Programming And Design Principles QQI Level 5 (Starts April 10th) Wednesday

Course Name Programming and Design Principles

Award: Certified QQI 5N2927

Course Overview

This course is suitable for individuals who wish to learn computer programming. The course introduces computer programming through the Python programming language. Students will obtain the knowledge and skills needed to design, write and test structured computer programs– skills that can easily be transferred to any other programming languages. The course is suitable for students with no prior knowledge of computer programming as well as those who what to cement their existing knowledge.

Course Content

By the end of the course, learners will be able to:

Write a wide range of Python programs, from simple input-output programs to programs that provide real world solutions to real world problems.

Transfer their new-found programming skills to other computer languages.

Demonstrate an understanding of the historical development of computer programming. 

Demonstrate an understanding of algorithms and their applications in solving real‐world problems.

Differentiate between many of the major programming languages in use today. 

Understand the programming constructs that enable programmers to control the flow of logic through their code;variables,data types,boolean expressions,input/output statements,selection, iteration,and mathematical operators.

Design flowcharts and pseudocode to help map the logic of their programs.

Understand the need for functions in computer programming to break complex programs into smaller, more manageable units of all levels of bugs(errors)in their code.

Develop software testing plans and understand their importance in today’s IT  industry Comply with an accepted set of coding standards in their use of comments, indentation and variable naming.

Entry Requirements

The course is suitable for students with no prior knowledge of computer programming as well as those who what to cement their existing knowledge.

Tutor Biography 

Mike worked for over 15 years in the software industry writing and managing computer applications for a wide range of clients in many areas of industry (banking, insurance,manufacturing,transport, etc.)before retraining as a secondary school teacher. As such, Mike brings a wide range of skills to this course.Recently Mike has written BITS Tutorial-an IT tutorial used by secondary schools to teach students computer programming and computer science, and ProCon -a VBA application used by primary schools to monitor their pupils’ progress. Students of this course will benefit greatly Mike’s wide range of real world experience in the IT industry,as well as his knowledge of many computer languages in use today(Python, Java, VBA[for programming Excel], HTML, PHP, and SQL).

GRETB email address: michael.maycock@gretb.ie