Syllabus

AP Computer Science

Syllabus

Instructor: Stacey Shannon Room 3212

Remind: @apshannon Phone: 919-562-3600 (School)

Email: sshannon@wcpss.net 919-295-2537 (Google Voice)

College Board Join Code: EYX3Y9 CodeHS Join: https://codehs.com/go/E6F50

Office Hours/Tutoring: Wednesday / Thursday 2:30 – 3:30 (by appointment)

About this course: The AP Computer Science A course is equivalent to a first-semester, college-level course in computer science. The course introduces students to computer science with fundamental topics that include problem solving, design strategies and methodologies, organization of data (data structures), approaches to processing data (algorithms), analysis of potential solutions, and the ethical and social implications of computing. The course emphasizes object-oriented and imperative problem solving and design using the Java language. These techniques represent proven approaches for developing solutions that can scale up from small, simple problems to large, complex problems. The AP Computer Science A course curriculum is compatible with many CS1 courses in colleges and universities.

Equipment

Students are asked while using any CTE equipment while in the classroom care and respect. In the event that a piece of equipment/technology is damaged due to a student being harmful or careless, that student could be responsible for the financial burden of its repair or replacement.

Grading System for each quarter:

  • Classwork 25%

  • Tests 50%

  • Homework 15%

  • Quizzes 10%

Final grade will be 40% for Q3, 40% for Q4 and 20% for the final cumulative exam.

Class Policies:

  • Check Canvas Daily

  • Communication: Please use your student WCPSS email to communicate with me. I will not reply to personal emails.

  • Office Hours: Parents, please use my office hours to make appointments. If those hours do not work, I can make myself available at other times.

  • Student Expectations: Students should review the syllabus, course materials and keep up with the assignments posted on Canvas and CodeHS.

  • Class Participation: Students are expected to participate during class and complete assignments on time.

Late assignments: For late work in AP courses, students will earn a minimum of 60% of the grade they would have received if turned in on time. Teachers do not have to accept late work beyond one week after the initial due date.

Tests/Retests: It is the student’s responsibility to complete missed schoolwork and tests within the allowed time by contacting the teacher and scheduling make up time OUTSIDE of class. Tutoring is available during Office Hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 – 3:30 – by appointment – You must let me know you are coming! If a student is absent the day before the test, they are STILL responsible to take the test on test day. Retests should be taken within a week of when the scores come back.

WCPSS Honor Code Policy Honor Code Policy (4310) states: “Academic honesty is essential to excellence in education and is directly related to the Board's educational objectives for students to promote integrity and self-discipline in students. As all schoolwork is a measure of student performance, academic honesty facilitates an accurate measurement of student learning.

Each student, parent, family and staff member has a responsibility to promote a culture that respects and fosters integrity and honesty. Academic integrity and honesty requires that all stakeholders share responsibility in the fulfillment of this policy.

In fulfilling these responsibilities:

  • students will collaborate with their peers to foster a culture of academic integrity; refrain from participating, either directly or indirectly, in any form of cheating or plagiarism; and adhere to the honor code;

  • parents and family will actively support the honor code by encouraging their child(ren) to foster and uphold a culture of academic integrity;

  • staff will establish and annually teach expectations regarding academic integrity and honesty; and promote the honor code.

Prohibited Behavior

  1. Cheating: Cheating is an academic deception where a student intends in some way to receive or attempt to receive credit for work not originated by the student, to give or receive unauthorized assistance, or to give or receive an unfair advantage on any form of academic work.

  2. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is using passages, materials, words, ideas, and/or thoughts of someone or something else and representing them as one's own original work without properly crediting the source.

  3. Falsification or Deceit: Intentional acts of falsification or serious deceitful misconduct that threaten the health, safety, or welfare of others, or that cause a substantial detrimental impact on school operations or other individuals are prohibited.

Overall Course Scope & Sequence:

  • Primitive Types

  • Objects

  • Boolean Expressions

  • Iteration

  • Writing Classes

  • Arrays

  • Array Lists

  • 2D Arrays

  • Inheritance

  • Recursion