Overview

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Go under the hood of AI — neural networks, real-world applications & more. Designed by UNSW experts.

Most states in Australia require a minimum of 20 hours of relevant Professional Development (PD) per year, to maintain your teaching accreditation. Completion of Scratch Coding: Mastering the Basicscan contribute as 8 hours of Teacher Identified PD to help you address the following Australian Teaching Standards: Standard 2 - Know the content and how to teach it&semi; Standard 3 - Plan and Implement for effective teaching and learning&semi; Standard 6 - Engage in professional learning. As evidence of your PD, you can download a certificate on completion of the course.

Not a teacher? This course will give you an understanding of the importance of computational thinking and how it is used everywhere. This course will help you to develop an understanding of using Scratch coding to create games and animations and to engage young people to do the same.

Thanks to the Telstra Foundation, we can provide this course as a free resource to everyone.

Syllabus

Navigate the Scratch interface by locating, selecting, and arranging motion, looks, sound, events, control, sensing, operators, and variables blocks within the block palette to build simple programs in the online editor.
Identify and classify core Scratch block categories by matching each block type to its function and appropriate use case when planning and constructing a simple interactive project.
Construct simple Scratch programs by combining motion, looks, sound, and events blocks to create an animated scene or interactive story that runs correctly from a green flag or key press.
Design and refine a basic Scratch game by planning the goal, assembling sprites and costumes, and iteratively adjusting control, sensing, and operator blocks in response to testing feedback within a 10-hour learning period.
Experiment with loops and conditional statements by modifying repeat, forever, if, and if-else blocks to control sprite behaviour in at least two different mini-projects, and document the effect of each change on program output.
Create and manipulate variables and lists by defining, updating, and displaying them in Scratch projects to track scores, timers, or player choices, and explain how these data structures influence program behaviour.
Debug simple Scratch projects by locating errors in block sequences, predicting their causes, and revising scripts to correct logic, timing, or interaction issues using systematic trial-and-error strategies.
Collaborate with peers by sharing Scratch projects, giving and receiving constructive feedback on code structure and creativity, and revising at least one project in response to this feedback within the course timeframe.
Reflect on personal learning in Scratch by keeping a brief learning log that summarises challenges, strategies used to solve coding problems, and goals for extending projects beyond the course.
Locate and evaluate free Scratch learning resources by searching the Scratch community and other reputable sites, selecting at least two tutorials or example projects, and adapting ideas from them into an original project.
Explain the role of sprites, costumes, backdrops, and the stage by illustrating how each element contributes to storytelling or gameplay in a Scratch project and demonstrating these roles in a short, student-created animation.
Plan and present a final Scratch project by outlining its purpose, describing the key blocks and structures used, and demonstrating the completed project to an audience, responding to at least two questions about design choices and code logic.