One of the defining features of Student-Centered Computing for APCSP is the ARC. The ARC is an overriding topic selection by each student that "arcs" over all curriculum content. All course standards are connected back to this topic selection through projects that are completed in collaborative teams. By allowing students to select their ARC topic, students are more personally accountable and student engagement strengthens. In APCSP, students participate in a facilitated exploration of relevant topics and will identify a current computing innovation directly related to their topic. This innovation becomes the focus of all unit projects and research for the first semester. Curriculum content covered includes effects and impacts of the innovation, a business case study, explorations of applicable laws and ethical standards, collection and visualizations of data to solve a real life problem and complex programming projects related to the innovation.

The second semester gives student choice in different musical projects using EarSketch. The following chart summarizes the ARC topic and it's integration with units of study and unit projects for the first semester and the EarSketch projects for the second semester.

Direct Link to the ARC Layout