CSC 100: The Beauty and Joy of Computing

A printable PDF is available.

Homework 3 - Explore - Impact of Computing Innovations - Due Wed, Oct 29

In this homework, you will explore a computing innovation in depth, and create a project report with a visual component (visualization, graphic, movie, ...). This assignment comes directly from the College Board's draft of the AP Computer Science Principles course – high school students taking the college-level AP CS Principles class will do a similar assignment that is submitted as part of their AP test.

The full description is in the following additional documents, extracted from College Board CS Principles documents:

(originals of both documents are available at http://apcsprinciples.org/cs-principles-documents/). Your first task will be to select a computing innovation that will be the topic of your report. For some suggestions, there are several published lists of important innovations – here are a few:

Some tips: Don't pick an innovation that is too big or broad (like "the computer"), because there's simply too much to be able to write something meaningful and focused. Also, make sure it's a computer innovation – some of those lists are broader than just computer or digital technologies.

You are not restricted to these lists or to anything I have mentioned, but if there is any question about whether a topic is appropriate, please ask me. If you go off in a completely weird and inappropriate direction without talking to me first, you run the risk of a low grade.