- Writing is central to success on the AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) Performance Tasks (PT), so try to get the kids writing as much as possible
- Writing is also difficult for high school students, especially in the context of a computer science classroom.
- Having a writing routine helps prepare students for the PTs.
- Discussion Board Guidelines and Prep:
- Provide a new topic every two weeks.
- Having two weeks a topic gives students a chance to read and engage with what others wrote.
- Example topic: "How does the fact that computers use binary define the kinds of problems they can and cannot solve?"
- Read and grade responses thoroughly at the beginning of the year in order to reinforce the routine and ensure that students are meeting the explicitly outlined expectations.
- Make writing on the discussion board something students do in the first five minutes of class, as part of the course routine.
- Establish rules for your discussion board like the following:
- Students must:
- Make three responses per topic to get credit.
- Use full sentences.
- Be nice and respectful to others.
- Not use slang.
- Comments must move discussion along by:
- asking a question.
- answering a question.
- adding additional evidence and providing a link.
- Certain types of responses do not count, like "LOL," "I agree," etc.
- Reinforce that the audience of the discussion board are the students, not the teacher, to motivate students to put more effort into what they write.
- Use discussion boards to incorporate the Global Impact aspect of the CSP curriculum by linking to a current event and prompting related questions, For example:
- Here is a 2014 news story last year about YouTube having an integer overflow problem on the video counter for Psy’s Gangnam Style (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/12/how-gangnam-style… )
- Cover course topics, in this case binary and overflow, using prompts to get students started. Here are some example prompts:
- "What is the programmer’s responsibility in programming when it comes to overflow?"
- "How is this different if you are a developer at YouTube vs someone designing software for Insulin Pumps?"