Both of my parents were educators, so this question is right up my alley. I will attempt to provide suggestions that are topical to "Information and Communications Technology".
You haven't specified the length of the curriculum, so I'm going to spitball a bit.
I'd strongly recommend interleaving content, as to provide multiple touchpoints on the same concept over the quarter, as opposed to the discrete "module" approach. E.g., not a "statistics module", a "logic module", a "bias module", but connecting them together to answer real-world questions on a weekly-or-so cadence.
Also, I am making a big assumption here: that the goal is to prepare students to live and work in the information age, not to teach them algorithms.
- Essentials of statistics, focusing on what these things mean in the real world, including examples of deception using statistics[1]. Don't dive into the complex math -- nothing more advanced than a square root should be necessary at this stage.
- Recognizing bias and frame (the context provided around curated information). Pretty much any news from a major news source is flagrantly biased these days, and you can look to literature and history for more subtle examples.
Would recommend looking at information from multiple sources and angles, although take care to keep discussions civil and focused on "what are the biases here?" rather than "which side do you agree with".
- An overview of what programming is and how it works. I'd recommend Python or Ruby, and focus on students building simple CLI tools to help them complete their coursework. No IDEs -- they should understand how the code works on its own. Cribbing from skeletons is fine, you are teaching to get value from automation, not to pass a Google interview. A bit of code readability would go a long way here.
- Fundamentals of formal logic, taught though number theory and some very basic algebra. Start from simple proofs involving only addition, subtraction, and sets.
- Some time spent on the scientific method and how experiments work. Replication, falsification, and p-hacking[2].
- While doing the above, sneak in a bunch of micro-writing assignments and small presentations, to help them build outward communication skills.
- Lots of opportunities to tie in economics and personal finance as well.
You can tie each week together with a theme to explore the above concepts. Maybe roll through history, and walk the path of development from "no math" to our present complex world? Also gives a good opportunity to investigate biases in historical sources, and to showcase parallel development of concepts.
You haven't specified the length of the curriculum, so I'm going to spitball a bit.
I'd strongly recommend interleaving content, as to provide multiple touchpoints on the same concept over the quarter, as opposed to the discrete "module" approach. E.g., not a "statistics module", a "logic module", a "bias module", but connecting them together to answer real-world questions on a weekly-or-so cadence.
Also, I am making a big assumption here: that the goal is to prepare students to live and work in the information age, not to teach them algorithms.
- Essentials of statistics, focusing on what these things mean in the real world, including examples of deception using statistics[1]. Don't dive into the complex math -- nothing more advanced than a square root should be necessary at this stage.
- Recognizing bias and frame (the context provided around curated information). Pretty much any news from a major news source is flagrantly biased these days, and you can look to literature and history for more subtle examples.
Would recommend looking at information from multiple sources and angles, although take care to keep discussions civil and focused on "what are the biases here?" rather than "which side do you agree with".
- An overview of what programming is and how it works. I'd recommend Python or Ruby, and focus on students building simple CLI tools to help them complete their coursework. No IDEs -- they should understand how the code works on its own. Cribbing from skeletons is fine, you are teaching to get value from automation, not to pass a Google interview. A bit of code readability would go a long way here.
- Fundamentals of formal logic, taught though number theory and some very basic algebra. Start from simple proofs involving only addition, subtraction, and sets.
- Some time spent on the scientific method and how experiments work. Replication, falsification, and p-hacking[2].
- While doing the above, sneak in a bunch of micro-writing assignments and small presentations, to help them build outward communication skills.
- Lots of opportunities to tie in economics and personal finance as well.
You can tie each week together with a theme to explore the above concepts. Maybe roll through history, and walk the path of development from "no math" to our present complex world? Also gives a good opportunity to investigate biases in historical sources, and to showcase parallel development of concepts.
Honestly, I'd be keen to help. Email in profile.
[1] https://medium.com/@hollymathnerd/how-to-defend-yourself-fro...
[2] https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/882:_Significant