AP Research Course Description

Welcome to AP Research, the second half of the AP Capstone! In AP Seminar, you learned how to read and analyze sources to build an argument; Research builds on these skills by asking you to apply a research method to generate a new understanding about a topic of interest to you. The research process will look something like this:

Throughout the year, students will work through this process, ultimately producing an academic research paper (75% of AP score) and a presentation/oral defense (25% of AP score). 

There is no exam for AP Research. 

Summer Assignment

The summer assignment is required.  

Students who start the year with a sense of a topic they would like to pursue are more likely to stay on track with the research process. The purpose of the summer assignment is to encourage you to reflect on and identify a topic that will hold your interest for the whole year. Your task will be to identify a research question that fills or addresses a gap in existing knowledge: basically, you are going to discover something that isn't already known.  Previous students have asked questions about Instagram pictures of cake; about the impacts of smoking in high school; about perceptions of mental health in Jordan; about visuals and music in films; about portrayals of superheroes in film; about authenticity of Chinese food as expressed in Yelp reviews. The sky is (almost!) the limit, but choose a topic because it actually interests you. 

There are four parts to the assignment. Please make a copy of this Google Doc and do all work there.

1. Identify a topic that you would like to pursue this year. Do your best to make a firm commitment. Your research question will evolve, but changing a topic means additional work for you later. Write a few sentences about why this topic is compelling to you. 

2. Read about this topic. Do preliminary research, similar to what you conducted in Seminar for PT2. Read widely -- what are people saying about this topic? What sub-topics or questions do you want to pursue? Fill in the preliminary research table with the titles of at least 5 preliminary sources (these do not have to be from academic, peer-reviewed literature). Write a brief synthesis paragraph about what you learned from this reading. 

3. Now do some academic research in the peer-reviewed literature. Use EBSCO or Google Scholar. Complete at least 5 annotated bibliographies. Make sure you carefully read and follow the directions -- this makes your research process transparent. 

4.  Reflect on your topic. What have you learned? What questions remain? 

Your Teacher

Enjoy the summer! I look forward to starting our work together in August.