AP Computer Science Principles (CSP)

CS50 and College Board

CS50 AP is a College Board endorsed curriculum for AP Computer Science Principles (CSP). AP CSP requires the sufficient completion of two performance tasks and an exam to receive college credit for the course. This page gives additional information on how prepare your students to complete these tasks and exam sufficiently.

The AP score for College Board is based on two performance tasks, namely the Explore Task and the Create Task, that make up the AP Digital Portfolio and an AP Exam. More information on the structure of AP CSP can be found at AP Central.

Performance Tasks

AP CSP requires the completion of two performance tasks, the Explore Task and the Create Task, as part of an AP Portfolio. Both tasks can be accessed and submitted through the AP Digital Portfolio. Additional info, rubrics, and sample tasks provided by College Board can be found here.

Explore Task

The purpose of the Explore Task is for each student to investigate and critically analyze an innovation of his or her choosing. The Explore Task falls between Chapters 0 and 1. At this point they have completed several writing assignments geared towards helping students find credible sources and guiding them through the researching process.

Create Task

The purpose of the Create Task is for each student to create a culminating project highlighting several essential computer science principles, including abstraction and algorithms. The create task pairs up nicely with CS50’s final project and thus integrates well with the CS50 AP Curriculum.

The Create Task comes in at the end of the core chapters, following Chapter 6. After completing Chapter 6, students have developed an entire toolbox of languages and platforms to build whatever they choose. While the majority of problems are very much structured and a have a well-defined solution, students engage a sense of creativity in the way that they implement their algorithms. Students understand that everyone may have a different approach to solving the same problem, but they could all be correct approaches. By the end of the course, students have dabbled in C and web development and have implemented algorithms to solve various problems. It is at this point that students are able to create a project that they are engaged in and are able to research new topics of interest that were not covered in-depth in the course.

AP Exam

Topics Covered

We believe the CS50 AP curriculum sufficiently covers the material required to pass the AP CSP Exam. A guide of topics covered in the exam can be found here.

After completing the AP Course Audit, you will obtain access to a practice AP Exam.

AP Course Audit

In order for a course to be approved as an AP course by College Board, the class needs to undergo an audit.

Submission of the course audit form and syllabus is encouraged before October 1^st, 2017 for the 2017-2018 school year. As CS50 AP is an Endorsed Provider for CS50 AP, the process is easier. Visit the College Board course audit page for more information.