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Launchpad Learning and Technical Practice Route

Launchpad prepares you to start programming with reliable tools, judgment and study routines. Semester 00 develops programming and CS skills using those routines. Module numbers organize the sidebar; follow prerequisites rather than finishing every page in numerical order.

What moved and what is new​

Reading/evidence, communication/feedback and sustainable-study/recovery moved here from Semester 00. Their 17–26 hours transfer with them; they are not additional degree hours. Their required examples now use files, schedules and short claims, so programming is not a hidden prerequisite.

New Digital Systems, Safety and Recovery, 8–12 hours, adds state/trust models and an actual disposable restore. New AI for Learning and Everyday Work, 6–9 hours, adds no-code task selection, tutoring, verification and action control. Only these 14–21 hours are new work in this reorganization.

Learning, Memory and Calibration stays in Semester 00 because its evidence uses actual programming attempts and retention checks. Data automation, HTTP and executable AI evaluation stay there too.

A practical sequence​

The Beginner Pilot Guide turns this sequence into a first session, stage outputs and delayed programming checks. Use its shared record if you want one evidence index across both stages.

  1. Start with the readiness diagnostic. Repair basic file navigation, reading or arithmetic where needed; schedule algebra by Semester 01.
  2. Start Study Systems and Sustainable Study together. Reuse one calendar, not two trackers. Observe two real sessions during ordinary Launchpad practice; a disruption rehearsal must be labeled as simulated.
  3. Do Digital Systems clusters 1–2 before development-tool installation. Complete Development Environment and Git, finishing the recovery cluster as you practice files. The restore is a small local artifact, not an additional application project.
  4. Use Reading and Evidence with one short passage and a public learning/tool claim. Use Communication and Feedback with your setup README or recovery explanation. A solo route is allowed when labeled; it is not independently observed teamwork.
  5. Do the AI module after reading/arithmetic readiness, preferably after the source-audit lesson. Keep the first attempt and fresh transfer separate. No paid tool, API key or live model is required.
  6. Assemble one project index, complete the cumulative review, inspect module records at the 15-prompt checkpoint, complete the practical exam and close repairs under all progression gates. Follow the bridge review, then enter Programming Basics.

Evidence that counts once​

Keep one packet: readiness record; SS1–SS3 study-system evidence; study/calendar/recovery plan; setup and Git artifacts; passage/source audit; explanation/help/revision; state/destination/restore record; AI task/evaluation/independent-transfer record. Link existing work rather than copying it into another portfolio. Count the underlying file operation in its module; count only new explanation/review analysis in the communication module. The budget includes new practice, not recreating original artifacts.

Progression and calibration​

Require all 15 preparation dimensions at 2/2: R1–R3 (reading), C1–C3 (communication), S1–S3 (sustainable study), DS1–DS3 (digital systems) and AL1–AL3 (AI learning). These sit alongside the original study, tooling, Git, readiness, project and exam gates, not inside an average that can hide a missing outcome.

A copied backup with no reopened/content-checked restore cannot pass DS3. An AI candidate with correct arithmetic but invented source access cannot pass AL2 unless the learner identifies and repairs the claim. A plan to observe two study sessions is not S2 evidence until observations occur. No perfect streak, personal-health disclosure, accent or personality is graded.

Reusing equivalent previous evidence is allowed after a fresh scenario demonstrates the current dimensions; do not require a second completion solely because the module moved. Semester 00 carries these records as entry evidence and applies the habits inside existing project work. It does not charge the moved 17–26 hours again.

Planning and research​

Use Workload and Progression for the complete 92–138-hour allocation before conditional repair. Research and placement rationale distinguishes empirical findings, official guidance, optional resources and our own design decisions. These authored changes await independent educational review and learner timing/retention pilots.