This course combines hands-on introduction to the basic concepts and technologies of computing with critical discussion of the historical, social, and cultural dimensions of computing, data, and digital technology.
Course Overview¶
| Week # | Topical Content | Technical Content |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Course Introduction; What is a computer? | Binary number systems |
| 2 | How do computers understand information? | File formats & encoding schema |
| 3 | How did we get computers and how do they “work”? (part 1) | The computer as a data processing machine |
| 4 | How did we get computers and how do they “work” (part 2) | Operating systems & interfaces |
| 5 | How do computers talk to each other? What “is” the internet? | Computer networks |
| 6 | How do we access information online? What is the World Wide Web? | Web content & the World Wide Web |
| 7 | What “is” code/coding? What is a programming “language”? | Programming fundamentals in Python (variables, data types, operators) |
| 8 | How did we “get” programming languages?; Understanding the landscape, history, and syntax of programming languages | Data Structures in Python (secondary data structures; strings, lists, dictionaries, tuples, sets) |
| 9 | What can programming languages “do”? | Control Structures in Python (conditional statements, iteration, loops) |
| 10 | How are programming languages used? Introduction to algorithms | Code Reuse & Modularity in Python (functions, algorithms) |
| 11 | But what about data? | Structured Data in Python (file I/O, structured data, Pandas basics) |
| 12 | But what about AI? | AI & Applied Ethics |
Weeks #13-15 are spent working on final projects:
Brainstorming + launch
Work time
Presentations