Dominik Martinez

Senior Project Proposal

My senior project is to establish a computer programming course at an elementary school
in Petaluma, based off of the curriculum provided by Code.org. Computer science is one most
rapidly expanding industries in the United States, yet only 1 in 10 schools offer any computer
science class. For this reason, I believe that establish a basic course is CS at a local elementary
school would encourage some students to pursue a career in CS, while before they may have
been totally unaware of CS as a profession. A question that may arise would be, isnt CS a bit
too advance to teach to elementary students. CS is a very broad topic, and for this reason, many
organizations (including Code.org) have made curriculums that can introduce computer science
topics, such as flow, choices, other CS concepts, while avoiding the complexities of the syntax of
various languages (C++, Java, Python, etc). Many of the skills taught through these courses also
can cover math, science, and English standards from Common Core.
This project is very self sustainable: aside from access to a computer lab of some sort, the
curriculum would require no additional programs or costs. In addition, the curriculum itself is
licensed under a Creative Commons license, so it is without cost. The only issue that may arise
from this project is the necessity of finding a time and a place that is within the schedules of both
myself and the elementary school I will be working with.
The specifics of the project are as follows. I plan on discussing the curriculum with
several elementary school in Petaluma (or further) until I find a school that is capable of hosting
the curriculum. The curriculum itself would last about 4 - 5 weeks, with each lesson taking about
45 minutes. On top of the base curriculum, I plan on introducing students to software and web
applications that would allow students to continue their computer science education outside of
the classroom. Some of these resources include Khan Academy, Codecademy, and Tynker. I will
also introduce students to jobs that exists for computer scientists, including programmer, analyst,
hardware engineer, web developer, and more.
Overall, my project is intending to introduce children to an incredibly important science
field that is relevant in nearly aspect of modern life. Computers are everywhere, and theyre not
going away anytime soon. In addition, the skills that can be taken away from computer science
are applicable to many other interests. A computer science curriculum for elementary students
will kickstart some students on a career towards computer science, by introducing them to the
topics prior to high school or even college.