Lesson Plan

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Lesson Plan
Grade: Date: 25/02/2026
Subject: Computer Science
Lesson Topic: Show understanding of the analysis, design, coding, testing and maintenance stages in the program development life cycle
Learning Objective/s:
  • Describe each stage of the PDLC and its purpose.
  • Explain the inputs and outputs that link the stages.
  • Apply the PDLC to a simple programming problem by creating artefacts for each stage.
  • Evaluate the impact of skipping a stage on software quality.
  • Compare the traditional PDLC with an Agile iterative model.
Materials Needed:
  • Projector and screen
  • Whiteboard and markers
  • Printed handouts of the PDLC summary table
  • Laptops with an IDE (e.g., Python or Java)
  • Sample requirements document
  • Sticky notes for group activity
 Introduction:
Begin with a quick poll: how many students have written code without a plan? Review that planning improves reliability and reduces bugs. Today students will explore the five PDLC stages, identify the artefacts needed at each step, and produce a mini‑design for a simple calculator. Success will be shown by completing a full set of PDLC artefacts for the task.
Lesson Structure:
  1. Do‑now (5’) – Students list challenges they faced when coding without planning and share briefly.
  2. Mini‑lecture (15’) – Overview of the PDLC stages, goals, and typical artefacts using a diagram.
  3. Group Activity – Analysis (10’) – Examine a brief problem statement, identify functional & non‑functional requirements, and produce a bullet‑point requirements specification.
  4. Design (15’) – Teams create a simple flowchart and pseudocode for the solution.
  5. Coding (10’) – Demonstrate turning pseudocode into code snippets, discuss coding standards and version control.
  6. Testing (10’) – Write two test cases, perform a quick unit test on the code, and record results.
  7. Maintenance discussion (5’) – Brainstorm possible future changes and how they would be handled.
  8. Check for understanding (5’) – Exit ticket: write one sentence describing why testing feeds back to coding.
Conclusion:
Recap how each stage builds on the previous and why iteration is essential for quality software. Collect exit tickets to gauge understanding, then assign homework: draft a full PDLC artefact set for an everyday app of the student’s choice.