project review capability check… can this be done? /u/Worldly_Reporter9175 Python Education

Good morning all. I work as the IT academic support specialist for a college. Basically my job is developing resources and running supplemental instruction sessions for classes in the IT department. One of those classes I deal with is the ITP-100 Software design class. The class is an introduction to the broad and general concepts of programming so dealing with the likes of declaring/updating variables, building functions, being introduced to the idea of classes and objects, populating lists, working with strings, etc. Basically “Introduction to programming”. For reference the class uses python for the actual coding assignments.

One of the the projects I’ve been asked to complete is a review of a proposal for a mid-term project. Now I will say upfront that I think having a mid-term project is a good idea for this class. The material is delivered via a system called ZyBooks and while ZyBooks does a good job explaining each concept, it never provides an opportunity for the students to use the concepts for something of their own conception. The exercises will certainly demonstrate what it means to declare, call, and update a variable, but without the students actually doing something with that information it’s no different then a collection of data from Bio-Chem or history. Hence why I think the project is a good idea.

Now here is the point where I find myself: I am not convinced that the project can be completed with in the scope of topics the students are expected to have covered by the mid-point of the semester. So I was hoping I could throw the write up for the project up here, include a list of the topics the class will have covered by the half way point, and see if someone can prove me wrong about the project not being completable.

Here is the write up for the project:

1. Display a welcome message showing your establishment name and brief description of the type of business this is.
2. Show what you sell (3-5 different things with associated prices)
3. Ask if people want to order something/ order more things.
4. Accept selections including quantity of each item ordered.
5. Show the things ordered, quantity ordered, individual price and extended price.
6. Allow to order more things or finish order
7. Calculate 6.25% sales tax
8. Show final order items, quantity, individual price and extended price on one line for each item ordered
9. Show total items ordered, total net amount, sales tax amount with label of 6.25%. and total amount due.
10. Ask user to press enter to accept order and finish program.

Now At first glance I don’t see anything in that write up that would be beyond the scope of this class. Perhaps a little challenging for some students in the class, but what’s the point of taking a class if it’s not pushing you?

But when I started thinking about how to meet the requirements of the projects, and then looking at the lesson plans for the class… well that is where I’m concerned.

By the time of the mid-term the class will have covered the following topics in the class:

• Basic computing concepts and systems
• Problem analysis and algorithmic thinking
• introduction to python
• Variables and Expressions
• Branching
• Loops
• Functions

And yeah. I’m not seeing a way to complete this project with knowing about things like dictionaries, lists, strings, and string slicing. In particular, things like “Show what you sell (3-5 different things with associated prices)” and “So the things ordered, quantity ordered, individual price and extended price”… I’m kind of hitting a wall trying to think of how those sorts of operations can be completed with the use of a list, or string slicing, files, or data structures, all of which are topics that would be covered in the later half of the class.

So.. yeah. Am I over-reacting and not seeing a way to do this project with out those options or not?

Good morning all. I work as the IT academic support specialist for a college. Basically my job is developing resources and running supplemental instruction sessions for classes in the IT department. One of those classes I deal with is the ITP-100 Software design class. The class is an introduction to the broad and general concepts of programming so dealing with the likes of declaring/updating variables, building functions, being introduced to the idea of classes and objects, populating lists, working with strings, etc. Basically “Introduction to programming”. For reference the class uses python for the actual coding assignments.

One of the the projects I’ve been asked to complete is a review of a proposal for a mid-term project. Now I will say upfront that I think having a mid-term project is a good idea for this class. The material is delivered via a system called ZyBooks and while ZyBooks does a good job explaining each concept, it never provides an opportunity for the students to use the concepts for something of their own conception. The exercises will certainly demonstrate what it means to declare, call, and update a variable, but without the students actually doing something with that information it’s no different then a collection of data from Bio-Chem or history. Hence why I think the project is a good idea.

Now here is the point where I find myself: I am not convinced that the project can be completed with in the scope of topics the students are expected to have covered by the mid-point of the semester. So I was hoping I could throw the write up for the project up here, include a list of the topics the class will have covered by the half way point, and see if someone can prove me wrong about the project not being completable.

Here is the write up for the project:

1. Display a welcome message showing your establishment name and brief description of the type of business this is.
2. Show what you sell (3-5 different things with associated prices)
3. Ask if people want to order something/ order more things.
4. Accept selections including quantity of each item ordered.
5. Show the things ordered, quantity ordered, individual price and extended price.
6. Allow to order more things or finish order
7. Calculate 6.25% sales tax
8. Show final order items, quantity, individual price and extended price on one line for each item ordered
9. Show total items ordered, total net amount, sales tax amount with label of 6.25%. and total amount due.
10. Ask user to press enter to accept order and finish program.

Now At first glance I don’t see anything in that write up that would be beyond the scope of this class. Perhaps a little challenging for some students in the class, but what’s the point of taking a class if it’s not pushing you?

But when I started thinking about how to meet the requirements of the projects, and then looking at the lesson plans for the class… well that is where I’m concerned.

By the time of the mid-term the class will have covered the following topics in the class:

• Basic computing concepts and systems
• Problem analysis and algorithmic thinking
• introduction to python
• Variables and Expressions
• Branching
• Loops
• Functions

And yeah. I’m not seeing a way to complete this project with knowing about things like dictionaries, lists, strings, and string slicing. In particular, things like “Show what you sell (3-5 different things with associated prices)” and “So the things ordered, quantity ordered, individual price and extended price”… I’m kind of hitting a wall trying to think of how those sorts of operations can be completed with the use of a list, or string slicing, files, or data structures, all of which are topics that would be covered in the later half of the class.

So.. yeah. Am I over-reacting and not seeing a way to do this project with out those options or not?