what is ap seminar course overview

by Shaun Green MD 3 min read

AP Seminar is an interdisciplinary course that encourages students to demonstrate critical thinking, collaboration, and academic research skills on topics of the student's choosing. To accommodate the wide range of student topics, typical college course equivalents include interdisciplinary or general elective courses.

How to pass AP Seminar?

AP Seminar Course Overview 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.

How difficult is the AP Seminar?

Mar 21, 2020 · What Is AP Seminar? AP Seminar is one of the course requirements for the AP Capstone Diploma and the AP Research and Seminar Certificate, both of which were introduced by the College Board in fall 2014. If you take and pass AP Seminar, AP Research, and four other AP courses and exams, you will earn the AP Capstone Diploma.

What are perspectives in AP Seminar?

Assessment Overview. The AP Seminar assessment consists of three parts: two performance tasks and the end-of-course AP Exam. All parts measure student achievement of the course learning objectives. Encourage your students to visit …

What is AP Seminar, and what is AP Research?

The AP Seminar assessment has three parts: two performance tasks—which you’ll complete over the course of the year and submit online for scoring through the AP Digital Portfolio—and the end-of-course AP Exam. All measure your proficiency in the course skills, and all contribute to your final AP score on a scale of 1–5. Assessment Dates

What do you learn in AP Seminar?

AP Seminar offers students an introduction to conducting independent analysis of complex ideas across various disciplines. It involves reading and understanding advanced source material in the form of texts and other media.Mar 21, 2020

What is AP overview?

AP Exams are standardized exams designed to measure how well you've mastered the content and skills of a specific AP course.

Is AP Seminar a good class?

The answer: absolutely! One of the best benefits of AP Capstone is gaining either the AP Seminar and Research Certificate 📜 (passing both classes) or AP Capstone Diploma 🎓 (passing both classes and 4 other AP exams). You can show this off to colleges and boost your college application!Nov 18, 2020

What does AP Seminar mean?

Advanced Placement Program®AP® SEMINAR. EFFECTIVE FALL 2016. About the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) The Advanced Placement Program® enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies — with the opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both — while still in high school.

Do AP classes affect college GPA?

Does the AP exam affect GPA? No, the AP exam does not impact your grade for the class or your cumulative GPA. Only your final grade in the AP class will affect your GPA. However, if you do well enough on the AP exam you may be awarded a class credit for the corresponding intro-level class in college.Jan 21, 2020

What is the purpose of AP classes?

AP classes sharpen students' writing skills, teach them how to think critically, and improve their problem-solving abilities. AP students learn to navigate the academic expectations they'll encounter in college courses. Earn college credit. AP exams are scored on a scale of 1 (lowest) through 5 (highest).

What is the easiest AP class?

Top 10 Easiest AP Classes by Exam Pass RateSpanish Literature. 75.1% 17.6%Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism. 74.4% 40.4%Physics 2. 73.3% 14.0%Computer Science Principles. 71.6% 10.9%Psychology. 71.3% 22.4%Computer Science A. 70.4% 25.6%Comparative Government and Politics. 70.2% 24.4%Music Theory.More items...•Aug 31, 2021

Do colleges like AP Seminar?

Similar to IB, since AP Capstone is only offered at a select few schools, colleges won't be specifically looking for AP Capstone or favoring it, since not all students have access to it. Still, if you take Capstone, aspects of the program—especially the long research paper—will likely look desirable to most colleges.Mar 21, 2020

Do colleges accept AP Seminar?

The AP Capstone Diploma™ is increasingly recognized in admissions by higher education institutions around the world. Many colleges and universities offer credit and/or placement for a qualifying score in AP Seminar, AP Research, or both.

What are the easiest AP classes to take in high school?

The Three Easiest AP ClassesAP Psychology. With a reputation as one of the easiest AP classes, it comes as no surprise that AP Psychology is also one of the most popular—288,511 students took the exam in 2021. ... AP Comparative Government and Politics. ... AP Environmental Science.Jan 24, 2022

What is a seminar class?

Seminars are often defined as small, discussion-based courses. Typically, students complete readings and assignments before the class and discuss major themes or topics during class.

What Will You Do in AP Seminar?

The AP Seminar curriculum is framed around what the College Board calls five "Big Ideas." These ideas are all pretty buzzword-y (their first letter...

AP Seminar Sample Course Outline

AP Seminar is a class that often weaves through many different subject areas. Since the goal is to gain a better grasp of the complexity of opinion...

Should You Take AP Seminar?

If you hope to earn an AP Research and Seminar Certificate or an AP Capstone Diploma, you need to take AP Seminar. The AP Capstone program culminat...

How to Do Well in AP Seminar: 3 Essential Tips

What you'll need to do to succeed in AP Seminar depends partly on the format and subject area of the class since it has a lot of flexibility in its...

Conclusion: The Benefits of Taking AP Seminar

Critical thinking and the ability to logically evaluate arguments are key skills that'll help you in all aspects of your life. AP Seminar can be a...

What is an AP seminar?

AP Seminar is an interdisciplinary course that encourages students to demonstrate critical thinking, collaboration, and academic research skills on topics of the student’s choosing. To accommodate the wide range of student topics, typical college course equivalents include interdisciplinary or general elective courses.

What is the first step in research?

Big Idea 1: Question and Explore. You’ll learn about the first step of doing research: inquiry and investigation. You’ll practice: Identifying a problem or issue and developing a question about it. Finding and organizing the information you need to answer the question. Evaluating the sources of information you use.

How to communicate ideas to an audience?

You’ll learn to work alone and in a group to communicate your ideas to an audience. You’ll practice: Planning, producing, and presenting an argument while considering audience, context, and purpose. Communicating information through appropriate media. Using effective techniques to engage an audience.

What is an AP seminar?

AP Seminar is a class that often weaves through many different subject areas. Since the goal is to gain a better grasp of the complexity of opinions on societal issues and to use your newfound understanding to do more effective, self-driven research, it covers a lot of ground.

What is the final exam for AP seminar?

The final exam for AP Seminar consists of three short-answer and two essay questions. The short-answer questions ask students to analyze an argument from a single source. For one essay question, students must compare arguments from different authors, whereas for the other, they must formulate their own evidence-based argument.

What is the second semester of AP?

Education is complex. In the second semester of the class, students will use the skills they learned in the first three units to take on larger challenges in the form of two research projects and the final exam. Each of these assignments makes up a portion of the final AP score.

What is the first assignment in AP?

The first assignment is a team project and presentation, worth 25% of the final AP score. Students collaborate in teams of three to six to identify a problem or question they want to research. Each student does research individually and presents his or her findings to the group.

What is the importance of critical thinking in AP?

Critical thinking and the ability to logically evaluate arguments are key skills that'll help you in all aspects of your life. AP Seminar can be a very practical course if you're up for the challenge.

What is the big idea of the book?

This Big Idea is about learning to read critically and reach the heart of an author's argument . You'll practice avoiding oversimplification and generalization when describing the points made by others. You'll also learn how successful arguments are formulated as well as the importance of counterarguments, context, and the ability of an argument to influence behavior.

When can students try out the test day experience?

Starting April 8, students can try out the test-day experience by answering example questions in the digital testing application. See the Digital Practice page for general information about practice options.

Why do students use annotations?

Students can use the digital annotation tool to highlight key elements within texts, organize their thoughts, and create brief notes. While the annotations that students construct will not be scored, annotating is an opportunity for students to analyze texts to help them as they write their responses.

What is digital testing?

Students should be aware of some aspects of testing digitally that they’ll encounter—in the Digital Practice and on exam day: The digital testing application includes an annotation tool, which allows students to mark text and make notes on the provided sources.

Can you use videos as homework?

Videos can be assigned as homework to encourage students to watch on their own, so you can use class time to focus discussions where students need more help, whether teaching online, in person, or both. Sign in to AP Classroom to access the AP Seminar question bank and AP Daily videos.

Not a Student?

Go to AP Central for resources for teachers, administrators, and coordinators.

About the Assessment

The AP Seminar assessment has three parts: two performance tasks—which you’ll complete over the course of the year and submit online for scoring through the AP Digital Portfolio—and the end-of-course AP Exam. All measure your proficiency in the course skills, and all contribute to your final AP score on a scale of 1–5.

Assessment Components

Work in teams of 3–5 to identify, investigate, analyze, and evaluate an academic or real-world problem, question, or issue. Your team will design and/or consider options, alternatives, or solutions and develop a multimedia presentation to communicate your conclusion or recommendations.

Assessment Preparation

Once you join your AP class section online, you’ll be able to access AP Daily videos in AP Classroom. AP Daily videos cover every proficiency and skill outlined in the AP Seminar course and exam description. Sign in to access them.

Search AP Credit Policies

Find colleges that grant credit and/or placement for AP Exam scores in this and other AP courses.

What is AP research?

AP Research, the second course in the AP Capstone experience, allows students to deeply explore an academic topic, problem, issue, or idea of individual interest. Students design, plan, and implement a yearlong investigation to address a research question. Through this inquiry, they further the skills they acquired in the AP Seminar course by learning research methodology, employing ethical research practices, and accessing, analyzing, and synthesizing information. Students reflect on their skill development, document their processes, and curate the artifacts of their scholarly work through a process and reflection portfolio. The course culminates in an academic paper of 4,000–5,000 words (accompanied by a performance, exhibit, or product where applicable) and a presentation with an oral defense.

What are the big ideas in a course?

As always, you have the flexibility to organize the course content as you like. Big Idea 1: Question and Explore. Big Idea 2: Understand and Analyze. Big Idea 3: Evaluate Multiple Perspectives. Big Idea 4: Synthesize Ideas . Big Idea 5: Team, Transform, and Transmit.

What is the curriculum framework?

Based on the Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe) model, the curriculum framework is intended to provide a clear and detailed description of the course requirements necessary for student success. This conceptualization will guide the development and organization of learning outcomes from general to specific, resulting in focused statements about content knowledge and skills needed for success in the course.

Can you use videos as homework?

Videos can be assigned as homework to encourage students to watch on their own, so you can use class time to focus discussions where students need more help, whether teaching online, in person, or both. Sign In to AP Classroom.

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