I am teaching AP CSP using code.org curriculum. It’s great, a wonderful resource. I will be adding AP CSA Java next year. I am disappointed that code.org doesn’t have an APCSA curriculum. The several third party courses that are referenced are not easy to try out, and all cost money.
Is code.org going to be developing an APCSA curriculum? If not, are there any open source, free curricula out there? If not, which of the three referenced is good?
Thanks! John Ranta
I echo your sentiments - CSA needs to be Code.org-tized. As far as I know there are no plans for a Code.org CSA. But, I can keep begging…
Andrea
@jranta I am in the exact same situation!
We are adding it next year and I am also feeling a bit spoiled from having code.org to use for CSP. That being said, I think there are a few things to consider here:
The AP CSA community believes sharing is caring from what I have been told. There is a facebook group AND the AP community on the college board site where people are VERY willing to share what they have (or so I am told).
While the content is new, I feel like seeing CSP taught in an engaging/hands-on way with code.org has helped me think about ways I can do this with CSA. While I don’t know the CSA content yet, my first goal will be to think about how to code.org-ize it as I learn it.
Finally, I checked with some people and got confirmation that they have no plans to do CSA. That being said, begging can’t hurt!
I am in the same place. My school will be opening a section of AP CSA. Does anyone have any recommendations in terms of curriculum, environment and professional development?
We do have the start of a resources page for AP CS A here: https://code.org/educate/curriculum/3rd-party/apcsa
It’s a growing list…if folks have AP CS A curricula or great resource pages that they’ve used with success, please message me directly!
Best,
Sarah
In my queries and searching, I found this organization, with a for-fee curriculum for AP CSA. APlus Computer Science Curriculum
I also found the following free course from Purdue. Not sure how this could be used with my high school students, but it might be helpful for PD. https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:PurdueX+CS180.1x+3T2016/courseware/12ae5fcf0c1646e594ce89023b865044/f9b6895fc71c4f88b045da693afd7415/
I’m based in southern California and have heard rave reviews for the AP by the Sea Summer Institute held at University of San Diego. I will be attending that this summer as my school is also adding AP CSA next year. Best of luck to all of us!
Just to update folks on what I’ve found so far:
In addition to the 3 “for-fee” curriculum providers listed on code.org:
There’s a for-fee curriculum for APCSA from APlus. They will send you a trial login, and the pricing doesn’t seem too bad.
UMass has a for-fee curriculum called iJava. They offer a free trial for teachers, and it looks like it costs $10 per student.
EdX has a free curriculum online for APCSA (at least the first part of APCSA) from Purdue University. I’ve been going through it. It is solid, but I am concerned about its availability for students (and me) next year. It seems to come online and go offline depending on EdX’s schedule.
A couple of folks have used the APCSA textbook from Pearson. I’m not a fan of textbooks, I greatly prefer an online curriculum, but good to know it’s there.
There are lots of bits and pieces on the AP CSA website, here http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/228631.html.
I’ll post more as I find it. Thanks to everyone for their feedback and suggestions. JR
I use the A+ stuff and it has been helpful for powerpoints, worksheets, labs and quizzes. I experimented with POGIL and flipped learning to give students more time to work through problems
Andrea
One more to add - Runestone Academy has a great AP Exam review for APCSA (and other open source, online comp sci courses as well). JR
Still no plans for Code.org to add APCSA? What a shame!
Code.org is amazing in so many ways and is the affordable option for many schools that can’t otherwise bring CS to schools…
Code.org, please reconsider!
@eric.howe We’ll happily take the compliment on all the wonderful courses we already make available but adding that particular one isn’t currently on the roadmap. We’re always happy to hear your feedback, however, since we’re always trying to allocate resources to best meet needs in schools and classrooms.
Picking up this thread again, as I am evaluating new curricula for next fall. Two more APCSA online courses that I have found are the TEALS APCSA curriculum on GitHub (https://legacy.gitbook.com/book/tealsk12/ap-computer-science-a/details) and codeHS (https://codehs.com/info/curriculum/apjava). They are both free for the basic curriculum, but if you want to be able to track student progress there’s a fee on codeHS. I’m still hoping that code.org announces their own APCSA, as their APCSP is my students’ favorite.
My school is adding AP CSA next year, and I am looking for a curriculum. Did you pick a curriculum that you liked (or hated)? We have been approved for lab support from TEALS so I could use their curriculum, but I could also choose another one if there are better options. My school does have a budget for curriculum so it doesn’t have to be a free one. Thanks for your help!
Lynn, I’ve been using the iJava curriculum from Umass. I like it, some of my kids find it difficult, most handle it well. It is entirely online, with built in quiz questions and projects. The teacher console let’s you follow each kid’s
progress. The curriculum is used by over 100 high schools. It costs $5 per student. A caution, some of my kids found an online answer key from one of those “course helper” pay-to-cheat sites, and were using it to plagiarize. JR
