AP Seminar

AP SEMINAR SYLLABUS

AP Seminar is a foundational course that introduces students to the reading, writing, and research skills they will need to be successful college students and change agents in their world. Students engage in analysis and conversations of academic and real-world topics that interest them. Using an inquiry framework, students practice analyzing articles, research studies, and philosophical texts, viewing speeches, and experiencing artistic performances. Students learn to synthesize information from multiple sources, develop their own perspectives in written essays, and design and deliver oral and visual presentations both individually and as part of a team. Ultimately, the course aims to equip students with the power to analyze and evaluate information with accuracy and precision in order to craft and communicate evidence-based arguments. Students who take and pass the AP exam for AP Seminar will be eligible to take AP Capstone their senior year. Students who pass the AP exams for AP Seminar, AP Capstone, and four additional AP courses will earn an AP Diploma from the College Board. 

Student Learning Outcome - Scholarship

AP Seminar students are on a Q.U.E.S.T. to become scholars. In this quest, they will develop skill sets to:

• Question and Explore – Students will challenge and expand the boundaries of their current knowledge.

• Understand and Analyze – Students will contextualize arguments and comprehend authors’ claims.

• Evaluate Multiple Perspectives – Students will consider individual perspectives and the larger conversations of varied points of view.

• Synthesize Ideas – Students will be able to combine knowledge, ideas, and their own perspective into an argument backed by evidence.

• Team, Transform, and Transmit – Students will collaborate, reflect, and communicate their arguments in a method suited to their audience.

Course Work

AP Seminar students are on a Q.U.E.S.T. to become scholars, and each day students will actively practice skills from the Q.U.E.S.T. process as they explore challenges currently facing the world. The class will function as a workshop for students to hone their Q.U.E.S.T.  skills. In a given class period, students can expect to engage in start-up activities, read articles related to the course themes, discuss various perspectives, work in groups, construct arguments, and write arguments.  Students can expect to be scholars every day.

Instructional Resources 

To meet the course objectives, current media, magazines, journals, newspapers, and other secondary and primary sources will be incorporated. Information used to address a problem may come from various print and non-print secondary sources (e.g., articles, other studies, analyses, reports) and/or primary sources (e.g., original texts and works or personally collected data such as experiments, surveys, questionnaires, and interviews). Students will be expected to access and manage information from online databases provided by the Digital Maine Library.

Assessments

Grades will be based on the total points assigned for a term and updated regularly in Google Classroom.  Feedback on specific assignments will also be available on Google Classroom.  The grading categories of reading, research, writing, and collaboration will be used to help identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.

Assessments will include:

• Unit Learning Journals: Students will engage in daily exit tickets focused on the main goal of that day’s lesson. As this is a formative assessment, students will be assessed on their willingness to thoughtfully engage and question the material rather than having to worry about perfect accuracy. Will include Cognitive and Metacognitive activities from PROJECT ZERO, Harvard Graduate School of Education. (Some examples are linked in the syllabus)

• Progress Checks: We will break large assignments into smaller, more manageable pieces and assess their completion and or accuracy depending on the task.  This will allow us to model the time management necessary for upper-level classes.

• Mock College Board Assessments - During the year, students will engage in mock EOC As, EOC Bs, IRRs, and TMPs to prepare them for their submissions to the College Board.  For a detailed description of these activities, see the AP Assessments section that follows.

AP SEMINAR EXAM COMPONENTS

Unlike most AP courses, a student’s final score for AP Seminar is determined by work completed throughout the year. Students are assessed on two performance tasks completed in the spring semester and one end-of-course exam in May. Portions of the two performance tasks (e.g., the multimedia presentations and oral defense) are scored by the teacher and validated by the College Board.

Performance Task 1: Team Project and Presentation (20% of AP Seminar score)

Individual

Research Report

Working individually, students investigate their team’s research question using a disciplinary approach or thematic perspective of their choice. They then present their findings in a 1,200-word report (approx. 5 pages double spaced) that: identifies the area of investigation and its relationship to the overall research question; analyzes and evaluates the main ideas and reasoning in the chosen sources; and identifies, compares, and interprets a range of perspectives.

Team Multimedia

Presentation and Defense

Working collaboratively, the team crafts a unified argument that synthesizes and evaluates their individual findings and perspectives. They then develop an 8-10 minute presentation for an audience of their peers. Following the presentation, each student must defend a portion of their argument by responding to one question asked by the teacher.

Performance Task 2: Individual Research Essay & Presentation (35% of AP Seminar score)

Individual Written Argument

Students read and analyze a collection of interdisciplinary texts, released annually by the College Board, to identify thematic connections and possible areas for inquiry. Drawing on the provided sources and additional research, students develop a well-reasoned argument of 2,000 words (approx. 8 pages double spaced) that answers an original research question.

Individual

Multimedia

Presentation

Students develop a 6-8 minute presentation using appropriate media and present it to an audience of their peers. Presentations must go beyond a mere summary of student research, and should instead situate the argument within a broader thematic context.

Oral Defense

Students must defend their research process, use of evidence, and conclusion through oral responses to two questions asked by the teacher.

End-of-Course Examination (45% of AP Seminar score)

All students will take the AP Seminar end-of-course exam, which consists of two parts: (a) three short answer questions that assess students’ ability to analyze an argument, and (b) an essay question that assesses students’ skills in synthesizing and creating an evidence-based argument.

Disclaimer: From the AP Seminar Course and Exam Description:

“As the AP Program engages students in college‐level work, the AP Seminar course may include perspectives that could be considered controversial, including references to ethnicity, nationality, religion, politics, race, dialect, sexuality, gender or class. AP Seminar requires students to have the level of maturity and skill to thoughtfully consider and analyze diverse perspectives. The inclusion of topics, readings, texts, and other source material is not intended as an endorsement by the College Board of the content, ideas or values expressed in the material.”

AP Capstone Policy on Plagiarism and Falsification or Fabrication of Information

• This course adheres rigorously to the AP Capstone Policy on Plagiarism and Falsification or Fabrication of Information: “Participating teachers shall inform students of the consequences of plagiarism and instruct students to ethically use and acknowledge the ideas and work of others throughout their course work. The student’s individual voice should be clearly evident, and the ideas of others must be acknowledged, attributed, and/or cited. 

• A student who fails to acknowledge the source or author of any and all information or evidence taken from the work of someone else through citation, attribution or reference in the body of the work, or through a bibliographic entry, will receive a score of 0 on that particular component of the AP Seminar and/or AP Research Performance Task. In AP Seminar, a team of students that fails to properly acknowledge sources or authors on the Team Multimedia Presentation will receive a group score of 0 for that component of the Team Project and Presentation. 

• A student who incorporates falsified or fabricated information (e.g. evidence, data, sources, and/or authors) will receive a score of 0 on that particular component of the AP Seminar and/or AP Research Performance Task. In AP Seminar, a team of students that incorporates falsified or fabricated information in the Team Multimedia Presentation will receive a group score of 0 for that component of the Team Project and Presentation.

Unit 1

Week 1 Research Training Level 1

• How to Evaluate Sources (Evaluating sources with CRAAP RAVEN) Using terminology from CRA(RAVEN)AP make two comments about the quality of Source 1 from the stimulus packet. Using terminology from CRA(RAVEN)AP to make two comments about the quality of Source 2 from the stimulus packet.

• How and When to Effectively Use Google

• How and Why to Use the Databases (The Digital Maine Library, EBSCOHost, Gayle, How to Search, Selecting Text Only, Peer-Reviewed Sources, JStor)

• How to save articles and citations 

• How to do in-text citations  (Purdue Owl Chicago Style)

• How and Why to format a Works Cited  (Purdue Owl Chicago Style)

Week 2 Reading Training Level 1 (EOC A)

• Identifying the main idea

• Explaining Line of Reasoning Claim, Support, Question Thinking Routine Evaluating Evidence and Sources Think Puzzle Explore

• Learning how to do the EOC A 

Q - Question if the author is making a good argument

U - Understand the Main Idea and LOR (Circle of Viewpoints thinking Routine) (modified for lenses) Class Journal What is the difference between a lense and a perspective? Introduction to Academic Lenses Perspectives is different points of view expressed through an argument. A single lens (Political) may have many different perspectives (Conservative vs. Liberal vs. Socialist) Also understand Stakeholders Complete the Circle of Viewpoints activity

E - Evaluate the evidence used by the author

S - Put your thoughts in order 

T - Transmit it in 30 mins

Week 3 Writing Training Level 1

• Writing an informational paragraph 

• Writing an argumentative paragraph

• How to Incorporate Research Into Your Writing

• Refresher on Simple Mechanics that can Make you Look Good
  (I, contractions, spell checks, capitals)

Week 4 Writing Training Level 1

• How to present your findings

Unit 2 

Week 5 EOC B (End of Course Exam Part B)

• Q - Question the conversation and make your contribution

• U - Understand what the authors are saying

• E - Evaluate evidence that can help your argument

• S - Synthesize the evidence and your ideas into a LOR

• T - Transmit it in an essay in 90 mins

• Anatomy of an Argument

• Diagramming Arguments

• Thesis statements

• Pre-writing

Week 6 EOC B (End of Course Exam Part B)the stimulus packet

• Overview of the EOC B  Group Work

• Group Argument creation for the EOC B

• Writing Workshops

Unit 3 

Week 8 Mock IRR (Independent Research Review)

• Q - As a group find a problem you can question how to solve

• U - Understand this problem from different lenses and within those lenses understand what various stakeholders are saying about its scope, causes, and possible solutions.

• E - Evaluate the experts comparing and contrasting what they are saying about the scope, causes, and possible solutions

• S - Organize your findings by causes and solutions

• T - Transmit your findings to your group in a 1200 word essay

• Problems for the IRR

• Problem Selection

• General Research

Week 9 Mock IRR (Independent Research Review)

IRR Rubric

• General Research

Week 10 Mock IRR (Independent Research Review)

• Perspectives Research

• Write Scope

Week 11 Mock IRR (Independent Research Review) Due

• Write Causes/Solutions 1

• Write Causes/Solutions 2

• Write Causes/Solutions 3

• Mock IRR due

Week 12 Mock TMP (Team Media Presentation)

Q - Question as a group what is the best solution you found for this problem
U - Understand this problem from different lenses and within those lenses understand what various stakeholders are saying about its scope, causes, and possible solutions.

E - Evaluate the biggest causes of the problem and the best solutions

S - Organize your presentations using the template 

T - Transmit your findings in a group presentation of 6-8 minutes ARGUING FOR YOUR SOLUTION

• Week 13 Mock TMP (Team Media Presentation)

• Teams will practice their presentations

• Teams will film their presentations and submit them via Google Classroom.

• Team Reflection

• Annotated bibliographies must use elements of CRA(RAVEN)AP 

• Presentations must follow the anatomy of an argument, use academic discourse stems, employ rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos), and avoid fallacies.

Assessment

Summary of Task

% of AP Score

Due Date

Performance Task 1

Individual Research Report

Team Media Presentation

20%

December 5

February 5

Performance Task 2

Individual Written Argument

Individual Multimedia Presentation

35%

February 8

April 30

End of Course Exam

Understanding and analyzing argument (3 short answers)

Evaluate and compare arguments (essay)

 Synthesis (essay)

45%

May 5

Unit 4 

Week 14 IRR (Independent Research Review)

• Present TMPs 

• IRR Editing

• Problems

• Explain the problem

• PIck a problem

Week 15 IRR (Independent Research Review)

• Finalize problem

• Tues 12/22 - Read general research and report out.

• Wed 12/23 -  Read general research and report out

Week 16 IRR (Independent Research Review)

• Sources 1 and 2

• Sources 3 and 4

• Sources 5 and 6

• Sources 7 and 8

• Sources 9 and 10

Week 17 IRR (Independent Research Review)

• Sources 11 and 12

• Sources 13 to 15

• Organize Perspectives into Thesis

• Write Intro

• Write Section 1

Week 18 IRR (Independent Research Review) Due

• Write Section 2

• Write Section 3

• Write Conclusion and Edit

• Edit

Unit 5 

Weeks 19-20 TMP (Team Media Presentation)

Unit 6 

Weeks 21-26 IWA (Independent Written Argument)

Q - Read the stimulus packet and find a problem you want to solve

U - Understand the causes and solutions to your problem from various lenses and stakeholders

E - Evaluate the solutions you come up with

S - Organize your essay using the template

T - Transmit your findings in an oral presentation of 8-10 minutes and a 2000 word limit

Unit 7 

Weeks 27-29 IMP (Independent Media Presentation)