The Codecademy (Required) (CAR) project requires you to complete a series of html & css tutorials on the Codecademy.com web service. This CAR project is challenging because it requires you to think about design at the code level, which is immersive and disorienting for some.
The first submission for the CAR is the final submission. You'll post proof of completing each of the 12 courses listed in the required series in this description.
For the full specifications, see Submission Requirements.
The Codecademy (Required) (CAR) project is itself a learning journey. Although we could work together in class on learning html, css, and strategies for design, my long history of teaching courses based on such content suggests that most learners prefer to work at their own pace in a comfortable environment where they can harness their best learning practices to acquire the knowledge.
Although knowledge of html and css is not specifically required to engage in web design if you have tools that support wysiwig screen design, this knowledge makes you a much more capable, resourceful, and adaptable designer. I am yet to encounter a design tool that does not at times produce unintended results. With knowledge of html and css, you can correct inconsistencies and produce cleaner designs that present your vision for a project. Without this knowledge, you are not capable of knowing what is and what it not possible, or of troubleshooting errors in presentation that are created by poorly designed code. Informed humans are better coders than machines 99% of the time, in my experience.
Deliverables: memo, screenshots
Document scope: 150 words (memo), 14 proof claims (screenshots)
Project value: 200 points
Evaluation rubric: _Eval_CodecademyRequired.pdf
Recommended tool(s): Microsoft Word (memo); Computer and web browser (course work)
The CAR requires you to complete 12 courses on html, css, UI, UX, and design strategy. To fulfil these requirements, you'll need to create an account with Codecademy: visit Codecademy.com to join the service and access their content.
Complete the courses listed below this paragraph. For clarity, I have copied text from the description of each course on the Codecademy site to make them easier to identify. Note that the system tracks your progress and saves your place when you stop working. Thus you can always return to work in progress later to complete it. I recommend completing the first 4 courses in the order listed before you move on to the rest. After you reach that level of content knowledge, the remaining courses can be completed in any order.
Codecademy predicts that this set of courses should require approximately 28 hours to complete. Note that most of these units are designed to consume 2 hours or fewer of your time. Only 2 of these courses predict investments of 6 or 7 hours.I typically work faster than the pace they record for courses, but I also have many years of experience learning and working with this kind of content.
Remember, you have 4 weeks to complete this assignment. I do not expect you to complete this entire series in a day. Pace yourself. I strongly recommend that you complete the first 2 courses listed during the first week of the semester so you can more accurately gauge the time it will require you to complete this learning segment of the web design process.
As you complete each segment of the assignment, print the certificate of completion (if offered), or take a screenshot that shows that you have completed the course. For any courses that you do not complete, take a screenshot that shows how much of the course you did complete.
Note. I must assume that any missing proof docs serve as indication that you did not begin that course. I will deduct the Codecademy hour total for any such course from the total 28 hours for the project when computing the percentage of the assignment that you completed. Thus, missing the first HTML course listed (7 hours) would result in a maximum score of 150 (21/28 hours completed, or 75% of the total possible points). For more explanation of this standard, refer to the Evaluation Standards below.
A memo of transmittal introduces the accompanying document(s) to its audience(s). Your memo should be addressed from you to me, and should report on your progress with the accompanying project. Your memo should incorporate the following content elements.
This section is designed to help you be strategic in the development of your project components. Consider the following hints and tips. Use this set of recommendations as a checklist for quality control.
Working with Codecademy requires a web browser and a good computer. I do not know if it is possible to do this work on a tablet or Chromebook, but I suspect there would at least be problems. With that in mind, use a computer.
I recommended above that you complete at least the first course during the first week of the semester. Doing so will help you determine your pace of work with this content and learning environment. You have 4 weeks to complete the assignment, but would likely find it frustrating and unwieldy to attempt the whole assignment just before the submission date. Again, pace yourself. There is no penalty for completing the assignment early.
You'll encounter moments when it is clear that entering different numerical or textual values in the code you work with would produce different results from the standard flow of the course content. When you recognize that such moments are at hand, take a little time to explore the impact that variations in values have on the output of content on screen in the sandbox.
As you begin to familiarize yourself with html, css, and web design strategies, begin to consider the design aesthetics, qualities, and characteristics that you appreciate in web documents. Try to connect those goals with the course content so that once you have the opportunity to begin creating on your own, you have some sense of the design goals you want to achieve and how you might achieve them.
Read and attend carefully to these submission guidelines. Failure to do so may result in points lost on the final evaluation of your project.
Create a project folder inside your shared class folder on Dropbox.com. Remember, I can only view files that you place inside the shared folder. Until you place files in that space, you have not in practice submitted them.
Name the folder Codecademy-Required.
When you assemble your submission for the CAR project, there will be 13 files in the folder. Again, model your filenames on the examples listed here:
Note. Although some of the course names have colons (:) in them, do not use these characters in your file names. That signals a command line to the computer, and may confuse Dropbox.
Note. Do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
Take the time to organize your work as directed here, and to name each file properly. This helps me keep track of your work, and makes clear which files are meant to represent the on-going and final stages of project development.
The final project submission is worth 200 possible points. The standard described on the policies page (see Policies does not fit this learning moment. Instead, you'll earn full points for the successful completion of the course series, or you'll earn a percentage of points based on the number of hours you complete toward the Codecademy predicted total course time.
The specific areas of emphasis for this project are drawn from the description and discussion of the project, and are detailed in the evaluation rubric (_Eval_CodecademyRequired.pdf).
Remember that I will only post the point values for projects on the Grades page in SVSU Canvas. I will post the details relevant to that evaluation in your class folder in a project-specific file.
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