As May of 2024 neared, students found themselves selecting courses for the new school year; however, upon scrolling through the list of electives, many discovered that AP Computer Science had disappeared, replaced by Technology and Innovation Seminar 1.0.  

“Webb is moving away from AP courses, so the new course is to help transition students into the new program,” said Maria Suarez, mathematics department faculty and teacher of both AP Computer Science and Technology and Innovation Seminar 1.0. 

Though similar, AP Computer Science and Technology and Innovation Seminar 1.0 differ in GPA credit as well as its course: specifically, not only has the 1.0-point credit for a student’s weighted GPA changed, but also the curriculum provided by both courses. Ms. Suarez claims that while AP Computer Science focuses more on programming, computational thinking, and developing new logic, Technology and Innovation Seminar 1.0 focuses more on design. This allows students to think and create by immersing themselves in the process of design as well as utilizing basic skills to come up with a solution for an idea. 

Course selection changes have raised mixed opinions of students who were eager to or have already taken AP Computer Science. 

Though there has been no statistical drop in the number of sophomores taking Technology and Innovation Seminar 1.0 this year compared to the number of sophomores taking AP Computer Science in previous years, according to Ms. Suarez, some students believe that the removal of the AP course was not necessary. 

“I feel that more advanced classes offered to sophomores in order to prepare for harder courses, like the Harvey Mudd program, is useful,” said Rachel Liu (’27). 

Though students have agreed that more rigorous courses are beneficial to the preparation of future courses offered to upperclassmen, Rachel Liu claims that Technology and Innovation Seminar 1.0 is still very helpful as students develop many basic skills and that the courseload is somewhat more manageable than AP Computer Science. 

“AP Computer Science has helped and prepared me with important knowledge for future classes, but it can be quite challenging, especially for incoming sophomores,” said Jonas Sun (‘25), a student who took AP Computer Science two years ago. “I personally think that the change is a good transition and introductory step to advanced courses like the Harvey Mudd Course.” 

Because the replacement of AP Computer Science with Technology and Innovation Seminar 1.0 is recent, implemented in May of 2024, there have been no reports of future changes. Both students and Ms. Suarez have agreed that the course has helped students gain the ability to come up with ideas, design processes, and utilize skills to come up with solutions.  

“There could be future revisions of the new course, but as of now, I believe that it has helped provide sophomores with the basic knowledge of what it takes to create and be innovative,” said Ms. Suarez. “Already, I have witnessed brilliant projects and designs currently developed by students in class.”