Frequently Asked Questions
Instructor Info
Instructor: Richard White
Teaching Assistant: Itzayana Gonzalez
Email: rwhite@pfspasadena.org
Phone (office, voicemail): 626-396-6688 (Email usually gets a quicker response, however.)
Website: www.crashwhite.com/pfscs/
My public key
What will we be studying in this class?
See the information on the Policies page.
How hard/fun/challenging is this course? Is it the right course for me?
This is the right course for just about everybody. In here we'll be doing four things:
- Learning how to use a computer to create and organize files in a development environment
- Learning about computational thinking and algorithms
- Learning a bit about basic web design (HTML, CSS)
- Learning the JavaScript language to implement algorithms
If you're not sure what some of those things are, you'll know all about it once we get started. We've got a lot of material to cover, but it's all interesting and important.
I'm sure you're going to love it!
What kind of computer should I have for this course?
In this class you'll be working on a MacBook Pro running Linux, and that machine will be available to you in class. The work we do in here can be continued at home (if you wish) on a Chromebook, or an iPad, or a laptop running Apple's OS X, Microsoft's Windows, or Linux.
We'll be using both replit.com and p5js.org for our development.
Who is the instructor for this course?
I was born in 1960 and spent my formative years growing up in the deserts of Arizona, playing in the dirt with scorpions. I moved to Southern California with my family when I was in high school, and have been here pretty much ever since.
I've attended UC Irvine, CSU Humboldt, CSU Dominquez Hills, and CSU San Bernardino and picked up some paperwork along the way: a Bachelor's in Geology, a California Teaching Credential, a Master's in Education... I'm a Google Certified Teacher/Innovator, and believe in the power of technology to enhance learning. I've been teaching for 38 years at independent, public, and Catholic schools in Pasadena, Berkeley, Yucca Valley, and Redondo Beach, respectively. I love my job. I like helping people figure out physics and computer science, and I personally enjoy figuring out ways to use technology to make life and learning better.
In my spare time, I have a real life: reading, hanging out with friends, going to France, traveling, hiking with my son, visiting with relatives, seeing famous scientists, going climbing, playing with my dog, having adventures, listening to music... and doing physics problems and coding, of course!
