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Functional programming crash course

CP508 Live remote training course

An introduction to databases for A level teachers. Gain confidence in teaching the databases content in the A level specification including attempting and marking exam questions.

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Programming Mathematics Post 16 Teach secondary computing certificate
Live remote training course 1 day

  • Live remote training 11 December 10:00—11 December 2024
  • Live remote training 18 December 10:30—18 December 2024
  • Live remote training 22 January 09:00—22 January 2025
  • Live remote training 18 February 09:00—18 February 2025
  • Live remote training 27 March 09:00—27 March 2025
  • Live remote training 9 April 09:45—9 April 2025

Learn about a new topic from GCSE, the world of functional programming. You will learn about the paradigm that is very different from other programming paradigms.  This course covers part of the A Level AQA specification and isn’t a required element for OCR teachers. However, you may wish to upskill your programming skills further and it does contain a session on recursion which is part of the OCR specification.

This course equips you with essential functional programming concepts, focusing on first-class functions, higher-order functions, function composition, recursion, and stack frames.

Who is it for?

This course is aimed at teachers delivering A Level computer science. Since this content is not covered in most GCSE specifications we will take you right from the very basics to the more advanced topics.

During this course you’ll access the Isaac Computer Science platform, it is advised you sign up for a free, teachers account ahead of the course.

Topics covered

  • 01 | Understanding First-Class Functions: Learn about functions as first-class objects, including their use as arguments, return values, and variable assignments.
  • 02 | Exploring Higher-Order and Function Composition: Implement and use functions that take other functions as parameters or return them as results and master the composition of functions.
  • 03 | Recursion and Head-Tail Operations: Master recursion techniques, understand the use of stack frames in function calls, and explore head and tail operations in list processing.

How long is this course?

This course will last 6 hours and is delivered in 5 sessions, these sessions may be split across multiple days.  

How will you learn?

Scheduled live, interactive online sessions led by an experienced practitioner. Flexible Professional Development Leader-supported, participant-led tasks, involving deep exploration of the subject content. 

Outcomes

By the end of this intensive CPD pathway, you will be able to:

  • Understand the concept of first-class functions and their characteristics.
  • Implement higher-order functions and appreciate their benefits in code modularity and reusability.
  • Design and implement recursive functions, understanding their use in problem-solving.
  • Apply head and tail operations to manipulate and process lists efficiently.
  • Differentiate between pure and impure functions, focusing on the avoidance of side effects.

This course is part of Teach secondary computing

Teach secondary computing

Our nationally recognised qualification will give you confidence to take your computing teaching to the next level and to apply those skills in the classroom.

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This course is from the National Centre for Computing Education and is delivered by STEM Learning.

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