In my past columns I have been able to cover the struggles of students overall at FHS, but what about the portion of students participating in AP (Advanced Placement) classes?
Taking AP Courses is quite difficult as it is, but throwing the pandemic into the mix has proven to be a challenge for many students this year.
Some students claim that some of the content has had to be rushed due to the late start to the school year. Others say it’s hard to get the help they need during their remote weeks. These are just some of the struggles that students in these harder classes are facing.
Others that I’ve spoken to like Sabrina Zheng feel that, “It’s more difficult to pay attention and to take the class seriously,” comparing how students usually take an AP class which usually has more of a serious, focused energy that perhaps has lessened because of the pandemic.
Freshman Kiana Coppa stated, “We’ve had to rely a ton on our textbooks to learn as opposed to in-person learning, which makes it a lot harder for clarification or asking questions and overall a lot harder to learn and understand the content.”
Including myself and Ms. Coppa, there are several freshmen taking an AP course their first year of high school because the school has opened up the courses to 9th graders for the first time this year. Not only are these students getting used to high school, but also adjusting to higher placement classes during a pandemic.
In addition to freshmen, many upperclassmen take these courses as well, and some that I’ve spoken to like Colin Pacheco found a different experience in his AP classes this year.
“I think the AP classes have been much easier than they were said to be prior to the pandemic. The workload is less intense and it gives us more freedom on when to do things.”
Aside from taking the class, there is an AP Exam at the end of the year that students are to take and potentially earn college credit if their scores permit.
This year, Fairhaven High students are taking the AP Exam digitally, at home due to COVID-19 and safety precautions.
First, it’s important to note some of the potential key differences between the paper and digital exam put in place by the College Board.
For example, Kiana Coppa explained some of the differences on her AP World History Exam that she will be taking in May: “There are a few things different. First off, we cannot go back to previous questions on multiple choice questions. Once we answer it, we cannot change our answers. Also, there is no Long Essay Question, and it is replaced with two more Short Answer questions in addition to the three that we already get. The college board was going to require cameras, however since then they have said they haven’t, so that’s still up in the air.”
Since there is a major difference this year compared to past exams, I decided to find out whether or not students think the test will be more difficult taking it on the computer and at home, rather than paper and pencil at school.
One student said, “I think the AP test will be much harder to take online because of how distracting a home environment is. It is much easier to do work at school without getting distracted, so I think our grades may suffer taking the test at home because we will have trouble staying on task.”
Many students who gave me their input felt the same way in regards to the distractions that may take away from their testing time.
Along with these cons, there seem to be a few pros of the digital test that students pointed out.
A freshman student stated, “I think taking the test virtually will definitely have its challenges with the distractions at home but not having to write everything out and have to physically flip between pages will be much easier.”
Grace Dupre added, “I think taking the AP test digitally will be easier because we are so used to using technology for school, it would just be more convenient.”
What are your thoughts on taking the AP Exam digitally?
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