How Can I Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Performance Task?

If you had to have one piece of advice for ANY AP test 📝, it is to know the exam like the back of your hand. This is especially true in APCSP® since the exam has multiple parts including the MCQ ✍️ (Multiple Choice Questions) and the Create PT 💾 (Performance Task)! When you walk in on test day, the last thing you want to be thinking is “oh jeez, what will the questions look like?” or “How much time do we have for the multi-select section?” If you know the exam, these fears will go away. If you consistently practice and know what to expect walking into the exam, it can relieve exam stress and help you with time management along with answering the questions.

The Exam Format 📎

Section 1: The Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) ✍️

For the MCQ section, you will be given:

• 120 Minutes- AKA 2 hours
• To Answer 70 MCQs- 57 "single-select" questions- 5 "single-select reading passage" questions- 8 "multi-select" questions This section is weighted at 70% of your exam score so make sure to study well before the exam day!

📝 Read: AP Computer Science Principles - Multiple Choice Question Help

Section 2: The Create Performance Task (PT) 💾

The other 30% of your exam score will come from section 2, so make sure to check out all of our information about the Create PT 💾 (Performance Task).

This section will not be tested during your AP Exam, but you will instead be given 12 hours of class-time to work on your coding masterpiece 🎉

There are three parts to this section of your exam:

1. Final Program Code (1 PDF) - Independent/Collaborative 👨/🙌
2. Video That Demonstrates Your Program's Functionality (1 Video File) - Independent 👨
3. Written Responses For The Free Response Prompts (1 PDF) - Independent 👨

Let's take a deep dive into how each of those three pieces of the Create PT should be created ✍️

PT Piece 🧩 1: Program Code 👨‍💻

You are finally about to put some of the knowledge that you learned in Big Idea 3 of APCSP to good work when you create your program. This is the most fun part of the portfolio (and of the class, in our humble opinion 🤓)!

The only special part of this piece is that there are specific requirements for your code to contain! The College Board has given us a nice list of everything that you need:

Program Code Submission Requirements. Image Courtesy of the College Board's APCSP CED 

Besides the submission requirements, the only extra part of your program is that you can create it collaboratively! All of the other pieces of the Create PT are completed individually, but in the program code section, you can receive help from friends to create your program 🎉

PT Piece 2: The Video 📸

In this piece of your Performance Task, you will be recording a 1 minute ⏲️ video of you demonstrating how your program functions! This section is created independently but does not frown because this is one of the smallest pieces of the PT.

Your video must show all of the following:

💎 Input to your program

💎 At least one aspect of the functionality of your program

💎 Output produced by your program

Your video cannot contain:

⛔ Any distinguishing information about yourself

Your video 📸 should end up being in a .mp4, .wmv, .avi, or .mov format and be less than 30 MB. Why don't you try converting that 30 MB into another file size with your skills from Big Idea Two Data? 😉

PT Piece 3: Written Responses 📝

In this piece of the Create Performance Task, you will be responding to 4 multi-part questions about your program code! In this document from the College Board, all of the questions that you need to answer are detailed and explained.

For help with the Performance Task Questions and Written Responses, check out the full-length:

📝 Read: AP Computer Science Principles - Exam Guide

A Note on Plagiarism ©️ ™️

The College Board says this is a big no-no!

Do not do it! If you plagiarize any of your performance task, you will get a score of zero! Don't do it 😱

Overall PT Tips 💡 and Closing Thoughts

Here are some final words of wisdom from us here at Fiveable:

• Practice submitting your AP Digital Portfolio as a draft before the actual due date 📅- Remember that the due date for the PT is the last day of April 📆🗓️
• Write your program in either block-based or text code! The AP Exam doesn't prefer either, so make sure to use what is easiest for you 🍩
• Always cite APIs in your code 🗞️
• Use your peers to help you create your PT 👩‍👦 They are there to help you along when you get lost or confused 😕
• Review the scoring guidelines and past responses to the Create PT to see good and bad examples ✅ The Create PT is undoubtedly one of the hardest parts of the APCSP Exam! If you start working early and keep consistently adding to your code and responses, you will be able to do awesome and succeed on your APCSP Exam 🎉