In this project, students incorporate a variety of programming skills to write a program that allows a user to draw images in a Java graphics window. Students, in addition to practicing with graphics, GUI programming and file i/o, are introduced to the stack data structure used to implement an undo/redo functionality.

In this lab (Lab 14) students work individually or collaboratively on analyzing customer data. Using a list or dictionary of fake customer data, students sort and print different values. Students must create functions to perform actions, such as getting various distributions (gender, birth, and purchase) within the data set.

The authors of this material were awarded a 2015 NCWIT Engagement Excellence Award for this assignment. Learn more on NCWIT's awards page.

In this lab (Lab 13) students work individually or collaboratively on sets in Python. This lab introduces the concept of sets through analysis of two movies using data from the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). Students create a dictionary with values from these movies and process the info to determine such things as intersections between movies on actors and co-actors. This lab was inspired by the work of Bill Punch and Richard Enbody, Michigan State University.

The authors of this material were awarded a 2015 NCWIT Engagement Excellence Award for this assignment. Learn more on NCWIT's awards page.

In this lab students work individually or collaboratively on evaluating text. Using lists and dictionaries, students perform various functions on the text within Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham children's book. This lab is ideal for students looking to gain additional experience with lists and dictionaries.

In this lab students are encouraged to work collaboratively to create various functions. This activity requires students to create functions that performs various calculations on entered values. The first function calculates molecular weight of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen; the second calculates body-mass index (bmi); and the third the Collatz conjecture. This lab is ideal for students looking for more practice creating functions.

In this lab students collaborate on the creation of a Caesar cipher in Python. This lab covers the concept of a rotation (Caesar) cipher, including encoding and decoding strings of text. This lab is ideal for students looking to practice working with strings, functions, conditionals, and loops in the context of encryption/decryption.

In this lab students collaborate using Pair Programming to explore strings in Python. Using iteration, students create a program that loops through strings and produces one of a couple different outputs. Students are required to work together on this lab and the instructor recommends periodic performance checks to ensure that adequate progress is being made by both students. This lab is ideal for students looking to get additional practice working with strings and collaborating on program development and analysis through Pair Programming.

In this lab (Lab 5) students collaborate using Pair Programming to explore looping and conditionals in Python. Using loops (e.g. 'while) and conditionals ('if/else'), students complete a series of activities that involve creating ASCII art and formatted output.

In this lab students collaborate using Pair Programming to explore looping (iteration) in Python. Using various loop structures, such as 'while' and 'for', students must complete a series of tasks that illustrate the use of iteration. Frequent use of guiding questions helps students to both explore these ideas together and to discuss how the looping structures can best be used to complete the task. These activities are ideal for students interested in gaining experience with implementing and evaluating loops, as well as those who are looking for an example of how to implement Pair Programming in a CS1 lab section.

In this lab students explore conditionals in Python. Using boolean expressions and conditional logic, students are required to predict the outcome of multiple expressions and then use the Python interpreter to obtain the actual outcome for each statement. Through a series of activities students gradually build programs that demonstrate an understanding of how to use these fundamental constructs in CS. These series of activities are ideal for students looking for more experience with boolean operators and in creating small programs using conditional logic.