Tag Archives: QMUL

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Free 1-day taster course for Y12 school students interested in electronics & computing, in June

Teachers of Y12 students might be interested in this free taster course on computer science and electronic engineering, to be held at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). This is part of the University of London’s series of short taster courses for school students which QMUL participates in.

Please note that this is not a Teaching London Computing course.

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Taster Course – Electronics and Computing for the Digital Age
Course Date: 26 Jun 2013
Duration: One day (10am – 4.15pm)
Cost: FREE, booking required

“This 1-day course will provide an excellent opportunity for students to experience some of the exciting things that our degrees in Electronic Engineering and/or Computer Science have to offer.

You will be shown just some of the choices that are open to you in terms of specialist skills you can learn and the outstanding career opportunities they afford. During the day you will get “hands-on” experience with various activities. You will also meet staff and some of our existing undergraduate students to get a feel for life with us.”

Subject area/s: Audio Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Engineering (Audio Systems), Engineering (Electronic), Information and Communication Technologies, Information Technology (IT), Multimedia and Arts Technology, Technology, Telecommunications

Course Requirements: This taster course is open to year 12 students and anyone who is planning on starting their undergraduates studies in September 2014. Students should be studying either AS Maths or Physics (or equivalent).

Students can apply here, and will be asked to write 150 words on why they’re interested in studying computer science / electronic engineering.

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*New free workshop* Computational Thinking: it’s about people too – 17 March 2014 @QMUL

Prof Paul Curzon is running a series of FREE workshops for London computing teachers on Monday evenings (every second Monday) at Queen Mary University of London (QML). The next one: Programming unplugged: learning programming without computers will take place on Monday 3 March 2014 (there are still tickets available).

The last in this series Computational Thinking: it’s about people too will take place on Monday 17 March at 5.30pm (registration from 5pm) in The Bancroft Building, Mile End campus.

Location: Room 1.13a, The Bancroft Building, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Rd. E1 4NS

Eventbrite - Teaching London Computing FREE workshop - Computational Thinking: it's about people too for the session on Monday 17th March 2014, 17:30-19:00 (refreshments and registration from 5pm).

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Overview
Computing is not just about technology, it is about understanding people too. When we solve computing problems we are solving them for people. Computational thinking is the general group of problem solving skills that students learn as a result of studying computing. Often this is equated with algorithmic thinking – a direct result of learning to program. However it just as important to make programs usable by people – or they won’t be used. We will see how magic gives a fun way to introduce these ideas, how a simple game demonstrates why graphical user interfaces are effective, ways of evaluating interface designs, and by creating an interface out of kids, see how something as simple as entering numbers can tax designers and lead to trade-offs between speed and accuracy.

Session material
This session will cover:

  • computational thinking: understanding people
  • human computer interaction
  • why GUIs are better than text-based interfaces
  • evaluating interfaces
  • number entry

Activities are suitable for all age groups and can be adapted to fit your teaching needs.

Resources
This session comes with linked activity sheets and ‘story’ write-ups that you’ll be able to download from the page for this event: Computational Thinking: it’s about people too

Format
This is a self-contained evening interactive seminar session. It will last 60-90 minutes plus time for networking. The event starts at 5pm with refreshments and a chance to network. The talk will start at 5.30. For our programme of longer courses for teachers please see CPD courses.

Biography
Paul Curzon is a Professor of Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London. He runs the cs4fn ‘Computer Science for Fun’ (cs4fn) project, www.cs4fn.org. It aims to inspire school students about computer science through a series of free magazines, website and school shows. He regularly gives such shows around the UK as well as continuous professional development talks to teachers about the cs4fn approach to teaching. He is Director of the Teaching London Computing Project. He was made a UK National Teaching Fellow in 2010 in recognition of his excellence in teaching and outreach, was a finalist in the 2009 Times Higher Education Innovative Teacher of the year award and has twice won the student nominated Queen Mary award for excellence in teaching.

About us
Teaching London Computing is a joint project between QML and King’s College London (KCL), with support from Computing At School (CAS). We are supporting London computing teachers with a variety of classroom resources (free) and programming CPD courses for computing teachers (£150 for London teachers, £300 for others if space is available). We’re funded by the Mayor of London and Department for Education to provide this support.

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New free workshop: Learning programming without computers

Prof Paul Curzon is currently running a series of free workshops for London computing teachers on Monday evenings (every second Monday) at Queen Mary University of London (QML). The next free session Learning programming without computers will take place on Monday 3 March at 5.30pm (registration from 5pm) in The Bancroft Building, Mile End campus.

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“It’s easy to assume that programming is something you have to learn at a computer but if you want your students to deeply understand programming concepts, rather than blindly getting programs to work then unplugged techniques can work really well to get students started. We will see how to program a robot face that is made of students, look at a simple way to give a deep understanding of how variables work by making them physical, and see how to compile programs onto your class instead of onto a computer.”

For more information please visit the workshop’s information page: Learning programming without computers, and you can register for a free ticket using the Eventbrite button below.

Eventbrite - [Free workshop] Learning programming without computing for the free session on Monday 3rd March 2014, 17:30-19:00 (registration and refreshments from 5pm).

About us
Teaching London Computing is a joint project between QML and King’s College London (KCL), with support from Computing At School (CAS). We are supporting London computing teachers with a variety of classroom resources (free) and programming CPD courses for computing teachers (£150 for London teachers, £300 for others if space is available). We’re funded by the Mayor of London and Department for Education to provide this support.