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Self-paced Online AP Computer Science


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Look at Code.org.  They have an online course for Computer Science A, which uses Java.  We started here with Computer Science Fundamentals in middle school.

AP® Computer Science A | Code.org

Also, Carnegie Mellon has several plug-in units for this course, which use Python. I am having a hard time linking to Carnegie Mellon because it keeps taking me to my account! But it should be easy to search up and find their website.  

I am currently using Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Academy with my son, who is a freshman. We are doing CS 1 (Introduction to Programming) together.  I was a math major in college, but I am finding it very easy to keep up with him.  The lessons are very organized and well done.  The build int autochecker does a great job of giving feedback on the coding exercises.  And all of the answers can be accessed if you have a teacher account.  I am confident that we will keep going all the way to AP!

I have not yet gone through the process of getting a teacher account on Code.org.  But getting one from Carnegie Mellon was fairly simple.

Hope that helps a bit!

 

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12 minutes ago, Momto6inIN said:

My oldest self studied with CompuScholar way back when they were called Homeschool Programming and (along with using a test prep book) he got a 5 on the AP exam.

My ds did the CompuScholar one last year and got a 5.  We did find it helpful to use an AP Prep book over the last month.  At first the questions on AP Classroom seemed really hard for him.  I have no idea what the problem was, but between AP Classroom and the book, he ended up doing great.

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Thank you all! These suggestions are just what I'm looking for. 

2 hours ago, LJPPKGFGSC said:

Look at Code.org.  They have an online course for Computer Science A, which uses Java.  We started here with Computer Science Fundamentals in middle school.

AP® Computer Science A | Code.org

Also, Carnegie Mellon has several plug-in units for this course, which use Python. I am having a hard time linking to Carnegie Mellon because it keeps taking me to my account! But it should be easy to search up and find their website.  

I am currently using Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Academy with my son, who is a freshman. We are doing CS 1 (Introduction to Programming) together.  I was a math major in college, but I am finding it very easy to keep up with him.  The lessons are very organized and well done.  The build int autochecker does a great job of giving feedback on the coding exercises.  And all of the answers can be accessed if you have a teacher account.  I am confident that we will keep going all the way to AP!

I have not yet gone through the process of getting a teacher account on Code.org.  But getting one from Carnegie Mellon was fairly simple.

Hope that helps a bit!

 

 

2 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

My oldest self studied with CompuScholar way back when they were called Homeschool Programming and (along with using a test prep book) he got a 5 on the AP exam.

 

2 hours ago, freesia said:

My ds did the CompuScholar one last year and got a 5.  We did find it helpful to use an AP Prep book over the last month.  At first the questions on AP Classroom seemed really hard for him.  I have no idea what the problem was, but between AP Classroom and the book, he ended up doing great.

Did your students do both of the AP classes? Would you recommend one class/test over the other? Maybe dd will do one junior year and the other senior year. 

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Just now, ddcrook said:

Thank you all! These suggestions are just what I'm looking for. 

 

 

Did your students do both of the AP classes? Would you recommend one class/test over the other? Maybe dd will do one junior year and the other senior year. 

Just the Computer Science A (Java)

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I’m chiming in with another recommendation of Compuscholar’s AP Computer Science A (Java). I’ve had two sons do the course, both of whom wanted clear instruction rather than entertaining fluff. Both found it extremely valuable. An older son (who’s starting his PhD in computer engineering) looked at the course and agreed it covered the material in his first undergraduate CS course. 

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10 hours ago, ddcrook said:

I'm not sure which would be best. Would you recommend one over the other? Is there any reason she shouldn't do both? This is new to me.

AP CS Principles is a more accessible course focusing partially on computing concepts and the basics of what a computer is an how it works, and partially on some introductory programming in any programming language. AP CS A is more specifically focused on Java programming and more advanced. Most selective schools don't give credit (particularly for major requirements) for AP CS P.

The course I linked is more advanced than most AP CS P courses in that it goes pretty deep with programming in Scratch and Python, but it doesn't cover Java, which is what the AP CS A test is in.

I used the non-AP version to learn programming when I was in highschool and it was pretty high-quality in my opinion, which makes sense given it's a copy of Harvard's intro CS course.

You can compare the AP CS50 course with CS50x:

https://cs50.harvard.edu/ap/2023/curriculum/

https://cs50.harvard.edu/technology/2017/weeks/

https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2022/weeks/

Edited by Malam
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