JuiceMind: My Go-To Tool for Teaching Programming

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

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This year, I've been teaching AP Computer Science Principles. At the beginning of the year, we were using a tool called Replit for Teams to do group programming, debugging, and working on our code. However, in January, Replit for Teams went away for free, leaving us without any great options. So, I started investigating with other AP Computer Science Principles teachers about the tools that are out there and found an incredible tool for coding (and math) called Juicemind.

In a world of AI where many students “get help” from AI in coding, Juicemind is the one essential tool to ensure that students learn how to code and comprehend what it does. Delivered in a real-time quiz or a homework format, it provides the backup I need to ensure understanding of coding.

In this post, I'll share how I use Juicemind, some of the features that make it so important for teaching coding (or math), and how it can be used for quizzing, teaching, and everything you need to add a quick formative assessment to your coding classroom. I'll also share why it is much better than any other quizzing platform. (Hint: you can more easily teach and check coding standards!)

This blog post is sponsored by Juicemind. All opinions are my own.

What is Juicemind?

Juicemind not only has a team programming tool for anyone teaching coding of any kind, but they also have an incredible repository of flashcards for computer science courses. Further, the reason I like their quizzing tool the most is that it actually allows you to ask coding questions and have students write, correct,and review code in a Kahoot-like quiz experience (but better).

What are the basic features of Juicemind?

Juicemind has pre-made quizzes for:

• AP Computer Science A,
• CSA by Code.org
• Intro to CS – Block Coding
• AP CS Principles
• Intro to Python
• Intro to Java
• Code.org Micro:Bit
• CS Ed Week
• Algebra I
• Algebra 2
• AP Calculus BC
• Geometry
• Integrated Math 1, 2, 3, 4
• Precalculus
• Trigonometry

When you use the quizzes in coding, students can:

• Answer a traditional multiple-choice question
• Write code
• Correct code
• Identify errors in code

And all of this is done right within the quiz! (The Math quizzes are awesome, too, as students can select points on plots, work math problems, and identify errors as well. However, I'm focusing on CS in this post as it is what I teach. If you're a math teacher, try out a few of their quizzes to see how they help you and what you think.)

How I used Juicemind for my AP CSP Prep

My students told me that this tool helped them more than anything as part of the prep. Because it already had the standards-aligned questions in easy, medium, and hard levels, I had a lot of the heavy lifting done for me. This tool has made a difference in our review.

As we prepared for the AP Computer Science Principles exam over the past few weeks, I assigned all of the premade hardest questions for AP CSP to let my students practice. They said it helped so much because they could select the standards that they felt the weakest in.

What makes Juicemind so special?

Students can write code inside the quiz

In this AP Computer Science AB excerpt, you can see how students will write code and run code within the quiz so they can not only practice their skills but use debugging and iteration to determine the right answer. This was revolutionary for me and helped students understand code even better. In the age of AI, we need a tool like this to help us teach coding.

Students can correct code

In this example from my AP CSP Course, I'm teaching a basic skill in Python. This quick question helps me ensure they understand what functions are doing. I do these in class. Juicemind is a game changer for improving comprehension and helping students lean less on AI and more on their own knowledge – which is what needs to happen in my class.

Students can identify errors in code

In this simple question, students can select where the error occurs. This type of questions helps as I teach students to spot syntax errors.

Premade Quizzes at different levels of ability that are standards-aligned.

Standards-aligned quizzes are available in easy, medium, and hard levels, giving me a starting point and goal point and review material. When I look at the standards in college board accounts, students can see their weaknesses and get extra quick reviews based on the standards where they are weak.

Enhanced Reporting

I like the statistics I received from the questions and feedback on their quiz performance. I also like that each question can be timed, requiring students to draw on their personal knowledge as we work through the material.

Juicemind is an essential tool for any coding courses

After using Juicemind and digging in (even if it was by accident), I'm a big fan of Juicemind. It is one of those tools that is extremely focused on what it does, and it does it better than anyone else.

In my course, students are allowed to use AI (as per college Board rules) for “AI review and feedback,” however, I do not want this valuable resource of AI to hinder the learning of my students. Therefore, I highly recommend Juicemind as a must-use tool for coding teachers everywhere. I believe it has helped the comprehension, understanding, and quality of coding students do after they use this resource.

If you're teaching coding next year, you'll want to dig into Juicemind. You'll be glad you did!

This blog post is sponsored. When a blog post is marked as a “sponsored post,” the company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to edit and post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this per the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

The post JuiceMind: My Go-To Tool for Teaching Programming appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

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