Individual Course

CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Scratch

Course Length

3 weeks

2-6 hours a week

Featuring faculty from:

Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

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Class:

Certificate Price:

$ 299

Enroll on edX

A gentle introduction to programming that prepares you for subsequent courses in coding.

An introduction to programming using Scratch, a visual programming language via which aspiring programmers can write code by dragging and dropping graphical blocks (that resemble puzzle pieces) instead of typing out text. Used at the start of Harvard College's introductory course in computer science, CS50, Scratch was designed at MIT's Media Lab, empowering students with no prior programming experience to design their own animations, games, interactive art, and stories. Using Scratch, this course introduces students to fundamentals of programming, found not only in Scratch itself but in traditional text-based languages (like Java and Python) as well.

Topics include: functions, which are instructions that perform tasks; return values, which are results that functions provide; conditions, via which programs can decide whether or not to perform some action; loops, via which programs can take action again and again; variables, via which programs can remember information; and more. Ultimately, this course prepares students for subsequent courses in programming. Scratch is developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. See scratch.mit.edu. The course will be delivered via edX and connect learners around the world.

Self-Guided

edX

Learning Outcome
Learn about functions, events, and values.
Learning Outcome
Understand conditions and loops.
Learning Outcome
Learn about variables and abstraction.

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Faculty

Your Instructor

Brian Yu

Senior Preceptor in Computer Science, Harvard University

Your Instructor

David J. Malan

Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Computer Science, Harvard University

David J. Malan is Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Computer Science at Harvard University in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as well as a Member of the Faculty of Education in the Graduate School of Education. He teaches Computer Science 50, otherwise known as CS50, which is among Harvard University's largest courses, one of Yale University's largest courses, and edX's largest MOOC. He also teaches at Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, Harvard Extension School, and Harvard Summer School.

Ways to take this course

Audit or Pursue a Verified Certificate

A Verified Certificate costs $299 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.

⁠Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.

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