4 ms·

My first thought was that most of my computer science classes in college were in classrooms without computers. I think that was a very good thing. It's interest

My first thought was that most of my computer science classes in college were in classrooms without computers. I think that was a very good thing. It's interesting that this is instead teaching an understand of basic UI concepts and specific applications.

booleandilemma 9y ago
I took my Java exams on these guys: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_book_exam https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_book_exam
- saagarjha 9y ago
  The AP Computer Science exam is still done with pencil and paper. Not because it has any inherent value, but because the CollegeBoard is too lazy to update their test format.
  - smelendez 9y ago
    I suspect it's more about maintaining a lowest common denominator. AP CS, last time I saw the data, is already mostly limited to wealthy schools, even compared to other AP exams. When there were two levels, the upper level was even more skewed. Giving the exam electronically would mean schools would have to provide some kind of minimal computing environment to run the software. I'm sure there are some schools offering the course or at least letting motivated kids take the exam (I went to a better than decent high school, and Physics C was essentially an extracurricular with a standardized test at the end) who only have ancient Dell machines full of malware.
    - saagarjha 9y ago
      I went to a high school that could have easily offered an exam on computers (in fact, that’s where we took our state exams), so obviously my viewpoint is biased. Keeping that in mind, I think the skew towards wealthier schools will not worsen by requiring it to be taken on a computer. I’ve talked to people whose schools did not even offer the exam to students, because since they did not have the resources to provide a proper class, too few people expressed interest for it to be administered.
      - smelendez 9y ago
        Yeah, there are plenty of schools that don't even try, which is really a shame. But as far as I know most high schools don't really provide IT setups for particular exams. So I think there would almost certainly be schools where a random math teacher cobbled together machines for the course but just doesn't have the time or training to set them up for AP's testing requirements. It's also not trivial to build testing software to run on machines used for other purposes. AP/The College Board is pretty serious about cheating. So what happens if the test software freezes and the student instinctively hits alt-tab and his IDE is open with his classwork?
eeZah7Ux 9y ago
I've done computer science courses in my university on pen and paper. Same for every course around mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering in general. Not because people couldn't afford computers but because the don't help you a bit in understanding theory.

booleandilemma 9y ago

I took my Java exams on these guys: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_book_exam https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_book_exam

saagarjha 9y ago
The AP Computer Science exam is still done with pencil and paper. Not because it has any inherent value, but because the CollegeBoard is too lazy to update their test format.
- smelendez 9y ago
  I suspect it's more about maintaining a lowest common denominator. AP CS, last time I saw the data, is already mostly limited to wealthy schools, even compared to other AP exams. When there were two levels, the upper level was even more skewed. Giving the exam electronically would mean schools would have to provide some kind of minimal computing environment to run the software. I'm sure there are some schools offering the course or at least letting motivated kids take the exam (I went to a better than decent high school, and Physics C was essentially an extracurricular with a standardized test at the end) who only have ancient Dell machines full of malware.
  - saagarjha 9y ago
    I went to a high school that could have easily offered an exam on computers (in fact, that’s where we took our state exams), so obviously my viewpoint is biased. Keeping that in mind, I think the skew towards wealthier schools will not worsen by requiring it to be taken on a computer. I’ve talked to people whose schools did not even offer the exam to students, because since they did not have the resources to provide a proper class, too few people expressed interest for it to be administered.
    - smelendez 9y ago
      Yeah, there are plenty of schools that don't even try, which is really a shame. But as far as I know most high schools don't really provide IT setups for particular exams. So I think there would almost certainly be schools where a random math teacher cobbled together machines for the course but just doesn't have the time or training to set them up for AP's testing requirements. It's also not trivial to build testing software to run on machines used for other purposes. AP/The College Board is pretty serious about cheating. So what happens if the test software freezes and the student instinctively hits alt-tab and his IDE is open with his classwork?

eeZah7Ux 9y ago

I've done computer science courses in my university on pen and paper. Same for every course around mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering in general. Not because people couldn't afford computers but because the don't help you a bit in understanding theory.