Assistant Professor
Big Ideas in Programming: Expressing Yourself with Python
4 Modules
24 Hours
6 hrs per module (approx.)
Rating
About Big Ideas in Programming: Expressing Yourself with Python
Harness the power of Python and its programming concepts to express yourself and refine all the work you do with this online course from the University of Michigan.
This course is designed for anyone interested in learning Python. Whether you want to discuss programming with other professionals, teaching others to code or use the language to do your own creative coding, this is the Python course for you!
The big ideas in programming are the building blocks that allow you to create large, interesting, and useful programs. Mastering these programming concepts (variables, loops, strings, conditionals, and functions) and data structures (lists, tuples, and dictionaries) in Python will allow you to really express yourself in the digital space.
The creative coding/programming skills that you acquire in this Python course will allow you to design and produce personalized stories, filter and transform data, use code visualisers, generate art, predict program output, and write better code that works smarter, not harder.
You can expect plenty of interactive practice, engaging assignments, and immediate feedback. This allows you to check your understanding at every step of the way, giving you the chance to really develop your confidence and skill.
Skills You'll Gain
- Computational Thinking
- Computer Programming
- Data Structures
- Data Visualization
- Debugging
- Python (Programming Language)
What You'll Earn
- Certificate of Completion:
- Certificates of completion acknowledge knowledge acquired upon completion of a non-credit course or program.
Welcome Message
Big Ideas in Programming: Expressing Yourself with Python introduces learners to creative coding through interactive exercises and visual problem solving. You will develop foundational programming skills while creating stories, manipulating data, and exploring Python concepts such as functions, loops, conditionals, and data structures in engaging, real-world contexts. This course is part of the Creative Coding Hands-On Python series.
This abbreviated syllabus description was created with the help of AI tools and reviewed by staff. The full syllabus is available to those who enroll in the course.
Course Schedule
Module 1: Functions and Strings
- Video: Meet Dr. Barb Ericson
- Video: How is this course different?
- Reading: Syllabus
- Reading: Community Engagement Guidelines
- Reading: Course Pre-Survey
- Video: What is Python?
- Video: Why work in groups?
- Video: POGIL roles
- Discussion Prompt: How to work in a group
- Video: How to write code in the eBook
- Video: Reloading your code history
- Reading: Week 1 Overview
- Video: Welcome to Week 1
- Discussion Prompt: Introduce Yourself | Where in the World Are You?
- Reading: Functions Overview
- Video: Mixed-Up Code (Parsons) Problems
- Video: Introduction to Functions
- App Item: eBook Login
- Reading: Group Work | Functions
- Video: Code Visualizer (CodeLens)
- Video: Integer vs Float division and the Modulo Operator
- App Item: Peer Instruction | Basics & Functions
- Discussion Prompt: Peer Instruction Discussion | Basics & Functions
- App Item: Exercise: Functions Practice | Parsons/Write Code
- Video: String Overview
- Reading: Group Work Exercise | Strings
- Video: Slicing a String
- Video: Stripping Characters
- Video: Converting Types
- App Item: Peer Instruction | Functions & Strings
- Discussion Prompt: Peer Instruction Discussion | Functions & Strings
- App Item: Exercise: Strings Practice | Parsons Problems (Mixed Up Code)
- Reading: Assignment Brief | Personalized Story
- Reading: Assignment Instructions | Personalized Story
- App Item: Assignment Submission | Personalized Story
- Discussion Prompt: Assignment Reflection | Extend Your Thinking
- Discussion Prompt: Functions and Strings Recap
- Discussion Prompt: End of Week Discussion 1 | It's Okay to be Overwhelmed!
Module 2: Conditionals and Lists
- Reading: Week 2 Overview
- Video: Welcome to Week 2
- Video: What are Conditionals?
- App Item: Ebook Login
- Reading: Group Work | Conditionals
- Video: Testing All Conditionals
- Video: Coding get_middle
- Video: Coding alarm_clock
- Video: How to Return the Result from a Boolean Expression
- Video: How to Use a Complex Conditional
- App Item: Peer Instruction: Conditionals
- Discussion Prompt: Peer Instruction Discussion: Conditionals
- App Item: Exercise: Conditionals Practice | Parsons Problems (Mixed-up Code)
- Video: Overview of Lists
- Reading: Exercise: Group Work | Lists
- Video: Solving first_half
- App Item: Peer Instruction: Functions with Lists
- Discussion Prompt: Peer Instruction Discussion: Functions With Lists
- App Item: Exercise: Lists Practice | Parsons Problems (Mixed-up Code)
- Reading: Assignment Brief | Choose Your Adventure Decision Tree
- Reading: Assignment Instructions | Choose Your Adventure Decision Tree
- App Item: Gallery Submission | Choose Your Adventure Decision Tree
- Discussion Prompt: Assignment Reflection | Extend Your Thinking
- Discussion Prompt: End of Week Discussion 2 | It's Okay to Have Errors!
- Discussion Prompt: Conditionals and Lists Recap
Module 3: Loops with Lists, Strings, and Conditionals
- Reading: Week 3 Overview
- Video: Welcome to Week 3
- Video: Overview of Loops
- App Item: Ebook Login
- Reading: Exercise: Group Work | Loops
- Video: Stepping Through count_odd
- Video: Fixing sum67
- Video: More About Loops
- Video: Add Number of Guesses to Number Guessing Game
- Video: Fixing Countdown
- App Item: Peer Instruction: Functions With Loops
- Discussion Prompt: Peer Instruction Discussion: Functions With Loops
- App Item: Exercise: Loops Practice | Parsons Problems (Mixed-up Code)
- Video: Comparing Adjacent Values in a List
- Video: Another Way to Compare Adjacent Values in a List
- Video: Filtering Data with a Loop
- Video: What Are List Comprehensions?
- Video: Filtering Data with a List Comprehension
- Video: More About List Comprehensions
- App Item: Peer Instruction: Loops, Lists, and Conditionals
- Discussion Prompt: Peer Instruction Discussion: Loops, Lists, and Conditionals
- App Item: Exercise: Loops, Lists, and Conditionals Practice | Parsons/Write Code
- Reading: Assignment Brief | ASCII Art
- Reading: Assignment Instructions | ASCII Art
- App Item: Assignment Submission | ASCII Art
- Discussion Prompt: Assignment Reflection | Extend Your Thinking
- Discussion Prompt: Loops Recap
- Discussion Prompt: End of Week Discussion 3 | It's Okay to Struggle!
Module 4: Lists Tuples and Dictionaries
- Reading: Week 4 Overview
- Video: Welcome to Week 4
- Video: Overview of Tuples
- Video: Why Use Tuples?
- Video: Overview of Dictionaries
- App Item: Ebook Login
- Reading: Exercise: Group Work | Tuples and Dictionaries
- Video: More on Dictionaries
- Video: What Does Zip Do?
- Video: A Better Way to Add a Count to a Dictionary
- App Item: Peer Instruction: Lists, Tuples and Dictionaries
- Discussion Prompt: Peer Instruction Discussion: Lists, Tuples and Dictionaries
- App Item: Exercise: Lists, Tuples, and Dictionaries Practice | Parsons Problems (Mixed-up Code)
- App Item: Optional: More Exercises about Dictionaries - Nested Dictionaries
- Video: How to Sort Lists, Tuples, and Dictionaries
- Video: Sorting with Lambda
- App Item: Peer Instruction: Tuple and Dictionary Sorting
- Discussion Prompt: Peer Instruction Discussion: Tuple and Dictionary Sorting
- App Item: Exercise: Tuples and Dictionaries with Sort Practice | Parsons Problems (Mixed-up Code)
- Reading: Assignment Brief | Encrypt and Decrypt a Message
- Reading: Assignment Instructions | Encrypt and Decrypt a Message
- App Item: Gallery Submission | Encrypt and Decrypt a Message
- Discussion Prompt: Assignment Reflection | Extend Your Thinking
- Discussion Prompt: End of Week Discussion 4 | It's Okay to Be Unsure!
- Discussion Prompt: Tuples and Dictionaries Recap
- Discussion Prompt: End of Course Recap
- Reading: Course Post-Survey
Grading Policy
The course grade is based on four quizzes worth 25% each.
Course content developed by U-M faculty and managed by the university. Faculty titles and affiliations are updated periodically.
Beginner Level
No prior experience required
