According to the College Board, the AP® Computer Science Principles course (AP® CSP) is designed to be equivalent to a first semester introductory college computing course. In this course, students will develop computational thinking skills vital for success across all disciplines, such as using computational tools to analyze and study data and working with large data sets to analyze, visualize, and draw conclusions from trends. The course is unique in its focus on fostering student creativity. Students are encouraged to apply creative processes when developing computational artifacts and to think creatively while using computer software and other technology to explore questions that interest them. They will also develop effective communication and collaboration skills, working individually and collaboratively to solve problems, and discussing and writing about the importance of these problems and the impacts to their community, society, and the world. Additional information from College Board can be found here: AP® Computer Science Principles Course Overview.
The course is designed to engage students from diverse backgrounds and those who are new to computing. In addition, the course prepares students to successfully complete the AP® CSP Create Performance Task as part of the AP® CSP exam.
The course engages all students in authentic, project-based learning to develop computational thinking through:
- Collaborative problem solving
- Creative design of unique solutions
- Data representation through modeling and simulations
- Algorithmic reasoning
This AP® course has a required summer assignment. Students are expected to complete their summer assignment before the course begins and submit their work by the end of Week 1. Students who register on or after September 1st will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3. The summer assignment is intended to review crucial content associated with pre-requisite knowledge for the course, where applicable, as well as to allow students to better understand the rigor associated with the content.
In addition, the course prepares students to successfully complete both the AP® CSP Performance Tasks and the AP® CSP exam.
Students enrolled in VHS Learning Advanced Placement® courses are expected to take the exam and to report their AP® exam scores to VHS Learning. By enrolling in an AP® VHS Learning class, the students authorize their school administration to report AP® exam scores to VHS Learning. Exam results will not affect the student's VHS Learning grade or future enrollment in VHS Learning courses.This course uses the
code.org App Lab integrated development environment (IDE) platform; students will be guided to create their accounts during Week 1. The App Lab is accessed via a modern web browser and does not require any specific software to be installed.
In addition to VHS Learning system requirements, schools must install and allow student access to the resources listed here, in order for a student to participate in the course. Please see software manufacturers’ websites for further information and system requirements.
Software used:
Screen Recording Software: For the Create Performance Task, screen recording software must be installed for the students to demonstrate their app to the AP graders. The most common is Screencast-O-Matic
Specific URLs addressed: students must access YouTube videos regularly.