Syllabus

Course Location

• Course Title: AP Computer Science A
• Meeting Place: Room 308
• Instructor: Mr. Alwin Tareen
• Course Website: https://altareen.github.io/csa
• GitHub Code Repository: https://github.com/altareen/csa
• Engage Grading Website: http://engage.bnds.cn
• AP Classroom: https://myap.collegeboard.org/login

Teaching Assistant

• Nick XuYangZhou is the teaching assistant(TA) for this course.
• He will be conducting extra study sessions to assist students with understanding the course content and debugging the problem sets.

Course Description

• Introduction to the theory of computer science, and the craft of programming in Java.
• This course teaches students how to think algorithmically, and to solve problems efficiently.
• Topics include Java syntax, arithmetic expressions, text processing, object-oriented programming, arrays and ArrayLists, sorting algorithms, inheritance and recursion.
• Problem sets and labs are inspired by the real-world domains of biology, cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming.
• This course is designed for both beginner and expert programmers alike.

Reference Material

• Barron's AP Computer Science A, 8th Edition, Roselyn Teukolsky. This will be the primary textbook used in this course. The entire textbook will be provided to students free of charge.
• Blue Pelican Java, Version 7.0.1A, Charles E. Cook. This textbook contains additional material that will be useful in this course. It will be provided to students free of charge.
• Head First Java, 2nd Edition, K. Sierra and B. Bates. This textbook provides an in-depth study of the Java language. It is useful as a reference guide, but it won't be used in class.

Hardware

Each student is required to bring their laptop computer to class. Windows, Mac OS and Linux operating systems are supported.

Homework

• Homework assignments will be posted regularly on the class website. Students are required to download and complete the assignment in electronic form. Homework submission instructions will be described within the assignment overview.
• Students are expected to submit their homework before the due date.

Plagiarism

• Copying all or part of a programming solution, from another student, or from an Internet source, is a violation of the BNDS Academic Dishonesty Policy.
• Any assignment that has been found to be plagiarized will receive a grade of 0.

Grading

• Homework: Students are encouraged to put forth their best effort, even if the result does not compile, or produces an incorrect output. Students will receive partial credit in such cases.
• Labs: Students will be expected to demonstrate their programming proficiency by working through coding problems in class.
• Quizzes: Short 15 minute quizzes on current topics. These will be announced in advance.
• Tests: An extensive test of the topics covered in the section. Tests will be graded with partial credit, and carefully analyzed for understanding and general knowledge. Tests will consist of problems similar to examples covered in class and homework. Students will be informed of a test at least one week in advance. A missed test with and unexcused absence will receive a grade of 0. A missed test with an excused absence can be made up by appointment.

Assignment Weighting

Assignment	Weight
Homework	20%
Labs	20%
Quizzes	20%
Tests	40%

Course Websites

• Students will be required to visit the class website on a regular basis to obtain homework assignments and other course materials: http://altareen.github.io/csa

• Any Java programs that are covered in class, such as AP code examples, case studies and homework solutions will be posted in the public GitHub code repository: https://github.com/altareen/csa

• Grades, student score averages, and the results of homeworks, quizzes and tests will be available at the school's Engage grading website: http://engage.bnds.cn

• An online question bank and AP exam registration is available at CollegeBoard's AP Classroom portal: https://myap.collegeboard.org/login