Post AP curriculum beneficial to course understanding

June 2, 2013 — by Nick Chow

With the recent completion of AP testing, a huge burden has been lifted off the school’s shoulders. Students everywhere have felt the diminishing of the merciless flow of work before AP testing. But to the astonishment of some students, AP classes are still learning new material after the test. However, this material, while not officially part of the AP course curriculum, is a huge asset in further enriching students’ knowledge.

With the recent completion of AP testing, a huge burden has been lifted off the school’s shoulders. Students everywhere have felt the diminishing of the merciless flow of work before AP testing. But to the astonishment of some students, AP classes are still learning new material after the test. However, this material, while not officially part of the AP course curriculum, is a huge asset in further enriching students’ knowledge.
Margarita Morelle and Kim Anzalone’s AP US History classes have always embarked on a History in Film unit following the AP test. They watch movies such as “Saving Private Ryan,” “Platoon” and “Argo.” With each movie, there is a small assessment on the plot and connection to history, an obstacle that often frustrates students. 
However, these movies, supplementary reading assignments and assessments are an integral part in further understanding the course material in the AP class. The formal goal of an AP course is to provide students with a college-caliber course and to challenge students. These supplemental assignments allow students to expand their perspectives on actual historical events they studied in the year through a different method, rather than by reading textbooks.
For example, “Saving Private Ryan” revolves around the Allies’ D-Day invasion of Normandy during WWII, an aspect that surprisingly is covered very briefly in the AP course. By showing these movies that illustrate many of the components central to such a pivotal historical event, the APUSH classes are providing students with an alternative, yet engaging way to expand their knowledge on historical events.
Furthermore, watching these films and reading supplementary packets is a much more preferable method to learn history compared to taking painstaking notes from the textbook. Now granted, there still are tests on the new material, but these tests do not approach the rigor of previous tests in the school year.
AP Calculus BC, taught by Audrey Warmuth, has also shifted gears to a supplemental unit focusing on mathematical modeling with differential equations. In previous years, the class completed final projects after AP testing, but Warmuth decided to make a change this year. 
The modeling unit, composed of numerous in-class computer modeling activities and a culminating assessment, is a welcome addition to the curriculum. 
The entirety of the AP Calculus unit revolves around three central topics: derivatives, integrals and series and sequences. However, the normal calculus curriculum does not emphasize practical application of techniques learned. Instead, the course centers around endless practice of deriving and integrating.
It’s important to remember that the reason students are formally educated is to adequately prepare them for future careers and endeavors. The techniques learned in the core AP Calculus curriculum, while useful for assessments, are not necessarily applicable in the real world. 
On the other hand, mathematical modeling using differential equations is a practical skill that numerous fields use regularly. It can be used by pathologists to predict the spread of epidemics, as well as by ecological scientists to model ecosystem population interactions. There are a multitude of applications of mathematical modeling within everyday life, which is why it is a useful addition to the post-AP Calculus BC curriculum.
AP classes, in addition to preparing students for college-level coursework, are meant to inspire further learning and exploration in a subject. Both supplemental units in APUSH and AP Calculus BC are beneficial for expanding exposure to certain less-covered topics, as well as providing a less-stressful method for students to obtain new perspective and knowledge.  
 
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