tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post836946735011976852..comments2024-03-27T15:13:24.764-04:00Comments on Computer Science Teacher: CS50 AP–An Advanced Placement Computer Science Course from HarvardAlfred Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575057876858763822noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post-74885081566761275532015-08-09T12:15:17.619-04:002015-08-09T12:15:17.619-04:00I think the curriculum is beautifully constructed ...I think the curriculum is beautifully constructed and an amazing asset to the high school computer science space. We have no agreed upon curriculum in the way that mathematics and other subject areas already have and this curriculum sets a beautifully high bar for students to reach. I am excited to see my students tackle this and I am totally game for using my bigger than life personality to implement many of the activities that Malan recommends. Can't wait to share more of my experience with my kids killing this course this year!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post-34058950993689417302015-08-08T16:23:56.809-04:002015-08-08T16:23:56.809-04:00Brian -- Don't feel bad about feeling out in l...Brian -- Don't feel bad about feeling out in left field - I frequently think I'm playing another sport entirely.Mike Zamanskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15069276938781711576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post-62600968167408813142015-08-08T16:04:37.994-04:002015-08-08T16:04:37.994-04:00So I've gotten through the bootcamp videos tha...So I've gotten through the bootcamp videos that have so far been uploaded, and I'm left with an odd feeling. I like Malan's style, I like his ideas behind community, and I like CS50's over arching goals of computational thinking over coding. However, I'm a little struck by how he gets there. I've been through the CS50 lecture videos, and I am continually driven back to my own high school experience where my teacher rushed everyone into coding. Maybe Malan's sections have a different feel.<br /> <br />Also, am I the only one who doesn't like the Peanut Butter/Jelly demonstration? Sure, it was done when I was in high school, but, even then, I thought it was 'off.' I've never been quite sure what it was supposed to demonstrate -- surely, not how to create an algorithm. I also don't like the light bulb demonstration, though I did like the variation of the phone book exercise.<br /><br />Heh, I feel like I'm over in left field while all the other CS Educators are on second base.Brian Seahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13372743254011662337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post-92145569720567594702015-08-08T10:13:13.409-04:002015-08-08T10:13:13.409-04:00I might have focused on the tools over much. I con...I might have focused on the tools over much. I confess that I found them very awkward and frustrating. Beginners who don't have prior experience might not notice.<br /><br />Doug, the people behind the course were at the CSTA conference this past summer. I missed their talk. They are actively working on building community and I agree that next year's conference would be a great venue for a face to face Birds of a Feature. I am also hoping that some teacher or teachers who implement the course this year will be able to present their results. Actually having a panel of teachers doing various CSP courses talking would also be very cool.Alfred C Thompson IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06011086242006020298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post-78031540405715945292015-08-08T05:23:13.054-04:002015-08-08T05:23:13.054-04:00Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the course....Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the course. I was hoping that you would. I think that you focused too much on the tools. There are a number of things that come to mind as a rationale - leveling the playing field for CS teachers who are proficient in their tools; making the course device independent (you mentioned Visual Studio, a great tool if you're in the Microsoft world but not the Mac or Linux world); and maybe even a reminder of the power of the command line in a GUI world. Who knows? But software can be developed on a variety of platforms. <br /><br />There's nothing like C to make you feel one with the machine. I agree that it is an interesting choice.<br /><br />Of course, I haven't seen the videos but I wouldn't use them as a resource in any of the scenarios that you described. If they are of value, I'd play them for 10 minutes or where a natural break comes and then pause for a class discussion or activity to build on the concepts in the video so far.<br /><br />For those of you who could possibly be teaching that course, I think that kudos need to be given to the developers for the creation and sharing of it. If folks were left to develop the course on its own, it would likely be all over the map with much repurposed from existing courses.<br /><br />Is this something that the CSTA should be looking into developing a support group for or perhaps a Birds of a Feather session at the conference next year?Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14018245170305441423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post-71671508651665496602015-08-07T21:01:26.046-04:002015-08-07T21:01:26.046-04:00Ah, okay. I've always separated the tools use...Ah, okay. I've always separated the tools used from the curriculum. At PEA, there were only two CS teachers, and we both used different tools (even different languages) within the same term. However, the same curriculum was used. Hell, I even experimented with using three different languages within one class -- which actually worked, and the students learned pieces of the other two (but it was hell administratively). So the idea that the CS50 curriculum is tied to the tools concerns me.Brian Seahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13372743254011662337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post-40357028511145704072015-08-07T20:50:45.650-04:002015-08-07T20:50:45.650-04:00Brian I haven't looked at the curriculum as mu...Brian I haven't looked at the curriculum as much as I need to. I'll comment more on that once I've been though more of it. What is on the wiki is just a start. Much more is planned and should be there soon. They are shooting for 100% coverage of the AP CS Principles requirements.<br /><br />The tools are considered an integral part of the materials for teachers to use and that is why I focused so much on that. I would like to adapt a lot of the material to other tools/languages and I am experienced enough to do that. A lot of teachers are not.Alfred C Thompson IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06011086242006020298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post-77811531491044573602015-08-07T20:39:24.760-04:002015-08-07T20:39:24.760-04:00Not commenting on CS50AP but rather CS50.
A numbe...Not commenting on CS50AP but rather CS50.<br /><br />A number of my grads have taken (and I think TAed) the class. They mostly say the same things:<br /><br />- not much learning goes on.<br /><br />- projects are carried by kids that have a strong prior background (like my kids) or are autodidacts<br /><br />- kids die in the follow up course (functional programming in OCAML)<br /><br />- A big part of the class's popularity is due to profs charisma<br /><br />- more hype than substance<br /><br />I mean, learn C in how many days as a complete newbie? Please - besides that's so educationally unsound.<br /><br />It seems to me another example of places being so anxious to get something popular that no one stopped to actually make a plan to get from start to finish.<br /><br />I'll look at the AP version at some point but I started out as skeptical and your post makes me more so.<br /><br />Your closing makes an important point - unfortunately the "Harvard stamp" means a great deal to many people but I always think about what a good friend of mine, a prof at a highly ranked university once said to me "we could really learn a lot about teaching and pedagogy from you guys" - that is us actual teachers.<br />Mike Zamanskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15069276938781711576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18677687.post-85419708394078768052015-08-07T20:36:46.923-04:002015-08-07T20:36:46.923-04:00I'm a little disappointed that you chose to fo...I'm a little disappointed that you chose to focus more on the tools that CS50 uses over the curriculum itself. You can easily change the tools, including the language, to suit your personal tastes, and I don't think the curriculum changes so much. Besides, isn't the idea behind CS Principles to be language agnostic? My requirements for tools won't be yours, and that could be a good thing.<br /><br />On the curriculum, I certainly hope what is currently in the Wiki isn't the entirety of it. It seems to missing some rather large portions of Principles (Internet and Society mainly). I've seen Malan's lectures, and they're great, but I hesitate to place them into a high school intro course. Can high schoolers maintain the attention span? Yeah, they could... but should they? Malan deals with 1000 students at once, we don't.Brian Seahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13372743254011662337noreply@blogger.com