Home Plan and prepare Scope and sequence (F–10) Years 3–4 Programming a simple digital solution Programming a digital solution
Foundation Years 1–2 Years 3–4 Years 5–6 Years 7–8 Years 9–10

Select a topic across a two year cycle

Recommended any combination of three topics per year.
Choose a combination of units that suits your students and context.

JAN DEC

Cycle one (Year 3)

Jan Jun Dec

Cycle one (Year 4)

Jan Jun Dec

Overview

This unit outlines a teaching sequence, starting with identifying user needs and co-developing a user story, followed by the design and implementation of a digital solution that includes sequencing, branching and iteration (repetition).

By the end of Year 4 students create simple digital solutions and use provided design criteria to check if solutions meet user needs. They follow and describe simple algorithms involving branching and iteration and implement them as visual programs.

Content descriptions

Investigating and defining AC9TDI4P01

Generating and designing AC9TDI4P02, AC9TDI4P03

Producing and implementing AC9TDI4P04

Evaluating AC9TDI4P05

Related content and General capabilities

English: Literature and contexts

Digital Literacy: Creating and exchanging

Critical and Creative Thinking: Analysing

  • describe a range of familiar problems and generate possible solutions
  • co-create a user story that describes their role, the goal and reason
  • follow algorithms to determine their purpose and predict outcomes
  • describe and create an algorithm that includes branching and repetition
  • create a program following an algorithm that includes branching and repetition
  • evaluate their program based on the user needs to see how well it met their needs.

 

Watch this video for a quick overview of the unit and how to use its resources with your students.

Achievement standard

Digital Technologies: years 3–4

By the end of Year 4, students create simple digital solutions and use provided design criteria to check if solutions meet user needs. They follow and describe simple algorithms involving branching and iteration and implement them as visual programs.

Rubric

Use this rubric to assess student skills, processes and knowledge.

Control structures (branching and iteration)

This rubric provides benchmarks for assessing different levels of complexity and proficiency in:

  • understanding and identifying the needs of a user in their design
  • understanding of programming blocks, specifically focusing on control structures
  • identifying branching and iteration
  • using branching, iteration and user input in programming tasks.
1 (limited) 2 (basic) 3 (proficient) 4 (advanced)
Generate designs incorporating user needs with guidance, can describe the problem and with help can identify the needs for their generated design defines the problem, identifies the user type and their needs and how their generated design meets those needs defines the problem, identifies user type and their needs, co-develops a user story showing the goal to be accomplished and the reason for the goal clearly defines the problem and identifies user type and their needs, co-develops a user story showing the goal to be accomplished and the reason for the goal; generates a design that clearly shows how the user experience is improved and meets the user needs and design criteria
Knowledge of visual programming blocks shows a limited understanding of visual programming blocks names some visual programming blocks or describes their purpose describes the purpose of the visual programming blocks and gives relevant examples to support their understanding consistently describes the purpose of the visual programming blocks and gives relevant examples to support their understanding; uses examples that illustrate blocks to enable input, make decisions based on comparing data, and include repeat steps
Identifies control structures: investigating sample visual programs with guidance shows a limited ability to describe or identify blocks in given examples and with support can interpret the sequence of steps identifies most block types in provided examples and interprets the sequence of steps consistently identifies block types correctly in simple program examples; interprets the sequence of steps and identifies user input, decisions (branching) and repeat steps (iteration) shows a high level of accuracy in identifying block types of a range of visual programs; interprets the sequence of steps, predicts outcomes of blocks and identifies user input, branching and iteration; explains ways to enable input and make decisions and automate repeat steps
Producing and implementing visual programs with guidance, creates a program in a sequence of steps to perform a basic task with limited opportunity for user input creates a program with user input in a sequence of logical steps creates a program with user input in a sequence of logical steps that includes a decision (branching) to provide the user with a choice creates a program with user input in a sequence of logical steps that includes a decision (branching) and iteration (repeat steps); enables input and make decisions and automate repeat steps

Unit sequence

This topic offers 2 sequential units

Unit 2

Programming a digital solution

Students design a digital solution and implement it as a visual program involving user input, branching and repetition.
Learn More

Who are you designing for?

What is this about?

An important part of the design process is to consider the user, who they are and what they need. We can use what we call a ‘user story’ to help define the purpose and the user experience. For example, a user story might say, ‘As a player, I want to control a character with arrow keys to navigate through a game and collect stars for points’ or ‘As a reader, I want a way to read that is fun so that I can overcome my difficulty in keeping interest’. When designing a digital solution, the user story informs the development of the algorithm that we use to implement as a computer program.

Content descriptions

Define problems with given design criteria and by co-creating user stories AC9TDI4P01

Generate, communicate and compare designs AC9TDI4P03

This sequence enables students to:

  • describe a range of familiar problems and generate possible solutions
  • co-create a user story that describes their role, the goal and reason.

Resources to include

Resources to introduce

Resources to develop and consolidate learning

Resources to extend and integrate learning

Close

Years 3–4 User story

Use these slides to support and guide students to develop a user story as part of the ideation phase of the design process.

Requires

  • internet access
  • computer and interactive whiteboard to view slides as a class
  • slides (PowerPoint)

Suggested time

1 hour

Enables students to:

  • identify needs of a user
  • co-create a user story
  • explain how a user story is used in the design process.
User storyImage
Go to resource Close

Programming a digital solution

What is this about?

As students develop their understanding of user stories they can use them when designing their algorithms which they then implement as a visual program. As user stories is a relatively new inclusion in the curriculum it may need to be explicitly connected when designing algorithms and programming solutions. Prompting students to think about who the user might be, what they want and their reasons why that need is important, can help students in the design phase. Students create their program exploring branching, where decisions direct the program's flow, and repetition loops, which enable the execution of specific actions iteratively. They then evaluate their program based on the user needs to see how well it met their needs.

Content descriptions

Define problems with given design criteria and by co-creating user stories AC9TDI4P01

Generate, communicate and compare designs AC9TDI4P03

Follow and describe algorithms involving sequencing, comparison operators (branching) and iteration AC9TDI4P02

Implement simple algorithms as visual programs involving control structures and input AC9TDI4P04

Discuss how existing and student solutions satisfy the design criteria and user stories AC9TDI4P05

This sequence enables students to:

  • identify and explain what the basic visual blocks do in a program
  • create a program that executes steps in a specific order
  • creates a basic program where the sprite (character) responds to user input.

Resources to include

Resources to introduce

Resources to develop and consolidate learning

Resources to apply and extend learning

Further reading and professional learning