2014 is the last run for GridWorld. I for one am sorry to see it go. I have had a fun time working with this case study and have found it to be the best case study of any of the AP CS Case Studies. There are just so many things you can do with it. Rather than have case studies for the next few years and likely beyond that, there were will be new labs that will serve in the same capacity as case studies have in the past. These labs will require that student rationalize about existing code and modify existing code. This will help the students learn what is like to work with code created by someone else and likely work with projects bigger than what they would create on their own. Here are the basics of the 3 new labs.
- Magpie – string lab where students work with a chatbot program
- PictureLab – matrix lab that focuses on image manipulation
- Elevens – card lab that uses lists of classes
Drafts of these new labs can be found at http://www.cs.rit.edu/~ptt/apcs_labs/
A+ Computer Science Curriculum Materials will provide full support for these new labs.
I have an ap audit-approved syllabus posted that incorporates the new AP CS A Labs.
These labs will also be used at my AP Summer Institutes in the summer of 2014.