overview.md

title	Introduction to Computational Thinking and Problem Solving Using Python - Learning Objectives
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nav_key	Learning Objectives
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Lesson 0: Computational Thinking and Problem Solving

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• State the various components of computational thinking, i.e. decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition and algorithms
• identify the various skills needed in computing and specifically in programming
• state the PCDIT framework for problem solving
• state the difference between novice and expert programmers in solving problems
• explain the need for identifying patterns in problem solving

Lesson 1: Code Execution and Basic Data Types

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• explain how Python code is executed in sequence
• create and use a variable
• create basic data types such as integer, float and string
• display basic data types using print function
• explain the assignment operator
• draw the environment diagram after assignment
• check data type of a literal or variable
• identify input and output data type of a problem

Lesson 2: Function, the First Abstraction

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• call built-in math functions
• explain the purpose of creating a user-defined function
• define a function with and without arguments
• define a function with and without return values
• define a function with multiple arguments
• create a tuple
• define a function that returns a tuple
• access an element of a tuple
• define a function with optional or keyword arguments
• specify data types in arguments and return value
• explain the difference between local and global variables
• choose whether to use local or global variables
• abstract a problem as a function
• identify input, output and process of a function use print function to debug a function

Lesson 3: Basic Operators and Basic Control Structures

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• use basic operators with basic data types
• predict the evaluated data types from an expression
• evaluate math expression with various precedence
• use compound operators
• state the three basic control structures, i.e. sequential, branch and iteration
• identify basic structures from a given problem
• state the Python keywords to be used for each basic control structures
• draw flow chart for sequential, branch and iterative structure
• Derive concrete cases given a problem statement
• Derive design of algorithm steps from some concrete cases

Lesson 4: Boolean Data Type and Branch Structure

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• create a boolean data type
• convert a variable into a boolean data type
• evaluate relational and logical operators
• specify the precedence of relational and logical operators
• implement branch structure using if-else statement
• implement branch structure using if-elif-else statement
• draw a flow chart for if-else and nested if-else
• explain the difference between if-elif and if-if codes
• use assert to create a test
• identify branch structure in a problem
• decompose a problem into multiple selections
• abstract selection process as a function

Lesson 5: String

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• create string using various methods
• create multi-line string
• use basic operations on string data type
• obtain the length of a string
• obtain a character of a string using the index
• create a new substring from a string using slice operator
• explain that string is immutable
• check if a substring is in a string
• Use formatted string literal to display formatted string with data

Lesson 6: Iteration using While Loop and For Loop

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to: traverse an iterable using for-loop

• enumerating a collection data to get the element and the index
• use range function to create an iterable
• traverse an iterable using its index
• use print to debug while loop and for-loop code
• identify iteration structure from a given problem
• decompose problem into iterative process of smaller problems
• implement simple iteration using while loop
• speciy and identify basic building blocks of a while loop statement
• traverse a string using while loop and counter
• traverse a string with sentinel value
• use a break statement to terminate a loop

Lesson 7: List and Tuple

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• create a tuple
• explain what it means that tuple is immutable
• access an element in a tuple using index
• get the length of a tuple
• check if an item is an element in a tuple
• traverse a tuple
• create a list using square bracket operator
• access an element in a list using index
• get the length of a list
• check if an item is an element in a list
• concatenate a list
• obtain a sublist from a list using the slice operator
• modify an element in a list
• remove an element in a list
• find the position of an element in a list
• create an alias of a list
• clone a list into a new list
• add an element into a list
• pass a list as function arguments
• explain the effect of aliasing for list data type
• create list comprehension
• traverse a list using while loop and for-loop
• draw environment diagram of a list
• use print to display elements of a list
• identify when list or tuple is appropriate in a problem

Lesson 8: Nested List and Nested For Loop

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• create a nested list
• access elements in a nested list
• traverse a nested list using both while loop and for-loop
• draw environment diagram of a nested list
• explain the effect of aliasing of a nested list
• explain the difference between shallow copy and deep copy
• use print to debug nested loop
• identify nested loop structure in a given problem
• decompose nested loop problem into multiple loops

Lesson 9: Dictionary and Set

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• create a dictionary as key-value pairs
• access the value using the key
• add key-value pair into a dictionary
• use dictionary to implement branch structure
• remove a key-value pair from a dictionary
• check if a key is in a dictionary
• check if a value is in a dictionary
• traverse a dictionary
• compare dictionary with a list
• create a set
• use basic set operations
• add item into a set
• compare set and dictionary
• identify when dictionary or set is appropriate in a problem