AP Computer Science Update

John HarrisonPrincess Anne High School

Agenda

• Why computer science is crucial for students

• APCS A

• AP Computer Science Principles (APCS P)

Knowledge for Today and Beyond

We consider it critical that students be able to read and write and understand the fundamentals of math, biology, chemistry and physics. To be a well-educated citizen in today’s computing-intensive world, students must have a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of computing as well.

Defining Computer Science

“Computer science is the study of computers and

algorithmic processes, including their principles, their

hardware and software designs, their applications, and

their impact on society.”

— The ACM Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science”http://csta.acm.org/Publications/sub/Documents.html

Computer Science is Distinct from Literacy

• Computer science is the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their hardware and software designs, their applications, and their impact on society. (ACM Model Curriculum)

• Computer Literacy: The ability to use various software applications (often called “point and click education”)

• Educational Computing/Educational Technology: The use of computers to support learning across the curriculum

Transferable Skills in an Interdisciplinary World

Students who study computer science learn a number of vital skills that can be transferred to any subject area and contribute significantly to their performance as professionals:

• Problem solving skills Problem definition, solution design, implementation, testing, revision Creativity, perseverance, teamwork

• Design skills Designing and working to specifications

• Logic and reasoning The ability to analyze a problem and break it down into a logical sequence of

steps

• Computational thinking Drawing on fundamental concepts in computer science to analyze and solve

problems. Thinking at multiple levels of abstraction

Current Challenges

Nationwide Very Scary Numbers

2005 2007 2009

78% 73% 65%

Schools Offering Introductory Computer Science

Schools Offering Advanced Placement Computer Science

2005 2007 2009

40% 32% 27%

What About Virginia - 2010

• Over 400 High Schools offer AP Courses– Approximately 400,000 to 500,000 students– 67,418 took AP Exams

• 1177 AP CS A exams administered– Over twice as many were taken in Economics

(2404)– 10,800 Calculus exams (AB and BC)

Virginia Participation by Ethnicity and Gender

American Indian

Asian Black Mexican American

Other Other Hispanic

Puerto Rican

White Male Female0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Which Courses Count and Who Can Take Them

• Because computer science is an “elective” rather than a “core” course it is becoming increasingly difficult for students to fit it into their schedules

• This situation is exacerbated by the trend to increase the number of math and science courses students must take in order to graduate (when CS is counted as neither)

• Computer science courses are often classified as a “technology credit” rather than an “academic credit”

• Access to rigorous computer science courses is often limited to high end schools with low minority populations

Perceptions and Misperceptions

• Many students (and parents) believe that there are no career opportunities in the high tech industry

• We are still battling the nerd stereotype

• CS education is so fragmented that a CS course designation has no real meaning

• So many schools are placing their computers in the tech department that universities no longer believe that high school CS courses are academic courses like other sciences and math

Transformation Underway

A More Engaging AP CS Course

• The numbers tell a clear story about how we are failing to engage young women and minority students. This isn’t just an equity issue, it is a survival issue.

• Kids believe that taking the CS AP course will drag their GPA’s down even though the content is just as rigorous in other AP courses that they are taking in droves

• The current AP exam has become a gatekeeper, keeping students out of the discipline because:

– It was designed as a college level course – It was never meant to be the first CS course a student ever takes– It sets students up for failure and convinces them that CS is not the field for them– The focus on Java and OO programming have made it highly language(syntax)-centric – It does very little to demonstrate the breath and excitement of computer science

Where the Project is Now

• NSF funded a commission and an advisory committee tasked with creating a new AP CS course that would be more engaging for all students to launch in 2015:

Developed course based on big ideas of computer science Includes supporting concepts and practices College survey overwhelmingly supportive Attestation process successfully completed First pilot in 5 universities successfully completed Assessment now being defined (test questions, portfolio?) Second round of pilots in universities and high schools to begin in Fall Jan Cuny building community support for 10K Teachers project to

support professional development and implementation All documents can be found at: http://www.csprinciples.org/

Colleges Agree with New Course

• AP CS A still provides a valid role and will be kept as an AP Course

• Over 100 colleges agree that a broader course fits a need

• College acceptance and credit key to success of the new course

Seven Big Ideas of Computer Science

• Creativity: Computing is a creative activity • Abstraction: Abstraction reduces information and detail

to focus on relevant concepts• Data: Data and information facilitate the creation of

knowledge. • Algorithms: Algorithms are used to develop and

express solutions to computational problems. • Programming: Programming enables problem solving,

human expression and creation of knowledge. • Internet: The Internet pervades modern computing. • Impact: Computing has global impacts.

What Could the course look like?

• Jody Paul – Metropolitan State College of Denver http://csprinciples.org/moodle/ – Living in a Computing World enables students to better cope

with and prosper in a world where computing is everywhere. It addresses how computing enables and empowers innovation, exploration, and the creation of knowledge as well as how it transforms human values. The intent is to empower students with fundamental skills that will be “used by everyone in the world by the middle of the 21st Century, just like reading, writing, and arithmetic.” These apply to all disciplines (arts, humanities, business, social and physical sciences, ...) and to all aspects of 21st Century life (health, entertainment, employment, family, legal, ...).

What Could the course look like?

• Larry Snyder – University of Washington– Fundamentals of computer science essential for educated

people living in the 21st C, taught with two concurrent themes. Creativity Theme topics: Computing as a creative activity, processing of data creates knowledge, abstraction, levels of abstraction, managing complexity, , computational thinking, programming (in the Processing language) debugging. Principles Theme topics: Data and information, algorithms, basic ideas behind technologies including computers, networks, search engines, and multimedia. Social uses and abuses of information, and the foundations of privacy are also included.

2011 – 2012 Pilot Sites

Partnered High School Teacher

Partnered College orUniversity

Contact

North Gwinnett High School

Deepa Muralidhar Georgia Tech Charles Isbell

Northside College Prep andChicago Lab High School

Don Yanek andBaker Franke

Illinois Institute of Technology

Matthew Bauer

Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Science

Chinma Uche Trinity College Ralph Morelli

Booker T Washington Magnet High School

Bill Cowles University of Alabama

Jeff Gray

2011 – 2012 Pilot Sites

Partnered High School

TeacherPartnered College orUniversity

Contact

Springdale High School

Marilyn Sue Carrell

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Remzi Seker

South Philadephia High School

Anne Urevick University of Pennsylvania

Jean Griffin

West High School Andrew Kuemmel University of Wisconsin, Madison

Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau

Patrick Henry High School

Rebecca Dovi Virginia Tech Manuel Perez-Quinonez

Newbury Park High School

Rich Kick Stanford University

Nick Parlante

Conclusions

• AP CS A is here to stay• AP CS P test development now begins

– College Board Survey of Colleges and Universities and CS AP Attestation process indicated tremendous CS community support for AP CS P

• AP CS P has the potential to help us increase enrollment in AP CS A