I’m teaching this course for the first time and my students are working on the Format Showdown.
I would love to see some samples of what other students have created for their computational artifacts. It’s hard to get an idea of what is expected (both I and the kids could really use some visuals).
If anyone could share some student work, I would really, really appreciate it.
This lesson is new this year so I don’t think anyone has student work specific to this lesson. If you would like to see examples of computational artifacts from the Explore PT, there are a number of exemplars on the College Board website here:
Look towards the bottom of the page. The computational artifact really isn’t a big deal. It’s a few pictures that show the function and purpose of the computational innovation and a title.
This is the first year of this task and since you start SO early, you are one of the first groups to give it a go! I will be doing this with my students in a few weeks and would be happy to post then, but I know that does you no good. Fortunately, many of the other tasks are more established so the community should be able to help at that point.
Great questions @mirtes.correa - I lean toward imagination for most of these projects. If I have an ASD student who is having trouble getting started, I might show them an example to make it a bit more concrete, but for the most part I let students run with it.
I think it depends also on how you will grade it. If you are looking for specific items to be included, I think some sort of check-list could help students be creative within some confines. I usually tell students that their product must show creativity and also show some type of content knowledge.
@mirtes.correa I would lean towards “let them use their imagination”. I feel like having examples is useful to me so that I can better explain/guide towards a product that is successful. Depending on the class (and how long you are spending on it), I might show them some examples after they’ve already started work on their own both to clarify expectations and to help the kids that are currently stuck.
@rossiai I introduced it at the very end of one class (perhaps 5 minutes), spent the next (50 min) class letting them have work time, and then 10-15 min of a third class before having them present. Next time, I might have them present in small groups rather than to the whole class (just based on time) and do a gallery walk of all the artifacts.
Thank you. I am concern about the time this will take. My students take a long time when they have to complete a research. The idea of presenting in small groups is good!
Thank you everyone for your input. This is my first year teaching this course, so I didn’t realize this was a new assignment.
My kids submitted their computational artifacts today. I put them in a PowerPoint to share with you. I thought overall they did a great job. I was surprised how many went for an MP4 format — I thought sure most would go the poster route.
You are such a lifesaver! Thank you.
Honestly, I was going to completely skip this because I could not wrap my brain around what the final result was going to be. Some front loading is NOT bad. Once students saw a sample they were excited and motivated. Sorry Frank, I disagree!
I just want to say this was a much better project than last year. Thanks for all of your help, everyone! My students liked it and they did a great job!
I love that they had to do research and follow a rubric - it’s more aligned with the AP exam than last year’s project. Last year I thought about introducing the one-pager earlier on omg he year because it’s such a real life idea and easy for the kids to organize and code.org did that through this project. Also, the students loved the artifact because it was fun and art-sy. The artifact is also more closely aligned to the AP exam, so, overall, I feel like it was a great project!