The document discusses a peer coaching report for an AP Computer Science teacher who implemented bi-weekly take home exams to challenge students. The exams are completed in groups and take a week to finish. They require students to learn new material independently by answering step-by-step questions that guide their discovery. The teacher finds that over the year, students become more proficient at independent learning as they gain ownership over topics. Students are now more organized, focused, and take pride in their work as a result of the take home exams.

1. Peer Coaching Report
Name: A. Jorge García Date:6/12/2009
Peer Coaching
Students in AP Computer Science (APCS) very often are not
challenged to solve problems that require “thinking out of the box” or that
require more than one period to complete. I have developed a series of bi­
weekly Take Home Exams to address this problem. Each Monday I either
assign a new take home or collect the last one assigned. On the first Monday
I explain what the take home is about and do several similar examples with
the students. The second Monday of each take home, I collect the exam and
explain each solution. These Take Home Exams also help students review for
the AP Exam.
Peer Coaching Principle of Learning:
“Fair and Credible Assessments.”
Peer Coaching Focus:
“How can I incorporate cooperative learning using Take Home Exams
in APCS?”
Peer Coaching Experience:
Students learn a topic best when they have to explain it to a peer. The
Take Home Exams are done in groups of the students’ choosing. They get one
school week to work on these extended projects.
Peer Coaching Evidence:
Students learn new material on their own by completing each Take
Home Exam. Each exam extends topics from class and contains step­by­step
questions leading the student on a discovery. When the student is done with
the exam, he or she has, in essence, completed a research paper on the new
topic!
Peer Coaching Lesson:
The day I assign a new Take Home Exam, I give a short lesson on the
topics already covered in class that the student needs to know in order to
understand the Take Home Exam. Then I explain each question and what
the student should learn from this experience.
Peer Coaching Assessment:
I have found that, over the course of the year, the students have
become more and more proficient in learning new material on their own as
they gain ownership over each new topic. The experience they get from each
Take Home Exam has also affected classroom work. Now my students tend
to be more organized and focused in class. These students also tend to take
pride in their work and are assets to class discussions.
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