AP Computer Science Workshop

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Possible Agenda Items

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• Curriculum
  • Course Description, pp. 5 - 9 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • Topic Outline, pp. 10 - 36 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • AP Subset, pp. 37 - 59 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • Sample Syllabi, pp. 157 - 230 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials

• Object-Oriented Design
  • 8 entries in the Special Focus section in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • Example and Blank (JPG file)
  • Presentation on Object-Oriented Design (with examples of a graphical notation and CRC cards)

• Teaching Objects-Early (or even Objects-First)
  • BlueJ -- a development environment that provides a built-in view of a program's design model, fostering the visualization of objects
  • Karel J. Robot -- see Joe Bergin's web site
  • Aquarium Lab Series: introducing objects starting on Day 1 (or 2) (a series of labs that introduces reading class documentation, constructing objects, invoking methods, if statements, for loops, arrays, and the anatomy of a class)
  • ObjectDraw -- project originating at Williams College, with excellent software and textbook support; focus on events-early

• Marine Biology Simulation (MBS) Case Study
  • MBS Case Study, Appendix in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • Teacher's Manual, APCentral
  • MBS Role-Playing Scripts (developed by Steven Andrianoff and David Levine of St. Bonaventure University)
  • Object Diagrams for the MBS Case Study (College Board web site)
    (My own copy of the Object Diagrams)
  • Alyce's MBS Case Study page
    • includes Teaching Ideas, Related Assignments, and information about the Black Box code

• AB Topics
  • The Collection hierarchy: Lists and Sets
  • Sets and Maps
  • Hash tables, hashing
  • Stacks and Queues
  • Trees
  • Big-oh notation

• Teaching Resources
  • 2004-2005 Workshop Materials (includes Course Description, Topics, Subset, etc.)
  • APCentral
  • AP CS Web Page
  • Various other resources listed in the Resources section in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • Former Chief Reader's Unofficial AP Computer Science Web Site - provides a site where teachers can exchange ideas and materials
  • Alyce's AP CS web site
  • Alyce's Introduction to Programming Course web site (syllabus and pointers to lecture notes from Winter '05)
  • Alyce's Data Structures Course Web site (syllabus and assignments from Fall '04)

• Your Shared Experiences
  • Choosing a textbook, development environment, etc.
  • What topics do students struggle with?
  • Labs: Managing hardware, software, and students
  • Developing good labs
  • Favorite assignments
      Mine include:
    • Aquarium Lab Series
    • GridPlotter
    • Minnow
    • Fast Fish, Forward Fish
    • Mouse in a Maze, Chessie, or Archaeological Dig using the Grid Package
    • NQueens or Knight's Tour using the Grid Package (AB)

• The Advanced Placement Computer Science Exam
  • Description, p. 265 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • Exam Tips for Students, p. 267 - 270 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • Sample Multiple-Choice Questions for AP Computer Science A, p. 271 - 295 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • Sample Multiple-Choice Questions for AP Computer Science AB, p. 296 - 313 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
  • 2004 Free Response Questions:
    • A FR Questions, pp. 315 - 329 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
    • A FR Scoring Guidelines, pp. 330 - 338 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
    • A FR Question Descriptions and Student Performance Explanations, pp. 369 - 373 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
    • A FR Sample Solutions and Scores, with Explanations, pp. 381 - 414 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
    • AB FR Questions, pp. 339 - 356 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
    • AB FR Scoring Guidelines, pp. 357 - 365 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
    • AB FR Question Descriptions and Student Performance Explanations, pp. 374 - 379 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
    • AB FR Sample Solutions and Scores, with Explanations, pp. 415 - 449 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
    • Scoring Statistics for both A and AB FR Questions, p. 367 in the 2004-2005 Workshop Materials

• Future Directions of CS1 and CS2 (and AP CS)
  • Java 5
  • ACM Java Task Force

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Alyce Brady, Kalamazoo College