AP Computer Science Principles - Seneca Valley School ...

1 AP Computer Science Principles Teacher: Mrs . Kerr (Herring) E-mail: herringja@s vs (bes t way to contact me) Phone: (724) 452 6041 ext. 1202 Materials: Notebook (Compos ition or Spiral) Avoid perforated pages, if possible. o We will us e this notebook to create an Interactive Notebook. o Essentially, you will be creating a textbook (since one will not be us ed in this cours e) that can be us ed to s tudy for quizzes , tes ts , and the AP Exam. Folder o Bes t way to hold on to rubrics and other activities /as s ignments you complete in clas s . The majority of assignments are completed and s ubmitted through a Computer but works heets accompany our Computer work.

2 We will be using both Moodle & the AP Digital Portfolio to s ubmit assignments. Students will be creating accounts on to gain access to several programs and widgets we will us e throughout the cours e. Course Overview: Computer Science Principles (CSP) is a full-year, rigorous , entry-level Computer Science cours e that introduces high s chool s tudents to the foundations of modern computing. This course is similar to an entry level college Computer Science course. It will cover a broad range of topics s uch as programming, algorithms , the Internet, big data, digital privacy and security, and the societal impacts of computing.

3 This cours e encourages s tudents to find relations hips between Computer s cience and their own unique interes ts . A more detailed description is found in the cours e framework: AP Exa m: The AP exam for this cours e is unique as it consists of a 74 multiple-choice ques tion exam and two through-course assessments called AP Performance Tasks . Taking the AP Exam in May is optional but highly encouraged. The AP Performance Tas ks are required regardless of if you plan on s igning up for the exam and will be graded. A lot (over 20 hours ) of clas s time will be s pent preparing and completing the AP Performance Tas ks.

4 Two Performance Tas ks | 40% of Overall AP Score Explore Impact of Computing Innovations | 16% | 8 hours Create Applications from Ideas | 24% | 12 hours End-of-Cours e Exam: 74 Ques tions | 2 Hours | 60% of Overall AP Score Single-select and multiple-s elect ques tions Expectations : 1. Be prepared with class materials and assignments 2. Be prompt when arriving to clas s and turning in as s ignments . 3. Be respectful to the teacher, to other s tudents and to yours elf. 4. Be organized when keeping your notes and as s ignments . 5. Be attentive by participating in classroom activities daily.

5 (Most important for this course!) Programming Languages and Environments: The focus of this cours e is not programming. However, we will learn the basics in a way that is applicable to all programming languages. We will mostly focus on JavaScript, which is a brows er-bas ed language that is great for teaching introductory programming. It works closely with HTML and CSS, both of which we will also spend some time discussing in this class. We will begin our programming with a block-bas ed JavaScript App Lab through and eventually dive into the text-bas ed JavaScript through Notepad++.

6 Grading: We will dis cus s each component in detail during clas s . Class Activities & Assignments: You will be res pons ible for completing a variety of group and individual activities throughout the class. These assignments will be collected or observed by the teacher and graded at random. Pleas e do not as k at the beginning of an activity if it will be graded as each assignment is s pecifically des igned to improve your unders tanding of an important concept or topic. Quizzes: Occasionally short quizzes will be given on s pecific topics to check your unders tanding. Thes e quizzes will not take the entire clas s to complete and you may not know about them in advance.

7 Tests: Tests will be given at the end of each chapter. You will know at least a week before a test is to be given. We will spend at least one day in class reviewing the material before it is given. Interactive Notebook: You are required as part of this cours e to keep an interactive notebook. We will s et this up together in clas s . Your notebook will contain notes , definitions , important connections , and journal entries . You are res pons ible for any notebook pages that you mis s becaus e of an abs ence. Midterm: Your midterm exam grade will be made up of two components : the Explore Performance Tas k (40%) and a Multiple Choice Exam (60%).

8 Your Explore Performance Task grade will also be included in your 2nd nine weeks grade. Final: Your final exam grade will be made up of two components : the Create Performance Tas k (40%) and a Multiple Choice Exam (60%). Your Create Performance Task grade will also be included in your 4th nine weeks grade. Extra Help/Tutoring I will always make time if you need extra help throughout AP CS Principles . Before School (I arrive between 6:30 7:00 daily) is the best time to see me with questions or concerns about the clas s . If this does not work with your schedule, see me to make other arrangements.

9 It is your res pons ibility to s eek out help if you are s truggling. Extra Information Cheating will not be tolerated. Anyone caught cheating will receive a zero on the as s ignment. If you are copying another s tudent s work, BOTH of you will receive a zero on the as s ignment. College Board has a very strict policy on plagiarism. Be particularly careful that you are using original work and/or in-text citations when appropriate! You will keep all your tests and quizzes in a test folder. If you would like to share a test or quiz with your family or tutor jus t as k but pleas e return the tes t or quiz when you are through with it.

10 Course Schedule: Unit 1: The Internet (September October) Chapter 1: Repres enting and Trans mitting Info Sending Binary Mes s ages Encoding and Sending Numbers Encoding and Sending Text Chapter 2: Inventing the Internet IP Addres s es , Packets and Redundancy Routing, DNS, Protocols and Abs traction Unit 2: Digital Information (October November) Chapter 1: Encoding and Compres s ing Complex Info Text Compres s ion Encoding Images Chapter 2: Manipulating and Visualizing Data Interpreting Vis ual Data Communicating with Visualization Cleaning Data and Making Summary Tables Unit 3: Big Data & Privacy (November December) Chapter 1: Implications of Big Data Big Data in the Real World Identifying People and the cos t of free Foundations of Encryption As ymmetric and Public Key Encryption AP Performance Task #1 Explore (December) Unit 4: Algorithms & Programming (January) Chapter 1.