Yes! Endorsed by the College Board, our AP® Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) curriculum provides game-based and turnkey tools to prepare students for the AP CSP exam. The College Board recognizes CodeCombat as a provider of AP CSP curricula and pedagogical support. You can learn more about our curriculum by visiting CodeCombat's APCSP page here.
What is AP® Computer Science Principles (AP® CSP)?
AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) is an Advanced Placement course offered by the College Board. AP CSP gives students a broad introduction to the power, impact, and possibilities of computer science. The course emphasizes computational thinking and problem solving while also teaching the basics of programming. Furthermore, AP CSP asks students to critically reason about the impact of computing on the world. You can check out the AP Computer Science Principles video by College Board which summarizes the course, and more information can be found by visiting AP Central here. You can also check out the College Board’s AP Computer Science Principles Course Overview and explore the outcomes for this course for yourself.
Why take an AP® course?
By taking an AP course, your student can earn a GPA above a 4.0, which makes their college applications more competitive. Additionally, a passing exam score on an AP exam can oftentimes fulfill general education and major-specific requirements, which saves time and money in college.
Does CodeCombat offer professional learning for teaching AP® CSP?
Yes! You can learn the skills to effectively teach AP® CSP with our self-paced professional learning course, offered to educators for free spring and summer of 2023 in order to gather feedback on our content. Teachers who complete the course and submit their syllabus to the College Board will receive a complimentary class of licenses. Contact us to learn more and take part in the AP CSP Pilot Program!
What do I need to do to complete this professional learning course?
CodeCombat has partnered with EdApp to offer our online professional learning course. In order to receive your class set of free CodeCombat licenses, you will need to complete the tasks outlined in Modules 1 - 8 of the professional learning course and participate in a brief video conference. During this conference, we will address the AP course audit and present you with a certificate of completion, verifying the hours spent completing the professional learning course. We recommend that you complete this video conference by mid-August 2023 so that you can receive your CodeCombat licenses before the 2023-2024 school year begins. An optional 9th module is presented in the professional learning course for those who would like to have 40 hours documented on their certificate of completion. If you choose to complete the 9th module, we ask that you participate in a second video conference so that we can update your certificate of completion.
Can I use this professional learning course to renew my teaching license?
You can indeed! This professional learning course includes 20 hours of core content with an additional 20 hours of optional course content. After completing this course, you will receive a certificate of completion that includes a statement that this course equates to a minimum of 20 hours of professional development training.
What is included in the CodeCombat AP CSP curriculum?
Our curriculum includes all of the resources a teacher may need to successfully teach an AP CSP course, including a comprehensive pacing guide, lesson plans, and slide decks for every day of instruction, formative and summative assessments, and the programming environment CodeCombat.
Can you use Ozaria to teach AP® CSP?
The CodeCombat AP® CSP curriculum was designed for use with the CodeCombat programming environment and includes a syllabus pre-approved by the College Board. You could adapt this curriculum for your classroom using Ozaria and then complete the College Board’s AP Course Audit process to ensure that your AP course meets their curricular and resource requirements.
What does it mean that the AP® CSP course is endorsed by the College Board?
Endorsed by the College Board, our AP® Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) curriculum includes a pre-approved syllabus, lesson plans, and other instructional tools such as professional development recognized by the College Board to prepare educators to teach the AP CSP course. Adopting our curriculum ensures that when you complete the AP Course Audit process for your AP course, you will be automatically approved when using the CodeCombat AP CSP syllabus.