Writer's block is often a symptom of senioritis, but I think I can manage to offer a genuine reflection about my experiences in AP computer science. To begin, I'd like to thank you for teaching me over the last two years, and being tolerant of my irregular work ethic over the past few weeks (I'm speaking in second person since you're hopefully the only one reading this blog). I entered the class not knowing a thing about object-oriented programming, and I've come out much more knowledgeable and conscious of the computerized world around me. The more I learn about computers, the more I realize how far away I am from knowing enough about them. I'm looking forward to taking more computer science-related classes when I get to college next Fall.
I really enjoyed everything about this class up until Gridworld and the endless mounds of worksheets that I had to complete. To me, those two parts of the course directly contradicted the aspect of experimentation that I absolutely loved during each lab. I would look foward to solving problems in computer science, and also practicing my programming skills. But I do understand that Gridworld is still a necessary component of the curriculum, since the AP test dictates everything. The sheer number of worksheets, on the other hand, doesn't seem quite as vital. Sure, it's a good effort to keep everyone on the same page as the course progresses, but people don't really put in enough effort to make it worthwhile. In my opinion, the quizzes will let students know if they need to study more. Worksheets just add a superficial layer of busywork on top of everything else.
I'm grateful for how well the course prepared me for the AP test. For that reason, the class functions well for what it's supposed to do, but I feel there should be more emphasis on certain units, such as searching/sorting, and file manipulation. Of everything I learned this year, it seems like these two units are the most practical. Personally, I didn't have quite enough time to fully grasp the different searching/sorting methods, and the class was moving too quickly at that point. The class is great, but it can be fine-tuned a bit more to strike a nice equilibrium between AP preparation and practicality.
There is so much more I would like to explore with java, but unfortunately the school year has cut us short. I'll definitely do some work on my own, but I'll miss having a good collaborative setting.
- zk : out
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