IT Fundamentals Pro - Programming Tips and Best Practices

Kelly Keetch, one of TestOut's Instructional and Assessment Designers reviews how to help your students with Programming (Chapter 8) of TestOut IT Fundamentals Pro.

Learning Activity - JavaScript Game

Explore a JavaScript game and identify as many core programming building blocks as possible.

Complete the following: 

1. Download the Flappy Bird game written in JavaScript and HTML5.
2. Browse to: https://github.com/CodeExplainedRepo/FlappyBird-JavaScript
3. Select the Code Button.
4. Select Download ZIP and save the file to the Downloads folder.
5. Extract the FlappyBird-JavaScript-master.zip file.
6. Navigate to the FlappyBird-JavaScript-master folder.
7. Double-click index.html to launch the game in a browser.
8. Explore the game for a few minutes. The up arrow controls Flappy Birds movement.
9. Close the browser tab to end the game.
10. Review the files in the FlappyBird-JavaScript-master folder and look for index.html and flappyBird.js.
11. Review the files under the images and sounds folders.
12. Open the index.html in an IDE, such as Visual Studio Code or PyCharm Community Edition and review the HTML5 code.
13. Open the floppyBird.js in an IDE and review the code.
14. Identify the programming building blocks that were discussed in Section 8.3 of the course, such as variables, data types, functions, if statements, for loops, etc.

Learning Activity - OOP

Group Activity

Complete the following:

1. Divide the class into group of 3 or 4 students.
2. Present the OOP “house” analogy or one of your choosing.
3. Display the “dog” slide on a projector and provide the students with handouts they can write their answers on.
4. Ask the students to work as a group and brainstorm possible answers.
5. Ask each of the groups to provide one answer.
6. Provide feedback on any answers that work and why others may not work.
7. Continue to ask the groups for answers until you have all the blanks filled in.
8. You can use the next “dog” slide to compare with the ones they came up with.

Individual Activity

Complete the following:

1. Display the “car” slide on a projector and provide the students with handouts they can write their answers on.
2. Ask the students to work as individuals and brainstorm possible answers.
3. Ask students to provide one answer.
4. Provide feedback on any answers that work and why others may not work.
5. Continue to ask for answers until you have all the blanks filled in.

Discuss any key answers they may be missing.