Teaching Planning - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 202

two successive hours; this different schedule influences the length of wasted time
(entering the class, relating to homework, etc.) and the homework extent. In addi-
tion, educators should consider their pedagogical objectives and find the best way
to integrate them into the teaching planning together with the different constraints.
The above external- and internal-to-the-class considerations influence the teach-
ing of any topic, and in most cases do not change significantly over the school year.
Some of them should be observed by the teacher during the first lessons in which
she or he gets to know the class.
From this perspective, this time planning serves as the basis for the actual teach-
ing process of the curriculum. Without such overall time planning, the teaching-
learning process may be significantly affected and disrupted by local events in the
class and/or in the school. For example, a teacher can teach the if -statement for too
many hours from different reasons (e.g., several pupils face difficulties to under-
stand it), and then, should teach quickly other important subjects, or even worse,
may not be able to complete teaching the entire curriculum.
We note, though, that the yearly teaching planning should be flexible and subject
to changes if needed. In practice, after teaching each specific topic in the class, a
teacher should reflect on his or her original teaching plan and correct and update it
accordingly. Clearly, this assertion is correct for teaching processes in other frame-
work as well (e.g., the university).

11.2.2 Intermediate Level Perspective:

Planning the Teaching of a Study Unit

A study unit is a sequence of lessons that aims to teach a (relatively) wide (computer
science) topic. When a teacher plans the teaching of a study unit, he or she must
relate to two issues that mutually influence each other: first, the content-knowledge
and skills that learners are supposed to acquire, and second, the period of time, that
is, number of lessons allocated for the teaching-learning process. The main target
of this planning is to divide the teaching of a study unit into a sequence of lessons,
including class activities and the assessment approach. Based on the realization of
these two issues, a valuable planning process can be carried out.
A recommended process for a study unit planning includes the following actions:

1. List the concepts included in the said topic.
2. Review the experience of the computer science education community and its
research literature about students' difficulties and misconceptions that may occur
while learning the said topic (see Chap. 4).
3. Locate the concepts listed in Stage 1 along a time line, taking into the consider-
ations the difficulties recognized in Stage 2.
4. Divide the list of concepts into a sequence of lessons, considering the total time
allocated for the teaching of the said topic.