Computer Science Principles is an Advanced Placement-level course designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of computing. Topics covered include programming, digital information, the structure of the internet, and cybersecurity. Students will develop their own app with the skills they learn, and take an AP exam.
Computer Science Principles is an Advanced Placement-level course designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of computing. Topics covered include programming, digital information, the structure of the internet, and cybersecurity. Students will develop their own app with the skills they learn, and take an AP exam.
All students are expected to have a journal, used for in-class writing prompts and for note-taking. Taking notes is incredibly important for this class, as what students learn in September is absolutely going to be valid for testing at the end of the year!
Students will use their CPS-issued Chromebook to access CodeHS, our online platform where students will be doing their JavaScript programming.
No prior skills or experience are necessary.
Digital Information
Networking and the Internet
Intro to JavaScript with Karel
JavaScript Fundamentals
Control Structures
Lists/Arrays
Create Performance Task
Cybersecurity
Data Insights
My score is below what I want to earn for the class. What can I do to improve my grade?
Retakes to formative assessments, mostly skill checks, have a big impact in two ways. First, that category has the greatest weight each semester, so keeping the formative assessment percentage high really helps keep the overall average higher.
More importantly, the skill checks really help you zoom in on individual concepts. If you are struggling with a particular concept, that is natural (it happens!) and it's a sign to change your approach. While you can work independently to improve your understanding, your peers or your teacher can really help clarify concepts.
My exam score is lower than I hoped for. Can I retake that?
No, summative assessments like exams are not included in the retake policy. The goal of a summative assessment like an exam is to evaluate your finished learning by the end of the unit. You should be prepared for exam day, including by doing any retakes on formative assessments taken along the way.
What if I'm not a "computer science" person? Can I still succeed in this class?
Succeed? Absolutely! But I would disagree that there are "computer science people." The thinking behind computational thinking that we will be practicing long predates computers, and was practiced by people all over the world for thousands of years. We simply have the accumulated skills and tools of generations to do more. At the heart of computer science is a foundation of logic and problem solving, and that practice can benefit everyone regardless of their prior experience and future career goals--you will learn more than just making apps!