AP Seminar

Course Description

Per the AP Seminar Course and Exam Description

“AP Seminar is a foundational course that engages students in cross-curricular conversations that explore the complexities of academic and real-world topics and issues by analyzing divergent perspectives. Using an inquiry framework, students practice reading and analyzing articles, research studies, and foundational literary and philosophical texts; listening to and viewing speeches, broadcasts, and personal accounts; and experiencing artistic works and performances. Students learn to synthesize information from multiple sources, develop their own perspectives in research based 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.”

Goals

Per the AP Seminar Course and Exam Description

“The AP Capstone program aims to empower students by:

• engaging them with rigorous college-level curricula focused on the skills necessary for successful college completion;

• extending their abilities to synthesize information from multiple perspectives and apply skills in new situations and cross-curricular contexts;

• enabling them to collect and analyze information with accuracy and precision;

• cultivating their abilities to craft, communicate, and defend evidence-based arguments; and

• providing opportunities for them to practice disciplined and scholarly research skills while exploring relevant topics that appeal to their interests and curiosity.”

QUEST Skills

Students will develop the QUEST skills to later assist them in completing the two required Performance Tasks within this course.

• Question and Explore

• Understand and Analyze

• Evaluate Multiple Perspectives

• Synthesize Ideas

• Team, Transform, and Transmit

During the year, students will develop and strengthen their pre-existing abilities for critical thinking and analyzing of various points of view to develop their own perspectives on complex issues and topics through research and investigation. The research process will allow students to seek out and locate a variety of primary and secondary print and non-print sources such as articles, peer-reviewed and scholarly articles, research studies, and literary and philosophical texts, TED Talks, videos, podcasts, personal accounts, and artistic works and performances. This wide variety of sources will allow for students to gain the opportunity to view multiple perspectives on the topic chosen as they work collaboratively or independently to analyze and evaluate various considerations, options, solutions, or resolutions to an academic or real-world problem/issue.

Performance Tasks

During Semester 2, students will conduct two performance tasks, which are graded and will count towards the student’s AP Score. In addition, students will take the exam, which will calculate towards their AP Score.

Performance Task 1 (P.T.1)

Team Project and Presentation: (20% of the AP Score)

Team Multimedia Presentation and Oral Defense (TMP) and (OD):

· Three to five students collaborate as a team to identify a problem or an issue (e.g. local, national, global, academic, theoretical, philosophical). Each team develops a team research question and conducts preliminary research. They identify approaches, perspectives, or lenses and divide responsibilities among themselves for individual research that will address the team’s research question. The team’s multimedia presentation is 8-10 minutes long plus the oral defense of presentation (questions from the teacher).

Individual Research Report (IRR):

Students will investigate their assigned approach, perspectives, or lens on the issue or topic of the team research question. Each student presents his or her findings and analysis to the group in a well-written individual report (1200 words) that:

· identifies the area of investigation and its relationship to the overall problem or issue;

· summarizes, explains, analyzes, and evaluates the main ideas and reasoning in the chosen sources

· identifies, compares, and interprets a range of perspectives about the problem or issue; and

· cites all sources used and includes a list of works cited or bibliography

Performance Task 2 (P.T.2)

Individual Research-Based Essay and Presentation: (35% of the AP Score)

Students will receive a cross-curricular stimulus packet of materials (texts) on or around January 2^nd representing a range of perspectives focused on a single theme. Students will read and analyze the texts to identify thematic connections among them and possible areas for inquiry; compose a research question of their own; conduct research; analyze, evaluate, and select evidence to develop an argument; and present and defend their conclusions. The final paper must incorporate at least one of the provided sources.

· Individual Written Argument (IWA); 2,000 words; 4 pages single/8 double

· Individual Multimedia Presentation (IMP); 6 to 8-minutes long

· Oral Defense (OD); 2 questions from the teacher

AP Seminar meets every other day for an 80-minute period. The scheduling of the 30-day window for in-class work for P.T.2 includes at least 30 class days with two days extra for anticipated snow-days (which would normally be made-up in June).

Note: Performance Tasks 1 and 2 must be submitted to the College Board by the end of April prior to taking the exam.

End of the Course Exam

Individual-based: (45 % of the AP Score)

· 3 short-answer questions regarding the student’s understanding and ability to analyze an argument (30 minutes is the suggested time-frame)

· Synthesizing material to build an evidence-based argumentative essay (90 minutes is the suggested time-frame)

Note: Although highly recommended to take the AP Exam for the College Board, if students decide not to, then they will be required to take an exam for me, which will have the same rigor and demeanor and the exam will be scored similarly. Additionally, my exam will count towards students' overall GPA here at the school whereas the one they take for the College Board will not.