Assignments
ITSC1110 • Introduction to Computer Science Principles
Canvas has the due dates, the point values, and the three Khan Academy join codes. The Schedule numbers the weeks of the term.
Start every piece of Khan Academy work from the assignments page of the correct course. The grade sync reads that page and nothing else - work done by browsing straight to a unit doesn't reach Canvas.
Units vary in length and difficulty, so they don't line up one to a week. A long unit may run across two or three modules, and a week may hold several short ones. Canvas shows the actual grouping on its modules page - that page is the authority on what belongs to which week, not the order units happen to appear in on Khan Academy.
Grades Take 24 To 48 Hours, and Why That Matters
Khan Academy scores don't flow into Canvas on their own. We move them by hand, and we aim to do it every 24 to 48 hours - so finishing a unit won't change your gradebook that afternoon, and it shouldn't worry you when it doesn't.
But if 48 hours pass and work you know you finished still doesn't appear, contact us straight away. The usual cause is work completed in the wrong Khan Academy course, where no sync can ever find it - and the only fix is doing that work again in the right place. The longer you wait to ask, the more of it you'll have to repeat.
Every Week
- Journal - one entry, plus a reply to a classmate
- Work log - date, times, total, and what you did
- Class discussion - read always, post when you've something
Getting Started
- Introductions
- Set your Canvas notifications so announcements reach you
- Join all three Khan Academy courses with the codes in Canvas, and confirm each appears in your account
- First journal entry and first work log
Khan Academy 1 - Growth Mindset, and the Pre-test
Growth mindset activities, then the Computer Science Principles course challenge as a pre-assessment.
The pre-test carries no grade. Take it before you study anything. Its only job is to mark your starting point, so guessing well defeats the purpose and a low score costs you nothing.
Khan Academy 2 - Computer Science Principles
The full CSP curriculum, ten units:
- Digital information
- The Internet
- Programming
- Algorithms
- Data analysis
- Simulations
- Online data security
- Computing innovations
- Exam preparation
- AP CSP standards mappings
It ends with the course challenge again - the same instrument you took cold at the start. This attempt is your graded midterm, and comparing it to the pre-test is the best measure of the course you'll get.
Khan Academy 3 - Programming With JavaScript and the Web
Computer programming: JavaScript and the web, where the principles become things that run:
- Intro to JS: Drawing & Animation
- Intro to HTML/CSS: Making webpages
- Intro to SQL: Querying and managing data
- Advanced JS: Games & Visualizations
- Advanced JS: Natural Simulations
- HTML/JS: Making webpages interactive
- HTML/JS: Making webpages interactive with jQuery
- Meet the professional
Canvas says which of these units the course requires and by when. Do them from the assignments page, as always.
Web Development Assignments
These come from me rather than Khan Academy, and you build them on your own site. They put the JavaScript you learned inside a page you own, under the same Web Standards as my web-development courses - run the checker before submitting.
- Introduction Webpage - moves your Shared Introduction from the Google Doc onto your own course site, minus the links line the web-development courses include.
- Home Page - your personal page at the root of your UNC Charlotte webspace, with one link to your course site.
- Course Site - an itsc1110 folder with shared headers and footers and three pages: home, introduction, and an AI introduction.
Some carry peer review; those say so. Khan Academy work never does.
Finishing
Self evaluation, plus Start, Stop, Continue. Then close out anything outstanding - an unfinished Khan Academy unit counts for nothing until it registers, so check that your completions actually landed.