[Edu-sig] Could there be a new test, call it AP something else?
David MacQuigg
macquigg at ece.arizona.edu
Mon Jan 25 15:36:07 CET 2010
Litvin wrote:
> What might this new exam be like? CS with no programming and no
> math? We'll see. My guess is, if it eventually comes about, it will
> be a no-specific-programming-language exam, which will simply replace
> the current AP CS exam in Java. I believe two AP CS exams will be
> untenable.
I can't imagine teaching or testing CS without an actual language. A
much better alternative would be to have the same test in multiple
languages (perhaps with a "handicap" factor for the students choosing
Python, so they don't have an embarrassing advantage :>). If you find a
problem that is not easily translated to another language, that is a
clue that the problem is about cruft, not fundamentals. I would
volunteer to do the Java to Python translations.
-- Dave
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