Assigned on Monday, 22 May 2017; due by end of day 29 May 2017:
Do 3x3 Grid Games Exercises 7a-d.
Send your answers in an email addressed to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the subject "Tic-tac-T".
Assigned on Monday, 15 May 2017; due by end of day 5 June 2017:
MODIFIED ON 5/16 and 5/22: Do 3x3 Grid Games Exercises 1-5 and 6a-c.
For extra credit, do exercises 6e. For fun, do exercise 6d.
Send your written responses to the exercises that pose questions in or attached to an email addressed to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the subject "Grid Games Written Responses".
Send the html and JavaScript code for a single web program in the body of a separate email to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the subject "Grid Games Program".
Your program code will be copied, pasted into the Grid Games "Editor", and evaluated based on what your program does after the "Render That" button is pressed.
Test your program before submitting it for grading!
Assigned on Wednesday, 19 April 2017; due by the end of day Tuesday, 25 April 2017: FINAL versions of all three components (video, written response, and code) of the CREATE project must be uploaded to the college board website.
Third Quarter
Assignments that WILL be graded:
[bonus points] Offered on 3 April 2017:
Watch the first ten Donald Knuth Web of Stories videos beginning with Family history.
Watch at least ten additional Donald Knuth videos of your choosing.
Send an email to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with a list of the titles of all of the Web of Stories videos you watched.
Write a letter to Donald Knuth. Proof read your letter very carefully. Treat your writing with the same care and thoughtfulness you would give to a job or college application.
Print your letter or very neatly write it by hand and sign it. Carefully deliver the signed letter to Mr. Spurgeon to be sent to Donald Knuth along with Mr. Spurgeon's own letter and letters from other students.
The number of bonus points awarded will depend on the quality and thoughtfulness of your letter.
Due by end of day Thursday, 6 April 2017.
Assigned on Wednesday, 22 March 2017:
Is is very important that you understand the requirements of the Create assignment.
Go to http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/exam/exam_information/231726.html and note the information about the Create assignment near the bottom of the page. Follow all of the links associated with the create assignment and read all of the referenced material.
[20 points] Describe the computing artifact and code that that you plan to produce for the "create" portion of the AP Computer Science Principles exam.
[5 points] Your description must describe the video that you will create and how it will satisfy the College Board's requirements. You must explain about how long the video will be and what the maximum size of the video file will be. You must also explain what aspects of your artifact the video will demonstrate.
[5 points] You must describe at least two algorithms that you plan to use or create.
[5 points] You must describe how one algorithm that you plan to use or create will incorporate (makes use of) another algorithm.
[5 points] You must describe mathematical and logical concepts that you plan to integrated into your artifact.
Email your description to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the subject "Create Proposal".
Due date: End of day, Monday, 3 April 2017 (the day after spring break). Late work will be penalized 2 points per day.
[10 points] Assigned on Tuesday, 21 March 2017: Promote your Explore submission, which you have uploaded to the College Board website, to FINAL status by end of day Wednesday, 22 March 2017. Late work will be penalized two points per calendar day!
[20 points] Complete your own version of the Oregon Trail project that we began working on together in class. Email a single text document containing your html and JavaScript code to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org. Do not email image files that your code references; if you are using images, make sure your img tags include alt text values.
[20 points] Using the video creation tool available at http://screencast-o-matic.com/ or another tool of your choice, create a video that demonstrates your Oregon Trail project and present your video to the rest of the class.
This assignment must be completed by the end of day, 15 March 2017. Late work will be penalized 2 points per day. (Modified on 22 March. Was a 10 point flat penalty.)
[55 points] Assigned on Tuesday, 21 February 2017:
[10 points] Using development processes and tools, create a computational artifact that identifies your chosen computing innovation and provides an illustration, representation, or explanation of the computing innovation’s intended purpose, function, or effect.
[5 points] Your artifact must be one of the following supported file types: .MP3, .MP4, .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, .WAV, .AIF or .PDF.
[5 points] The size of your artifact cannot be larger than 30MB. If the artifact is or includes an audio or video file, the length of the audio or video cannot exceed 60 seconds.
[30 points] Using the written response template described on pages 5 and 6 of the AP Digital Portfolio Student User Guide for AP Computer Science Principles, respond to each of the prompts in sections 2a-2e (5 points per prompt) and upload a draft version of the document as described on page 7. The document you upload must be a .pdf file (5 points).
[5 points] Draft versions of your computation artifact and responses to the written questions must be uploaded by the end of day, Monday 27 February 2017.
[55 points] Assigned on Thursday, 9 February 2017:
[50 points] Pick one computing innovation and produce one PDF file in which you respond directly to each of the prompts below. Clearly label your responses 2a–2e in order.
[10 points] 2a. In approximately 100 words, provide information on your computing innovation and computational artifact.
[10 points] 2b. Briefly describe a development process you might use to create a computing artifact for the Explore activity. Explicitly identify the computing tools and techniques you might use to create your artifact. Your description must be detailed enough so that a person unfamiliar with those tools and techniques will understand your process.
[10 points] 2c. In approximately 250 words, explain at least one beneficial effect and at least one harmful effect the computing innovation has had, or has the potential to have, on society, economy, or culture.
[10 points] 2d. Using specific details, describe (in approximately 250 words):
the data your innovation uses;
how the innovation consumes (as input), produces (as output), and/or transforms data; and
at least one data storage concern, data privacy concern, or data security concern directly related to the computing innovation.
[10 points] 2e. Provide a list of at least three online or print sources used to support your responses to the prompts above.
At least two of the sources must have been created after the end of the previous academic year.
For each online source, include the permanent URL. Identify the author, title, source, the date you retrieved the source, and, if possible, the date the reference was written or posted.
For each print source, include the author, title of excerpt/article and magazine or book, page number(s), publisher, and date of publication.
If you include an interview source, include the name of the person you interviewed, the date on which the interview occurred, and the person's position in the field.
Include citations for the sources you used, and number each source accordingly.
Each source must be relevant, credible, and easily accessed.
[5 points total] Submit your work for this assignment to Mr. Spurgeon as follows:
[2 points] Submit your work by the end of day, Friday, 17 Febrary 2017.
[1 point] Email your work for this assignment to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org.
[1 point] The subject of your email should be "Explore Exercise 2".
[1 point] ATTACH your .pdf document to your email.
[30 points] Assigned on Thursday, 2 February 2017:
[5 points] Sign in to the AP College Board web site and indicate whether you plan to take the multiple choice portion of the AP Computer Science Principles Exam. If you elect not to take the multiple choice exam, you must provide a note from your parent indicating that they approve of the choice AND you will be required to take a final exam prepared by Mr. Spurgeon at the end of the semester. The parent note must be received by the due date in order for you to receive the points for this portion of the assignment.
Assigned on Friday, 20 Jan 2016—Review the following topics in preparation for next week's final exam. Come to class on Monday prepared to ask any questions you may have about any of these topics. ALSO: IF YOU MISSED CLASS, FIND OUT FROM SOMEONE WHO WAS PAYING ATTENTION IN CLASS WHY THE GCD ALGORITHM MIGHT BE IMPORTANT TO YOU!
Donald E. Knuth and The Art of Computer Programming; tracing code by hand; problems, algorithms, and implementations; functions and methods, variables, parameters and arguments; objects, constructors, properties; while loops, for loops, and recursion; logical operators (&&, ||, !), bitwise operators (&, |, ~, ^, >>>, >>, <<), and mathematical operators (+, -, /, %), increment (++) and decrement (--) operators; arrays; the Math.random() method; output methods such as console.log and alert; decimal to binary, binary to decimal, and binary to hex conversions.
Assigned on Monday, 12 Dec 2016—Study for test (moved to 4 Jan 2017 due to snow):
swap, flip, recursion, Josephus Problem, cycle-shift, tracing code by hand, logical and bitwise operators,
shift operators, while and for loops, arrays, increment/decrement operators,
Math.random method, modulus operator, ...
Note the possible number of points for Exercise[27], which are broken down by category here.
Also note that the weighted contribution to your quarter grade of the points earned for Exercise[27] will be 0.3 times the number of points you earn out of a maximum of 320.)
Finally, note that quarter 1 ends next Wednesday, 9 Nov 2016. All work contributing to your quarter 1 grade must be submitted before then!
Use the Java or JavaScript "grader" code to preview the score your code will receive for Exercise[27].
When you are satisfied with your score, paste all of your Java or JavaScript code into the body of an email message with the subject "Exercise[27]" and send the message to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org.
Note that points will only be awarded for code that is sent to Mr. Spurgeon via email as described above. You may publish your code on a blog or save your code in a Google document, but only code sent to Mr. Spurgeon in the body of your email message will be graded! Furthermore, the code will be graded exactly as it is sent in the body of the message:
JavaScript code will be copied directly from the message, pasted into a Chrome command prompt, and then graded using the JavaScript grade function.
Java code will be copied directly from the message and pasted into a single file. The code will then be compiled and graded via the main method of the Java Grader class.
Assigned on Wed, 12 Oct 2016: Do Exercise[24] as follows: by the end of day Sunday, 16 Oct 2016, email the following information (or a link to a blog post containing the information) to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the text "Exercise[24]" in the subject of the message:
1 pt for following the above instructions exactly.
2 pts (bonus) for posting your answers on a blog.
40 points (total) for correct implementations of the methods that are missing code (Exercise[24].0).
10 points for a good answer to the question posed in Exercise[24].1.
30 points for a complete list of test cases. (Exercise[24].2).
In class on Tue, 11 Oct 2016: QUIZ (See Mr. Spurgeon if you want to retake the quiz!)
Assigned on Mon, 10 Oct 2016: Complete Exercise[22] by end of day Thrusday, 13 Oct 2016:
2 points: Email what you wrote, including your citation(s) to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org or (for 2 additional bonus points) publish them on a blog and email a reference to the blog post instead.
20 points for what you wrote.
10 points for following the citation instructions in the exercise and following MLA citation guidelines.
ALSO assigned on Mon, 10 Oct 2016: Do Exercise[23]. (QUIZ Tomorrow!) ALSO...
REVIEW: In your text book (JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 6th Edition by David Flanagan):
Read about Object.create (pp. 118-119)
Read about the call (and apply) method of function objects (p. 187)
Read about prototype and __proto__ (pp. 135-136)
Read about using new to create objects (pp. 61-62)
Read about classes, prototypes and constructors (pp. 200-203)
Assigned on Fri, 7 Oct 2016: Start working on Exercise[22]. (More details and an assignment to turn in will follow.)
Assigned on Thu, 6 Oct 2016: Modify the JavaScript code presented in Wait for it...: make the window that says "Surpise!" say something else. Reasons for doing this assignment include:
If you are having trouble figuring out how to complete the coding assignment associated with Exercise[20] that was assigned this past Tuesday and is due by end of day Saturday, 8 Oct 2016, then by reading the JavaScript source code shown in the post you can see what one complete solution that satisfies all of the requirements of the coding assignment looks like! Your solution can be much simpler than this one, of course. I've intentionally provided an example that is a little more complicated than necessary to make peeking at an answer without first trying to solve the problem on your own a bit of work in and of itself.
If you think you completed the aforementioned coding assignment correctly, you can compare your work to mine to see how close or far off you might be to the type of solution that I had in mind when I issued the assignment. This not to say that your solution is wrong or won't receive full credit if it looks significantly different than the code used to implement Wait for it.... But if your code seems to be completely different in ways that are material to the requirements of the assignment, then you might want to verify that your work is acceptable before the due date.
Reading source code IS GOOD PRACTICE! The ability to read code, whether it is code you wrote yesterday, code you wrote a year ago, or code someone else wrote is a skill that every programmer needs to have, and you can't develop that skill without practicing.
Making a small change to code that someone else wrote and getting the code do something different IS GOOD PRACTICE, even if you don't completely understand all of the code that makes up the entire program.
Test yourself to see if you can identify the following types of coding constructs in the example, and try to answer the questions. You should do this because all of the items listed below and the questions associated with them are good candidates for a quiz or test, one of which will certainly be coming soon!
An HTML comment: How are HTML comments demarcated? (This might be new to you!)
An HTML tag used to surround a block of JavaScript code to be executed: What is the name of the tag? (This definitely should NOT be new to you!)
An HTML tag used to create a button (this may be new to you!): What is the name of the tag? Does it matter whether the HTML tag used to create a button is in lowercase, uppercase or some mixture of the two? Why?
A function that is NOT intended to be used as a constructor function: Give an example of one and say something about the coding conventions associated with the identifier used to name the function. For example: Is the first letter of the function in uppercase or lowercase? What does "camel case" mean? Is there a difference between "camel case" and "Pascal case"? (According to whom?) What other names for different styles of capitalization do you know or can you discover? Does it matter whether JavaScript identifiers are written in lowercase, uppercase, or some combination of the two? Why?
A function that is a method: What is the name of the function? What object is the function a method of? What's the difference between a function and a method?
A global variable (This might be new to you.): What is the name of the variable? What is a global variable? According to whom (i.e. cite a source)?
Instances of the JavaScript keyword var: How many instances can you find? What is the keyword var used for? When is var required and when is var optional?
A constructor function: How many constructor functions can you find? List them. What can you say about coding convension(s) that apply to the names of the constructors you listed?
An instance of an object created using a constructor function: How many objects can you find that were created using constructor functions and the keyword new? List them. What methods are associated with these objects? What is a method? What's the difference between a method and a function? Cite three authoritative sources that support your answer.
Two different styles of JavaScript comments: Provide examples of instances of each type of comment. Are there additional ways you can write comments in JavaScript? (What is a JavaScript comment?)
A JavaScript function that also "looks like" an object in the sense that it has a property independent of the JavaScript code that is executed when the function is called. Identify an example of one such function and one property of said function. Are all JavaScript functions objects? Are all JavaScript objects functions?
An instance of an object named prototype. What object is the prototype object you identified a property of? What is special about objects named prototype? How are prototype objects related to objects named __proto__? What types of objects might you expect to find serving as values of properties of prototype or __proto__ objects? How are prototype objects related to constructor functions?
An instance of a parameter: What is the name of the parameter? What's the name of the function or method that is defined in terms of the parameter you identified? What's the difference between a parameter and an argument? What's the difference between a parameter and a variable? Are all parameters variables? Are all arguments variables?
An instance of an object that contains the value returned by the JavaScript code new Date(): What is the name one such object? If the variables x and y are both referring to objects returned by executing new Date() at two different points in time, then what value is returned when JavaScript evaluates the expression x - y? Is the value positive or negative? Is the value a whole number or a floating point number? What primitive JavaScript data type is the value of the variable z if we set z equal to the value x - y, where x and y refer to values returned by new Date()? How many primitive data types does JavaScript have? What are they?
A keyword used to implement a loop (We haven't discussed this particular keyword in much detail yet, but you should be able to spot it and figure out what it does.): What is the keyword?
Review the work that you submitted for the two assignments assigned on Monday, 26 Sep 2016. You have until the end of day Saturday, 8 Oct 2016 to revise your submissions, which in addition to the original grading criteria will also be evaluated as follows:
First, if you submitted anything for the coding assignment assigned on 26 Sep 2016 on or before the original due date, you will be warded 5 bonus points for submitting something on time.
Second, if you published your work on a blog and did not also send me a copy of your work via email, you will receive no credit (other than the bonus points mentioned in the previous bullet) if I cannot access the URL you sent me. If I cannot access your blog, I will will let you know by replying to the email message you sent me. It is your responsibility to make sure that I can access your blog! (Note that you will not receive bonus points for publishing your answers on a blog if I cannot access the blog.)
Third, I will copy and paste code that you sent me or referred me to and test the code to make sure it runs without errors exactly as you have written it. If the code does not run, then you will receive no credit for the assignment other than the aforementioned bonus points.
Fourth, your code must be reasonably easy for me to read. (I reserve the right to define what is reasonable.) If you post your code on a blog and do not enclose the code in opening and closing pre tags (i.e. <pre> your code </pre>) then the code might be completely unreadable when displayed in a web browser; if that is the case, then you will get no credit for the assignment, even if the code runs without errors.
1 point: Submit the program you produced for step three (Exercise[20].3) of the exercise by emailing your code or a URL referencing your code to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the string Exercise[20] in the subject of the email. (Your submission must conform to these instructions exactly to receive the associated point.)
20 points will be awarded if and only if I can access and easily read your code, it runs without errors, and it does what the exercise says it should do.
2 bonus points will be awarded if you post your solution on a blogspot blog.
This assignment is due by the end of day, Saturday, 8 October 2016. (Do not expect to receive an extension this time! You have plenty of time to complete this assignment, especially if you to not procrastinate. See me early if you need help.)
Assigned and published on Mon, 3 Oct 2016:
Read Exercise[19] and consider heeding the advice going forward.
Read the Wikipedia article titled Retrospective. Note the relevance of retrospectives to software development.
By the end of Tuesday, 4 Oct 2016, send an email message to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the string Exercise[19] in the subject of the email. Include the following information in your message:
5 points: Tell me whether you feel like you are keeping up with the material presented in class or whether you feel like you are falling behind.
5 points: If you feel like you are falling behind, then tell me what you plan to do next as a result. If you feel like you are keeping up, then tell me what you would say to someone who feels like they are falling behind.
5 points: Tell me at least one thing that you would like me to stat doing that I'm not doing now, one thing that you want me to continue doing, or one thing that you think I should stop doing.
Exercise[18] - assigned on Fri, 30 Sep 2016 (more practice but nothing to turn in)
Exercise[17] - assigned on Thu, 29 Sep 2016 (something to practice but nothing to turn in)
Optional but recommended and assigned on Wed, 28 Sep 2016:
For an unspecified number of bonus points: Demonstrate mastery of some or all of the items under the sections Compose and Learn of Exercise[16].
Once you are satisfied with your answers, email them to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the string Exercise[16] in the subject of the email message. Only answers submitted to this email address with this information in the subject will be accepted.
DUE DATE: Bonus points will be awarded for answers submitted any time before the end of day on 31 October 2016.
Assignment assigned and published on Mon, 26 Sep 2016:
10 points (max) for your response to the prompt: Might someone someday owe their life to an algorithm that a) prevented a car crash and b) was influenced by GTA? How does this intriguing possibility affect your view of GTA?
One bonus point (up to at most 3 bonus points) for each good example provided in response to the prompt: What other examples of apparently “bad” technologies or uses of technology (computer-related technologies or otherwise) can you identify that have yielded or might yield “good” results?
One bonus point (up to at most 3 bonus points) for each good example provided in response to the prompt: What about the other way around? Do apparently good technologies sometimes go bad? Try to provide some examples.
2 points (max) for citing at least one source: one point for citing a source as part of your answer to the aforementioned prompts and one point for doing so per MLA (Modern Language Association) guidelines.
1 point if you submit your answer to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org by the due date with the phrase Exercise[14] in the subject of your email message, or
1 point plus 2 bonus points if you post your answer on a blogspot blog and send a URL referencing the post to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the phrase Exercise[14] in the subject of your email message.
DUE DATE: End of day (PST) Thrusday, 29 September 2016.
You are strongly encouraged to perform the numbered exercises in the Code Analysis section; however, you do not have to turn in your work for this particular portion of the assignment.
Do the required reading! Ask questions if you do not understand anything you read!
40 points: Complete the coding project. Ten (10) points will be awarded for each requirement specified in the unordered (bulleted) list at the end of the Coding Project section.
1 point if you submit your answer to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org by the due date with the phrase Exercise[15] in the subject of your email message, or
1 point plus 2 bonus points if you post your answer on a blogspot blog and send a URL referencing the post to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with the phrase Exercise[15] in the subject of your email message.
DUE DATE: End of day (PST) Saturday, 1 October 2016.
Exercise[14] - assigned on Fri, 23 Sep 2016 (something to do but nothing to turn in)
Exercise[13] - assigned on Thu, 22 Sep 2016 (something to do but nothing to turn in)
Read "Section 3.8.2 Explicit Conversions" (pp. 47-48) from JavaScript: The Definitive Guide by David Flanagan - assigned on Tue, 20 Sep 2016, and . . .
IMPORTANT NOTE: An objective of this assignment is to practice following instructions. Continue reading carefully! . . .
Answers are due by the end of day, Thursday, 22 Sep 2016 (PST). Work submitted after the due date will be penalized one point per day the assignment is late. Corrected answers re-submitted after this assignment has been graded will not receive any additional credit, since this assignment is neither tricky nor difficult.
1 point: Email your answers to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org. Answers sent to any other email address will be penalized one point!
1 point: The subject of your email address must include the string "Exercise[12]". (I request but do not demand that this be the only string in the subject of the email: 1 bonus point if you satisfy this request!) Any submissions that do not include the string "Exercise[12]" in the heading will be penalized one point.
1 point: All answers must be submitted in the body of the email message, not as attachments to the message. Any submissions that do not follow these instructions will be penalized one point.
1 point: Regarding Exercise[12].2, tell me whether you were able to find any argument values that caused either the Java or the JavaScript version of pow to return a wrong answer. If you were, provide a list of the argument values that produced incorrect results. (1 bonus point for each distinct type of wrong return value you are able to produce using a pair of argument values. 10 bonus points max.)
1 point: What error did you find when you performed Exercise[12].3?
Answers are due by end of day, Thursday, 15 Sep 2016, Pacific Standard Time (PST).
UPDATED on 15 Sep 2016 c. 9 AM: Work submitted after the due date will be penalized at the rate of ONE point per day the assignment is late. Corrected answers re-submitted after the assignment has been graded will receive half credit.
Please email your answers to jspurgeon@vcstudent.org with your name and the string Exercise[7] included in the subject of the email.
Answers are due by the end of day Friday, 9 Sep 2016, Pacific Standard Time (PST). Answers must be submitted per the instructions in step 4: 1 point for parts 1 and 2; 1 bonus point for part 3. No points will be awarded for work submitted after the due date.
Part 0 is due on Fri, 9 Sep 2016 at the start of class: 1 point for completion; 1 point for completion by the due date; 1 bonus point for completion on or before Thu, 8 Sep 2016 (start of class).
Parts 1 and 2 will not be scored but should be completed at your earliest convenience.
