News and Notes:
            ==============

New MC questions grading policy
===============================

Starting May 2011, points are no longer deducted for incorrect
answersto MC questions.  From the 2011 Course Description:

   "Multiple-choice scores are based on the number of questions answered correctly.
   Points are not deducted for incorrect answers, and no points are awarded for
   unanswered questions.  Because points are not deducted for incorrect answers,
   students are encouraged to answer all multiple-choice questions.  On any questions
   students do not know the answer to, students should eliminate as many choices as
   they can, and then select the best answer among the remaining choices."

2009 A Exam Statistics
======================

          Number    %
Students  15,861  100.0

Grade:
  5        3,698   23.3
  4        4,051   25.6
  3        2,081   13.1
  2        1,289    8.1
  1        4,742   29.9

2009 A Exam Point Cut-Offs

Max composite score 80
(1.00 * MC + 1.1111*FR)

AP Grade
  5    60 - 80
  4    44 - 59
  3    33 - 43
  2    25 - 32
  1     0 - 24

The cut-offs would be higher Without the deduction for
incorrect answers to MC questions, eliminated starting 2011.
The college Board proposes the following estimates:

AP Grade    2004           2009
  5        65 - 80        62 - 80
  4        52 - 64        47 - 61
  3        43 - 51        37 - 46
  2        36 - 42        29 - 36
  1         0 - 35         0 - 28

A Only
======

Starting May 2010, the College Board will offer only
one AP Computer Science exam, similar to the former
A-level exam.  The following topics have been added
to the old A-level curriculum:

  * 2D arrays
  * List<E> interface
  * static variables
  * Integer.MAX_VALUE and Integer.MIN_VALUE constants

Comparable<T> Interface
=======================

There are no references to the Comparable interface
in the 2010-2011 Course Description, except it states
that the "generic" version (Comparable<T>) is not
in the AP subset.  We describe briefly Comparable<T>
in Section 4.6 of Be Prepared for information and in
case it is reinstated in the course in the future.

Math.random()
=============

The Math.random() method is in the Java AP subset.
On the other hand, the java.util.Random class 
is not in the Course Description.

GridWorld
=========

Starting May 2008, the case study for the AP CS exams
is GridWorld.  It is described in Chapter 6
of Be Prepared.  For Cay Horstmann's notes on the
GridWorld API, see http://www.skylit.com/GridWorldNotes.html.