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Praxis Prep

Prepare yourself for the Computer Science Praxis test with this course.

Unit-length course · 97 lessons · 8 units

  • Python
  • HTML
  • Praxis
  • Teacher Certification
  • Voyage
  • Unit

Course Summary

This course is designed to equip aspiring computer science educators with the essential knowledge and skills needed to excel on the Praxis Computer Science test. It comprehensively covers the five key content categories: Impacts of Computing, Algorithms and Computational Thinking, Programming, Data, and Computing Systems and Networks. Through targeted instruction and practice, participants will gain a deep understanding of core computer science concepts, algorithmic problem-solving, programming paradigms, data manipulation, and network fundamentals to confidently pass the certification exam.

Course Outline

    1. Computer Innovations Learn how computer innovations help shape the world around us.
    2. Legal and Ethical Concerns in Innovations Learn about the different legal and ethical issues that arise in the world of computer science.
    3. Accessibility Learn about how we can make computer programs more accessible.
    4. The Digital Divide Learn what the Digital Divide is and how it affects people in different situations.
    5. Digital Citizenship Learn about digital citizenship and how you can be responsible with your technology.
    6. Cyber Bullying
    7. Crowdsourcing Learn how collaboration affects computer innovations.

    1. Praxis Introduction to Algorithms Learn what an algorithm is and where they are in your life.
    2. Praxis Visualizing Algorithms Learn how to create flow charts to visualize your algorithms.
    3. Praxis Algorithms in Computer Programming Practice building algorithms for computer programming!
    4. Praxis Abstractions Explore what an abstraction is and how an abstraction hierarchy works.
    5. Praxis Highly Complex or Difficult Problems Learn how computers approach certain highly complex or difficult problems.
    6. Praxis Testing an Algorithm for Efficiency Learn some techniques that can test different different algorithms to see how efficient they are.
    7. Praxis Linear Search vs Binary Search Compare different methods of searching through data.

    1. From Electricity to a Bit Learn how information moves through computer components to generate the programs you enjoy.
    2. Binary Learn the basics of binary--why it exists and how the computer uses it to communicate information.
    3. Representing Numbers with Binary Learn how to convert information into binary and back.
    4. Bits and Bytes Learn what bits are and how they relate to binary!
    5. Bigger Bytes Learn about the different sizes of data.
    6. Representing Text with Binary Learn how we use binary to represent text.
    7. Representing Images with Binary Learn how to use binary to represent images
    8. Representing Video with Binary Learn how we represent video with binary!
    9. Representing Sound with Binary Learn how we represent various analog data such as sound with binary code.
    10. Data Compression Overview Learn what data compression is and how it is used.
    11. Lossless Text Compression Learn how we can compress text files in a way that they can be perfectly recreated.
    12. Lossless Image Compression Learn how images can be compressed with a lossless approach.
    13. Lossy Compression Learn how lossy compression works and when it is useful.

    1. Intro to the Internet Learn what a network is and what parts of our lives interact with networks.
    2. Search Engines Learn about how search engines can help you and discover different kinds of search engines.
    3. Network Topologies Learn how different layouts of networks can help information move more efficiently
    4. Addressing Learn how addressing works in the internet.
    5. Network Routes Learn what kinds of routes the internet takes around the world.
    6. WIFI Learn how wifi works and discuss the limitations of wifi.
    7. Packets and Protocols Learn how packets and protocols help the internet function smoothly.
    8. Bandwidth and Scalability Learn what bandwidth is and how it affects your internet use. Learn what elements make the internet scalable and what hinders scalability.
    9. Network Parts and Pieces Learn about the different parts that help make the internet run!
    10. Redundancy and Internet Stability Learn about different strategies we use to stabilize the internet.
    11. Impacts of the Internet Learn how the internet has impacted the world we live in. Discuss what the Digital Divide is and how we can help.

    1. Computer Parts and Pieces Learn the different parts that make up a computer!
    2. Programming Languages
    3. Error Messages & Debugging
    4. Number Limitations, Overflow, and Roundoff Learn about limitations for binary
    5. Testing an Algorithm for Efficiency Learn some techniques that can test different different algorithms to see how efficient they are.
    6. Highly Complex or Difficult Problems Learn how computers approach certain highly complex or difficult problems.
    7. Sequential and Parallel Computing Learn how sequential and parallel computing work and when each might be used.
    8. Data Structures Learn about the different ways we use data and the challenges associated with data collection, structure, and interpretation.
    9. Logical Thinking Explore how different statements compare logically.
    10. Outside Libraries Learn how outside libraries can make building projects much easier!
    11. Linear Search vs Binary Search Compare different methods of searching through data.
    12. Data Learn how computers help us understand data sets.

    1. Cybersecurity Posture Learn about different ways you can stay safe while using the internet.
    2. Passwords Learn how to create strong passwords and organize your passwords to be accessible.
    3. Encryption Learn how encryption helps make things more secure.
    4. Types of Threat Learn about the different approaches criminals might take cause problems.
    5. Personal Data Learn how your personal data is available and could be without you knowing it!
    6. Computer Viruses Learn more about computer viruses and how they operate.
    7. Copyright Learn what we can and cannot use on the internet and why.

    1. Introduction Welcome to Python! This lesson gives a great introduction to Python programming and will get you up and coding in no time.
    2. Variables Variables are an important part of programming. Let's find out how we can use them in this lesson.
    3. Input/Output Writing programs that can get input from the user is a valuable skill.
    4. Syntax & Comments This lesson covers basic Python syntax and how to add comments to your code.
    5. Variable Types There are lots of different ways that you can store data in Python. This lesson covers a few of those data types.
    6. Numbers This lesson covers different types of numbers that you can use in Python.
    7. Converting This lesson covers how to convert one data type into another.
    8. Python Concatenation Connecting strings together can be very useful. Let's take a look at how this can be accomplished.
    9. Python Math Math is an important part of programming. This lesson covers how we can use math in Python.
    10. Modulus This lesson covers using modulus in Python. We will take a look at its usefulness including how to tell if a number is even or odd.
    11. Strings Strings in programming are a lot different than strings in real life. Let's see how useful strings are in Python.
    12. String Methods Python provides methods or actions that we can take on our strings. This lesson will teach us some of the basic methods we can use.
    13. String Methods Continued This lesson continues the topic of methods that we can use with strings.
    14. Checking Strings Searching strings for certain characters, words or phrases is easy in Python!
    15. Concatenating Numbers Similar to how we concatenated strings, we can also concatenate numbers to strings and vice versa.
    16. Concatenating Numbers Continued This lesson covers formatting multiple integers and formatting by index.
    17. Lists Lists are one of the main ways that we organize data in most programming languages. This lesson covers how to use lists in Python.
    18. Python If Statements If statements allow you to decide what code should run depending on some conditions. This lesson will cover the basics on using if statements in Python.
    19. Python Conditionals This lesson covers conditionals and how you can use them to compare data. We will also use if statements to execute code based on the conditionals.
    20. Python Else If Statements Else If statements in Python allow you to add multiple if statements at once. The possibilities are endless!
    21. Python For Loops This lesson covers For Loops and how to use them in Python. You will also learn how to access each item in a list using a For Loop.

    1. If Statement in a For Loop Why not combine a few of the previous lesson content? Let's take a look at using if statements in for loops.
    2. Python Accessing Items in a List Lists are great but not very useful if we can't access the items inside of them. Let's take a look at how to access these items without needing to use a for loop.
    3. Using Integers from a List Learn about different ways to use a list of integers!
    4. Adding to Lists in Python Learn different ways to add to and remove from a list in Python.
    5. Removing from Lists in Python Learn different ways to remove items from lists in Python
    6. Python Lists Continued This lesson continues on the topic of lists and accessing items inside of them.
    7. Python While Loops While loops are looping code structures that run WHILE something is true.
    8. Python Functions Functions are a great way to break up long sections of code and can be used multiple times without having to rewrite them.
    9. Python Function Parameters One of the great things about functions is that we can pass parameters to them and the function can handle the rest.
    10. Multiple Parameters in Python Functions Two is better than one! Let's learn how we can pass multiple parameters to a function in Python.
    11. Random Learn how to get random values in Python
    12. Simulations Learn how to use random to create simulations.
    13. Object-Oriented Programming This lesson covers the basics of object-oriented programming.
    14. Creating an Instance/Object This lesson covers how to create an instance of your class.
    15. Objects Continued
    16. Super Classes
    17. Stacks This lesson teaches about the stack, a common data structure used in programming.
    18. Recursion This lesson will cover recursion, which is the technique of using functions that call themselves.
    19. Recursion vs Iteration This lesson covers the difference between recursive algorithms and iterative algorithms.

Course Project

In this course, students will complete challenges that help solidify concepts as they use skills in a variety of ways. In order to complete tasks, students will creatively apply what they've learned by using different approaches to reach a goal. This experience closely follows challenges they would face in a technical interview, allowing them to practice.