Representing Algorithms - Flowcharts and Intro to Trace Tables

This resource is Lesson 3 of 7 in my series. The lesson is based on the latest AQA Computer Science 8525 specification (3.1.1 Representing Algorithms) however could still be used for OCR Computer Science AND Key Stage 3 lessons. Full series will be available very soon.

The lesson continues on from lesson 2 of my series by offering further opportunity to represent simple algorithms with a flowchart including representing a loop. The lesson then introduces trace tables at a basic, introductory level to make students aware of them and provide a foundation for future lessons in my series which will look at the more complex trace tables they will face when completing paper 1.

Post Lesson Notes

I ended up spreading this particular lesson over two 50 minute sessions.

The reason for this is due to me doing a show and tell of selected students flowcharts and trace tables on the IWB from task 1 as they worked on them live during the lesson. I used this as an opportunity to assess students understanding of creating flowcharts for a given problem and also being able to create a suitable trace table to test their flowcharts efficiently.

I helped identify possible problems, ensured the students had set up the trace table correctly (including the correct columns) and used sensible test data.

Feedback from students told me this was very beneficial to their understanding, even if it meant spreading it over 2 lessons.

I have also since added extra slides with part solutions and trace table templates if students require extra guidance and support.

End of Post Lesson Notes

The following resources included for this lesson are:

Lesson PowerPoint (with notes)
Worksheet in 2 formats (.docx and .pdf)
Sample solutions on the Lesson PowerPoint

I use OneNote with my students so the above Worksheet is a template of what I distribute in each of the student notebooks.

Plenary activities are done by offering pre printed past exam question on the lesson topic or a pre-created quiz on blooket/kahoot on the lessons topic.