AP Computer Science A Syllabus

Transcription

1 AP Computer Science A Syllabus Course Overview This computer science course will cover the topics in a typical introductory college computer science course. Common algorithms, data structures, abstraction, and object-oriented programming methodology are explored by using the Java programming language. The proposed syllabus is for a two-semester course, assuming 30 weeks are available prior to the AP exam. The course meets for five 50-minute class periods per week. The time after the AP CS Exam is devoted to a team project. The course includes topics to supplement the AP subset: files, graphics, sound, and GUIs. Prerequisite: Required: Completion of Advanced Algebra Suggested: Math Applications (which includes a semester of Java) Assessment: A student will be assessed in the following area (approximate percentage of final grade): Tests / Quizzes (40%), Programming Projects (30%), and Written Assignments (30%) Each unit below will include a major assessment (unit test) and smaller assessments in the form of quizzes, programming projects, and written assignments. Tests and quizzes are generally done with paper and pencil (not on the computer) to model the AP exam structure. Classroom: The classroom is a computer lab with 30 student stations and one teacher station. The student stations are around the perimeter of the room with tables in the middle. The tables are used during lectures and testing. The teacher station is connected to a scanner, projector, and SMART board. Text/Resources: Lewis, Loftus, and Cocking, Java Software Solutions for AP Computer Science, Addison- Wesley, 2004 Continental Mathematics League, 125 Multiple-Choice Questions in Java, Skylight Publishing, 2003 Susan Horwitz, Review for the AP Computer Science Exam in Java, Pearson Addison- Wesley, 2004 Maria Litvin, Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Exam in Java, Skylight Publishing, 2003 Samuel A. Rebelsky, Espresso, a Concentrated Introduction to Java, Grinnell College Department of Computer Science at the United States Air Force Academy, Raptor: flowchart-based programming environment, (freeware) GridWorld Case Study. The College Board, 2006.

2 My website that I maintain will be a valuable resource for the students. I post assignments, a list of important links, examples of past student work, and more. Website has a reference to myself and my school, thus it was omitted to maintain the anonymity of this document. Weeks 1-2 The course begins with an introduction to computer systems and programming. Identify the key hardware components of a computer system including CPU, I/O devices, main memory and secondary memory devices. Discuss the role of software: system software including the different operating systems and application software Storing information digitally with bits and bytes (binary numbers) Linking computers through networks (Internet and World Wide Web) Brief history of programming languages (Java as a high-level language) Process of creating a program: source code, compilers vs. interpreters, types of errors, debugging, and executing Integrated Development Environments (emphasis on JCreator LE and BlueJ) Setting up and organizing our JCreator workspaces Creating our first program Hello World! Using single line and block commenting styles Through ongoing classroom discussions, students will learn to identify the major hardware and software components of a computer system. We will examine the hardware and software available to the students at our school. We will have a person from our tech staff come in and talk about the components of our school network and how it functions. It is expected that all our students adhere to our district s Acceptable Use Policy. Students will be given instructions to set up workspaces in JCreator at school and at home. Students will be given the basic Hello World program to implement and memorize the parts of a minimal program. Java Software Solutions, Chapter 1 Java Software Solutions Power Point presentation of Chapter 1 My unit 1 notes presented on SmartBoard Java Software Solutions, selected exercises from Chapter 1 Hello World! program implementation Compile Time Error lab (create syntax errors and check the error message)

3 Each student must contribute an entry to our class blog discussing how computer systems have changed over the past 25 years and what experts predict the future will hold. Weeks 3-4 Using, performing operations on, and storing primitive data as well as using String and Math class methods. Examine the following primitive types: int, double, boolean, and char Literals vs. declaring and assigning variables (constants) Naming conventions for variables, constants, and classes Arithmetic operations (+, -, /, *, and %) and resulting type emphasis placed on int division Analyze data conversion: assignment conversion, arithmetic promotion, and casting Creating String objects and calling String methods (those in AP subset) Contrast storing a primitive value in a variable and a reference to an object Java packages, the Java API, and import statements Generating random numbers by using the Random class and its methods nextint() and nextdouble() Introduce author s Keyboard class for reading in data from keyboard and java.lang s Math class to perform mathematical computations Distinguish between static class methods of Keyboard and Math class vs. methods called on objects such as methods from String and Random classes. Brief introduction to the Wrapper classes of Integer and Double Many of the properties of primitive types and operations will be learned through student discovery. I will give the students a program shell and have them write code fragments to test how arithmetic operations act on different types of data, classroom discussion of the results will follow. Students will be introduced to the Java API and will familiarize themselves with method signatures. We will discuss the importance of creating conventions for naming and format in programming. During the early part of this chapter, students will spend about half of the class period at a computer experimenting with guided exercises and the other half of the period in a typical classroom setting discussing the results. At the end of the chapter, students will spend more time at a computer writing programs to solve problems using keyboard input, arithmetic operations, and console output. Java Software Solutions, Chapter 2 Java Software Solutions Power Point presentation of Chapter 2 My unit 2 notes presented on SmartBoard (Java 5.0 API) (coding conventions) Java Software Solutions, selected exercises from Chapter 2

4 Two Points project (calculate equation of line through, distance, and midpoint coordinates entered with keyboard) Operations with ints and doubles worksheet Each student will be assigned a java library package and he/she must contribute an entry to our class blog discussing some of its classes and their uses. (Their may be some overlap in assigned packages since we will focus on some of the more useful packages students with same packages must choose different classes in the package). Weeks 5-7 Students will use programming statements for conditionals and loops to change the flow of control of a program. Examine the steps in program design and development: establishing requirements, creating a design, implementing code, and testing Program flow and changing program flow with conditionals and loops (analyze with pseudo code and flow charts) Use if, if-else, and if-else if, and nested if constructs to change program flow (block statements vs. single line) Use relational operators to compare primitives (caution about comparing doubles and emphasis about.equals method for objects in particular, Strings) Examine logical operations and complete logic true/false tables Introduce and use while statements to change program flow (discuss infinite loops) Introduce and use for statements to change program flow (discuss decision to use a for statement vs. while statement) Create and analyze programs with nested loops Early in this unit students will work with paper and pencil instead of programming at the computer. Students will first use pseudocode and flowcharts to demonstrate their understanding of conditionals and loops. Students will visualize program flow with the help of the program Raptor. By the middle of the unit, students will be implementing code fragments into a program to accomplish tasks that depend on altering program flow. By the end of the chapter, students will be creating complete programs to solve problems and create simple games. Java Software Solutions, Chapter 3 Java Software Solutions Power Point presentation of Chapter 3 My unit 3 notes presented on SmartBoard (Raptor homepage - flowcharts) Java Software Solutions, selected exercises from Chapter 3 Read sections on loops and conditionals from Espresso, a Concentrated Introduction to Java.

5 Create flow-charts from given pseudocode High-low Game lab Weeks 8-9 Define classes with instance variables and methods and instantiate new objects. Explain classes in terms of encapsulation and OOP Examine the anatomy of a class: data (instance variables/fields) and methods (accessor and mutator) Examine the anatomy of a method: modifiers, return type, naming conventions, parameters, return statements, and the effect on the flow of control when methods are called Purpose of constructors (default constructor) which will lead to discussion on method overloading Compare and contrast local variables and class variables (key point: scope) Although we will use JCreator LE as our primary IDE, in this unit we will introduce classes and objects by using BlueJ. By using BlueJ, students can examine the relationship between classes and objects, inspect the fields of an object, and invoke methods on objects without worrying about a main method or driver program. We begin by using the example projects provided with BlueJ and then students will be guided through the creation of their own class. Students will get their first introduction to applets and graphics, and they will practice using classes in the java.awt.geom. to create a picture. Throughout the rest of the course, we will integrate applets and JFrames into our topics. Although not part of the AP subset, I believe that students are more motivated by the flashier look of GUIs. I will also introduce Jeliot to help students visualize the program flow as well as the logic of their algorithms. Students are not required to use Jeliot, but I have found it a valuable tool to help some students. Java Software Solutions, Chapter 4 Java Software Solutions Power Point presentation of Chapter 4 My unit 4 notes presented on SmartBoard Java Software Solutions, selected exercises from Chapter 4 Read section on objects from Espresso, a Concentrated Introduction to Java. BlueJ Shapes lab (use shapes example provided with BlueJ download) Student Class lab implemented in BlueJ first then tested in JCreator House Applet project

6 Weeks Work with object references, define and use interfaces, and discuss exceptions Using the this reference and examine a null reference Creating aliases compared to creating a copy of a primitive using == to compare object references Passing object references and primitives as parameters: primitives passing by value and objects passing by reference. Examine static variables and methods possible uses for each and issues with referencing instance variables in static methods Define an exception, briefly discuss how to handle exceptions, common exceptions and what they mean to us, and throwing our own exceptions Examine an interface, discuss the importance of creating an interface, using a predefined interface (keywords: implements and abstract), and define a simple interface. I have found that initially the concepts of aliases and passing object reference to methods is a difficult one for students. My approach to these concepts is to have students analyze code and have them make conjectures about behavior and output. Generally they are surprised by what really happens and that leads to a rich discussion on the topic. Interfaces is another concept that students have difficulty with. We begin by analyzing an existing interface and classes that implement it. We will also apply a KeyListener and MouseListener to an applet to demonstrate the importance of interfaces. Although this reading knowledge of an interface is sufficient to meet the requirements of the Computer Science A exam, I have my students create their own simple interfaces and implement them. I believe that it reinforces the concept and lays the groundwork for our later discussion on inheritance. Java Software Solutions, Chapter 5 Java Software Solutions Power Point presentation of Chapter 5 My unit 5 notes presented on SmartBoard Java Software Solutions, selected exercises from Chapter 5 Read section on interfaces from Espresso, a Concentrated Introduction to Java. Weeks Students will create arrays and ArrayLists to store and retrieve data. They will examine the different algorithms for searching and sorting the data in these collection constructs. An array as a homogeneous, fixed size storage system with indices to mark each location mailbox analogy.

7 Creating an array (empty and with an initializer list), adding data to the array, and retrieving information from the array. Initially we will examine examples with arrays of primitives. Using for-loops in conjunction with arrays to traverse the array and output contents Creating arrays of objects and passing an array as a parameter (review of object references) Compare and contrast linear and binary searches in terms of implementation and efficiency. Students will apply each algorithm to search for values/objects in an array. Compare and contrast selection and insertion sorting algorithms in terms of implementation and efficiency. Students will implement a sorting algorithm to alphabetize a list of names. Students will create a two-dimensional array to store data and will use loops to traverse the rows and columns of the array. An ArrayList as a collection construct: compare and contrast with an array in terms of choosing the proper construct, creation, changing data, adding elements, deleting elements, and retrieving data. Discussion on generic ArrayLists vs. typed ArrayLists (Java 5.0) Key to my introduction on arrays is a mailbox analogy. I have a visual with mailboxes and we bring in the actual code statements for an array to initialize the mailboxes, change the contents, and retrieve the contents. I try to use a collapsible file organizer as my analogy for ArrayLists to emphasize the dynamic size change as elements are added and removed. As students move from the presented material to the computer, I begin by setting up arrays for my students and they need only to add the code to traverse the array to display all elements and/or particular elements that meet certain criteria (i.e. a linear search of the array). To contrast a linear and binary search, we use a two phone books to demonstrate. One student chooses a name and I find the name by performing a binary search. Students are generally amazed by how few tests need to be performed. To demonstrate the sorting algorithms, I depend on applets that I have found on the internet to visualize the various methods. Java Software Solutions, Chapter 6 Java Software Solutions Power Point presentation of Chapter 6 My unit 6 notes presented on SmartBoard AW Review for AP Computer Science Exam in Java, Practice exam questions (sorting) (sorting) Java Software Solutions, selected exercises from Chapter 6 Alphabetizer lab (class provided to read/write from/to text file) Hotel lab (students complete methods to add functionality multiple class interaction) HugeInterger lab AW Review for AP Computer Science Exam in Java, GroceryStore p. 172 AW Review for AP Computer Science Exam in Java, BankAccount p. 212

8 Weeks 17 Students will examine the effect of technology on the world and discuss the place for ethics in computer science. Students brainstorm on how technology has changed our lives in the past 50 years and how it will continue to affect our lives. A brief look at the history of computer science and the individuals that have played key roles. Ethics in computer science: history of hacking, piracy, open source, and intellectual property. The future of computer science and jobs that require a knowledge of computer science. I will begin the week with a short introductory presentation about technology and computer science. For the next 2+ days, students will research topics such as open source, piracy, hacking, computer ethics, and the future of technology. The last 2 days of the week will be student presentations and discussion about what they have found. The purpose of this week is to provoke student thought about the effect technology has on their lives. Shift Happens Video: Various websites including: and more various links will be given to students to focus their research Each student must contribute an entry to our class blog discussing how computers and technology affect our lives and some of the dangers we face because of technology. Students will present in small groups a report about their assigned topic pertaining to computer ethics and impact. Weeks 18 Prepare for and take the semester 1 exam Students will review the material from semester 1. Students will complete the excerpts of the eimacs online lessons as review. Using precondition assumptions and complying with the stated postconditions when implementing a method. Assess students mastery of the objectives of first semester with a AP-like examination (approximately ½ the size of the actual exam due to limited time)

9 The focus on this week of preparation for the semester exam is to try to give students as much feedback as possible about their current level of understanding. AW Review for AP Computer Science Exam in Java, Practice exam questions AP Exam Free Response, Questions from past exams Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Exam, Practice exam questions Multiple Choice Practice assignment (20 25 questions) Free Response Practice assignment (3 4 practice questions) Weeks Introduction to GridWorld and approximately 75% of material tested will be covered on this first look at the case study. Students will examine the classes of the GridWorld case study that will be tested on the examine Students will create their own objects to add to the GridWorld environment I believe it is important initially to give the students some time to just play with the case study to familiarize themselves with its capabilities. As we start to examine the code, I try to break up the case study into more manageable pieces for the students. Students tend to be overwhelmed by the number of classes and methods that are part of the case study. We will focus on one or two of the classes initially and work our way through. GridWorld Case Study (required material for the AP Exam) Students read through the documentation and complete exercises BugWars Competition (with the MBCS, I tried to turn this into a fun exercise for students as they are learning my hope is to be able to have a similar project for the new case study) Weeks Students will create and examine subclasses and the implications of inheritance. Discuss the reasoning behind creating subclasses Class relationships: is-a (inheritance), has-a (aggregation), and use relationship

10 Examine the implementation of a class hierarchy, overriding methods, and examining the super reference. Analyze the Object class, its methods, and its place in the hierarchy. Factoring out commonalities of related classes to create a parent class and why this is useful. Discuss Java s lack of multiple inheritance and how interfaces are used to imitate multiple inheritance. Revisit abstract classes and creating an abstract parent class. Accessing class members from subclasses (private, protected, and public modifiers). Examine the concept of polymorphism in terms of late (dynamic) reference binding. Create through inheritance and interfaces methods that are called polymorphically. We will have built some understanding of inheritance through our work with the case study, we will reference our work often as we try to build on this knowledge. Examples of already built classes and subclasses will be analyzed. After the students become comfortable with the concept, the students will build their own project with classes and subclasses. We will use javadoc and the Java API to emphasize the concepts of a hierarchy and overriding methods. Students will be shown examples of polymorphic behavior and be asked to make predictions about behavior before the actual behavior is shown. Java Software Solutions, Chapter 7 Java Software Solutions Power Point presentation of Chapter 7 My unit 7 notes presented on SmartBoard Java Software Solutions, selected exercises from Chapter 7 Old McDonald lab (multiple subclasses that demonstrate polymorphic method calls) Past AP Free Response questions: AP 2006 FR#2, AP 2005 FR#2, and AP 2004 FR#2 Weeks Tracing programs with recursive method calls and creating a program that takes advantage of recursion. Demonstrate the process of recursion and examine recursive examples using pseudocode and diagrams (keyword: base case). Create a recursive algorithm in a program and examine improper definitions that lead to infinite recursion. Compare and contrast iterative solutions to a problem with the recursive solution Tracing programs with direct and indirect recursive calls to methods. Recursion in sorting algorithms: show examples of merge sort and quick sort

11 Students have studied recursive formulas to generate sequences in their math classes, that is where we begin. From their we just generate pseudocode for recursive solutions to problems concentrating on a base case and recursive call. We start with the classic factorial exercise and also look at Pascal s Triangle. The students then move to tracing code with recursion. We create a diagram of the method calls, and we trace the state of the fields in each step. Although it is my experience that students generally choose an iterative solution to a problem, the hope is that by the end of the chapter that they can reason through a recursive approach if it is appropriate. Java Software Solutions, Chapter 8 Java Software Solutions Power Point presentation of Chapter 8 My unit 8 notes presented on SmartBoard Java Software Solutions, selected exercises from Chapter 8 Recursion Code Tracing Exercise Weeks GridWorld revisited Students will examine the classes of the GridWorld case study that will be tested on the examine Complete the objectives of the case study that will be tested on the A exam In the past, students have told me that we covered the case study too early in the year and they had forgotten some of the material. Therefore, in the past couple of years I have always revisited the case study in the last couple of weeks before the exam. We shall review some of the topics we covered previously and finish the objectives that will be tested. GridWorld Case Study Source for GridWorld practice questions?? (source to be determined) Complete GridWorld exercises in documentation for sections covered on A exam Complete GridWorld practice questions (source to be determined) Weeks Preparing for the AP exam with practice tests. Discussion on test taking tips and grading procedures.

12 Practice and discuss AP-like multiple choice questions (special emphasis on questions that involve tracing code). Practice and discuss AP-like free response questions. Identify on-line resources to aide in last minute review. In the weeks immediately preceding the exam, I like to have a comprehensive review of the material we have covered. We will examine old AP exam questions, AP-like questions from our review booklets, and on-line review sources. I will try to give students as much feedback as possible, hoping to catch some of the errors that they might have made on the exam. We will talk about test taking tips and strategies. Past AP Free Response questions, College Board Complete past exam questions and apply grading scale to our solutions Complete and discuss practice exams from review booklets Weeks 31- Students will complete a major programming problem with a partner involving the interaction of multiple classes. Identify and implement the steps in the process of program design for a large project. Students will need to divide up work and need to consider the association between classes and creating a user-friendly interface to make their classes reusable. Students will depend on using the Java API in order to use classes not in the AP subset. I try to give the students an opportunity to use what they have learned to create an application of their choosing. They may work with a partner. They must come up with a program design that I will approve. They must show me how the work will be delegated between the partners. I believe this gives the students a small glimpse into the process of software production. They generally gain an entirely new perspective on the work that must go into professionally produced applications. Java 5.0 API All reference material that I have is available to the students Students will present their project to the class Students will hand in their project (for seniors this may be their final exam) Underclassmen will complete a final exam