Course Catalog

Introduction to Office Productivity Suite through Business Simulation

Target audience: grades 8-12, adults

Price and Duration:

$549 per student
This course is a semester long (15 weeks); typically 1d per week, 75min.

Description:

This course is an introduction to the SoftMaker Office productivity suite (MS Office-compatible). Students will learn several of the SoftMaker Office applications through a project-based approach. The student is a member of the sales & marketing team at a fictitious wholesale business. Each week, the overbearing boss (your instructor!) will drop sales data that the student "employee" will need to incorporate into running sales report (spreadsheet app). Each student will be responsible for a product or product line and will need to develop a marketing brochure for that product (word processor app) and present the brochure (presentation app) to the sales & marketing team. The student will interact with the company Contacts database to generate form letter mailer (word processor). Intermittently during the semester and at the end of the semester, the student "employee" will brief the sales report (spreadsheet, presentation) to the team. The student will also maintain communications with the sales & marketing team through the semester (project management app). Finally, the student will develop a résumé (word processor) to sell themselves to the job market. Prerequisites/Co-requisites:

None.

Objectives:

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the SoftMaker Office productivity suite. At the completion of the course, the student will possess the knowledge and skill to work with spreadsheets, word processing, presentations apps and other tools in a real-world environment. Required Texts and Resources:

Student must have an Internet-connected computer with an HTML-5 compliant web browser (MacOS, Windows, ChromeOS, Linux). A subscription to SoftMaker Office NX or 2024

Introduction to SketchUp 3D Modeling

Target audience: grades 6-12, adults

Price and Duration:

$549 per student
This course is a semester long (15 weeks); typically 1d per week, 75min.

Description:

An introduction to the SketchUp 3D modeling software. Click here for a complete syllabus.

Prerequisites/Co-requisites:

None.

Objectives:

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the fundamentals of 3D drawing in SketchUp Pro. At the completion of the course, the student will possess an understanding of the most important aspects of SketchUp which will allow the student to create beautiful 3D drawings ... of just about anything!

Required Texts and Resources:

Student must have an Internet-connected computer running MacOS or Windows 10/11. A more complete list of system requirements for SketchUp is listed here.

Practical Programming with Python (PPP)

Target audience: grades 8-12, adults

Price and Duration:

$549 per student
This course is a semester long (15 weeks); typically 1d per week, 75min

Description:

This course is a rigorous introduction to Python programming. In this course, the student will learn about:

how to setup the Python environment.
how to use Jupyter notebooks
variables and data types
lists, tuples, dictionaries, sets, and when and where to use them
functions, methods, and classes
program control, and more!

The capstone of the course will be to develop fully operational application using what the student has learned.

Prerequisites/Co-requisites:

None. However, familiarity with Python or another programming language is useful.

Objectives:

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the fundamentals of Python programming through examples. By the end of the course, the student will be able to create complex applications through object-oriented programming.

This course will prepare the student to sit for the PCEP™ – Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer exam through the Python Institute (see PCEP)

Required Texts and Resources:

Text: Python Crash Course, 3rd Ed., Eric Matthews. San Francisco: No Starch Press, 2023.
Text: Python Essentials 1, OpenEDG Python Institute, 2023.
IT Resources: Student must have a computer (desktop, laptop, Chromebook) with an Internet connection.
Recommended: Anaconda Python distribution and PyCharm IDE installed on a personal computer.

Data Analysis using Python (DAP)

Target audience: grades 8-12, adults

Price and Duration:

$549 per student
This course is a semester long (15 weeks); typically 1d per week, 75min

Description:

This course is an introduction to data analysis using Python. In this course, the student will learn the steps of data analysis: - Data loading - Data cleaning and preparation - Data wrangling (joining, combining, reshaping) - Plotting and visualization - Data storage

The student will learn essential Python tools for data analysis, including: - essential Python data structures, functions, and files - numpy - working with arrays - pandas - working with tabular data in series and data frames - matplotlib - plotting data - and more

Prerequisites/Co-requisites:

None. However, familiarity with Python or another programming language is useful.

Objectives:

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to methods of manipulating, processing, cleaning, and analyzing data in Python. The student will understand how to work with structured data from a variety of sources.

Required Texts and Resources:

Text: Python for Data Analysis, 3rd Ed. by Wes McKinney. Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly Media, 2022. Open Edition of the book is available here.
IT Resources: Student must have a computer (desktop, laptop, Chromebook) with an Internet connection. The student will primarily work in Jupyter Notebooks which can be accessed locally or through a web browser.
Recommended: Anaconda Python distribution and PyCharm IDE installed on a personal computer.

Graphical User Interfaces in Python (GUP)

Target audience: grades 8-12, adults

Price and Duration:

$549 per student
This course is a semester long (15 weeks); typically 1d per week, 75min

Description:

This course is an introduction to graphical user interface (GUI) development for Python programs. This course is focused on the Qt6 Widgets framework and Qt PySide6. In this course, the student will learn various aspects of developing GUIs for MacOS, Windows, and Linux computers, including: - the application event loop - widgets and windows - signals and slots - layouts - actions, toolbars and menus - dialogs - events - ... more!

Prerequisites/Co-requisites:

Practical Programming with Python (PPP) course or demonstrated proficiency in Python.

Objectives:

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the fundamentals of graphical user interface development for Python. By the end of the course, the student will understand the fundamental aspects of Qt PySide6 and Widgets and will be able to create sophisticated Python programs with beautiful graphical user interfaces.

Required Texts and Resources:

Text: Create GUI Applications with Python & Qt6, 6th Ed. by Martin Fitzpatrick book here
IT Resources: Student must have a computer (desktop, laptop) with an Internet connection. The student will need to install Qt6 framework and Python v.3.9 or above.
Recommended: Anaconda Python distribution.

Course Delivery

Sophora Services LLC courses ... - All courses will be delivered via Zoom Workplace. - Materials and assignments will be made available through Canvas LMS - Communications will be primarily through Canvas LMS