• Activities: Score counter, tracking lives, controlling sprite movement with variables, simple calculator.
• Assessment: Projects using variables effectively, explanation of variable use, exercises on variable manipulation.

Unit 5: Doing Things Repeatedly: Introducing Loops (Weeks 15-18)

• Goals: Understand loops (repeat, forever, repeat until), automate repetitive tasks, create patterns, combine loops with other blocks.
• Activities: Repeating animations, drawing patterns, games with continuous actions, simple looping games.
• Assessment: Projects using different loop types, explanation of loop use, coding challenges with loops.

Unit 6: Sensing and Controlling More Intricately (Weeks 19-21)

• Goals: Explore advanced sensing blocks (ask, timer), learn advanced control blocks (if-else, wait until), create more interactive programs.
• Activities: Program asking for input, implementing timers, using if-else for complex decisions, developing a more complex game.
• Assessment: Evaluation of project complexity/interactivity, understanding of advanced blocks, problem-solving using these blocks.

Term 3 (Weeks 22-32): Introduction to Text-Based Programming with Python

Unit 7: Getting Started with Python (Weeks 22-25)

• Goals: Understand visual vs. text-based programming, set up Python environment, write/execute simple commands, understand basic data types (int, float, string), use print() function.
• Activities: Exploring Python interpreters, "Hello, World!", exploring data types, using print(), simple calculations.
• Assessment: Python environment interaction observation, simple coding exercises, basic syntax/data type quiz.

Unit 8: Making Decisions in Python (Weeks 26-29)

• Goals: Understand conditional statements (if, elif, else) in Python, use comparison operators, write programs making decisions.
• Activities: Simple number guessing game, basic calculator with operations, checking even/odd, simple decision-based story.
• Assessment: Evaluation of Python programs with conditionals, understanding of if/elif/else, conditional logic problem-solving.

Unit 9: Repeating Actions in Python (Weeks 30-32)

• Goals: Understand loops (for, while) in Python, automate repetition, process data sequences, create simple patterns, iterate through strings.
• Activities: Printing numbers in a range, creating patterns, iterating through strings, simple looping games, (optional) introduction to lists.
• Assessment: Evaluation of Python programs with loops, explanation of for vs. while, coding challenges with loops.

Resources:

• Software: Scratch (online or desktop), Python (online interpreter like repl.it or local installation).
• Online Platforms: Code.org, Khan Academy (Computer Programming), W3Schools (Python Tutorial).
• Worksheets and Handouts: To reinforce concepts and provide practice exercises.
• Project Guidelines: Clear instructions and expectations for coding projects.

Assessment Strategies:

• Formative Assessment: Observation, in-class exercises, short quizzes.
• Summative Assessment: Project evaluation, written tests, presentations (optional).
• Portfolio (optional).

Differentiation:

• Provide extension activities for advanced learners.
• Offer scaffolding and support for struggling students.
• Peer tutoring.

Advanced Coding Curriculum (Grade 9 - Nepal)

Overall Goals:

• Solidify their understanding of Python fundamentals, including data structures and functions.
• Learn object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts and apply them in projects.
• Be introduced to fundamental algorithms and data structures.
• Gain basic knowledge of web development using HTML, CSS, and a lightweight Python framework (like Flask).
• Develop problem-solving and computational thinking skills through more complex coding challenges.
• Work collaboratively on coding projects using version control (Git).
• Understand ethical considerations and the impact of technology.

Teaching Methodology:

• Project-Based Learning: Students will work on more extended projects that integrate multiple concepts.
• Inquiry-Based Learning: Encouraging students to explore and experiment with new concepts.
• Collaborative Coding: Emphasizing teamwork and code sharing using Git.
• Real-World Applications: Focusing on how coding is used in various fields relevant to Nepal and globally.
• Code Reviews: Introducing the practice of reviewing and providing feedback on each other's code.
• Guest Speakers (Optional): Inviting professionals from the tech industry in Nepal to share their experiences.

Term 1 (Weeks 1-10): Deepening Python Fundamentals and Introduction to Data Structures

Unit 1: Revisiting Python Basics and Functions (Weeks 1-3)

• Goals: Review fundamental Python concepts, understand function importance, define and call functions, explore scope, introduce docstrings.
• Activities: Review exercises, function creation for tasks, modularizing code, debugging exercises.
• Assessment: Function creation assignments, function concept quiz, code review of functions.

Unit 2: Organizing Data: Lists and Tuples (Weeks 4-7)

• Goals: Understand lists and tuples, create/access/manipulate elements, explore list operations, understand tuple immutability, implement programs using lists/tuples.
• Activities: List manipulation exercises, data analysis with lists, working with tuples, simple games using lists.
• Assessment: Projects using lists/tuples, practical exercises, explanation of list/tuple differences.

Unit 3: Key-Value Pairs: Dictionaries and Sets (Weeks 8-10)

• Goals: Understand dictionaries (key-value), create/access/modify items, understand sets (unique elements), learn set operations, apply dictionaries/sets for data organization/uniqueness.
• Activities: Simple dictionary creation, data lookup, text analysis with dictionaries, working with sets, simple address book.
• Assessment: Assignments using dictionaries/sets, problem-solving with these structures, explanation of their advantages.

Term 2 (Weeks 11-21): Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming and Algorithms

Unit 4: The World of Objects: Introduction to OOP (Weeks 11-14)

• Goals: Understand OOP concepts (classes, objects, attributes, methods), define classes, create objects, understand encapsulation, basic introduction to inheritance/polymorphism.
• Activities: Creating simple classes (Car, Student, Animal), working with objects, implementing encapsulation, simple inheritance examples.
• Assessment: Projects using classes/objects, explanation of OOP principles, designing simple class diagrams.

Unit 5: Organizing Code with Modules and Packages (Weeks 15-17)

• Goals: Understand benefits of modules/packages, create/import modules, understand namespaces, introduce standard libraries (math, random), learn to install/use third-party packages (pip).
• Activities: Creating/importing modules, using standard library functions, installing/using a simple package, structuring larger projects.
• Assessment: Projects that demonstrate the use of modules and packages, understanding of how to import and use external code.

Unit 6: The Logic of Efficiency: Introduction to Algorithms (Weeks 18-21)

• Goals: Understand algorithms, describe/analyze simple algorithms (linear, binary search - basic), introduce time complexity (Big O - intro), implement basic sorting (bubble, selection sort - basic).
• Activities: Designing algorithms (pseudocode), implementing search algorithms, comparing search efficiency (informally), implementing sorting algorithms, analyzing algorithm steps (informally).
• Assessment: Explaining the steps of basic algorithms, implementing search/sort, comparing efficiency (informally).

Term 3 (Weeks 22-32): Introduction to Web Development and Collaborative Coding

Unit 7: Building the Structure: Introduction to HTML (Weeks 22-25)

• Goals: Understand HTML structure, learn common tags (headings, paragraphs, lists, images, links), understand elements/attributes, create simple static web pages.
• Activities: Creating basic HTML pages, experimenting with tags, structuring content semantically, basic personal portfolio page.
• Assessment: Creation of functional static web pages, understanding of HTML structure/tags.

Unit 8: Styling the Web: Introduction to CSS (Weeks 26-29)

• Goals: Understand CSS purpose, learn basic selectors (element, class, ID), understand fundamental CSS properties, link CSS to HTML, style previous HTML pages.
• Activities: Applying CSS (inline, internal, external), styling text/backgrounds, basic layout with CSS, improving personal portfolio page.
• Assessment: Styling HTML pages using CSS effectively, understanding of CSS selectors/properties.

Unit 9: Making it Dynamic: Introduction to a Python Web Framework (Flask - Basic) and Collaborative Coding with Git (Weeks 30-32)

• Goals: Understand web framework concept, basic Flask introduction, create simple web apps with routes/dynamic content, understand Git basics (commit, push, pull), collaborate on a simple project using Git.
• Activities: Setting up basic Flask app, creating routes/handling requests, basic data passing to templates, introduction to Git commands, collaborative project using Git.
• Assessment: Creation of basic dynamic web app (Flask), demonstration of basic Git commands, participation in collaborative project.

Resources:

• Software: Python (latest version), Web browser, Text editor (VS Code, Sublime Text, Atom), Git.
• Online Platforms: Repl.it, Codecademy, freeCodeCamp, W3Schools, GitHub/GitLab.
• Documentation: Official Python documentation, Flask documentation (basic sections), Git documentation (basic commands).
• Tutorials: Online tutorials for Python, Flask, HTML, CSS, Git.

Assessment Strategies:

• Formative Assessment: Regular code reviews, in-class exercises, short quizzes.
• Summative Assessment: Significant coding projects, written exams, collaborative project evaluation.
• Project Presentations.
• Code Repositories (Git).

Differentiation:

• Provide more challenging projects and advanced topics.
• Offer additional support and resources.
• Encourage peer teaching and collaborative problem-solving.