Advanced Placement Program* Summer Institute
AP Computer Science A, June 15-19, 2009
(course held at John Paul II High School)
Statistics show that computer science enrollment in college and high school is declining. Join Leon Schram in a workshop designed to reverse that trend with an exciting newly tested curriculum. The workshop will present a detailed curriculum for Pre-AP Computer Science and AP Computer Science. Topics, lab assignments, and tests will be shown in a comparison to clarify that Pre-AP and AP identical topics need to be taught differently. A greater emphasis will be placed on using level-appropriate graphics assignments and GridWorld Case Study assignments at every level in both the Pre-AP and AP courses.
Teachers will also receive information about the new structure of the AP Computer Science course that will take effect with the 2010 AP Computer Science Examination.
Learn how to interface programming with Lego Mindstorm Robotics. Participants will learn how to construct the robots and how to use both flowchart programming and Java programming to control robot actions. The workshop will also include techniques that greatly improve student preparation for the AP Computer Science Examination. Inexperienced teachers will learn Java concepts along with teaching techniques for many topics. Experienced teachers will learn new teaching techniques that incorporate visual programming activities with graphics and robotics. Robotics is no longer a club for nerds; learn to make it part of your computer science curriculum. The workshop will conclude with the introduction of a new computer science course to replace the AP Computer Science AB curriculum.
John Leon Schram has been teaching mathematics and computer science since 1978 at several schools in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. He has taught AP Computer Science since 1983. He received his education at the University of Maryland, University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas, where he is currently working towards a Doctorate in technology education. He is the recipient of the Texas Excellence Award for Outstanding High School Teachers, the Texas Computer Educator of the Year Award, and the College Board Advanced Placement Special Recognition Award. He has also served on the College Board AP Computer Science test Development Committee. Additionally, Mr. Schram has been published in various volumes of the Preparation for the AP Computer Science Exams in Pascal, C++ and Java.
John Paul II High School Plano, Texas
* Advanced Placement Program and AP are registered trademarks of the College Board and have been used with permission.