AP Classroom Revamps Students’ Exam Preparation
In order to make consistent AP preparation across the country, College Board has released AP Classroom in addition to updated course guides to better inform students and teachers on the new curriculum-based AP exams. Students enrolled in AP classes will be signing up for the test in the following months using Classroom.
September 20, 2019
AP Classroom is a free online tool being implemented in 24 AP classes on campus this year, according to assistant principal Amy Paulsen. This College Board program allows students to access over 15,000 AP-style questions at home and lets teachers have more consistency in course outlines.
It gives me extra practice, and it shows me what the actual AP test is going to be like, so I’m more prepared.
— Aditya Sasanur
In August, College Board launched AP Classroom as well as updated course descriptions and unit guides to better prepare students and teachers for the revamped AP tests that will differ in format this year.
“[College Board is] the one that provides clarity among all the AP teachers and consistency, which is important,” assistant principal Amy Paulsen said. “Every AP teacher, no matter where they’re at in the United States, even the world, [has] to get their syllabus and course approved. They have to go through all the standards and the course outline because now [AP Classroom] even has what periods, how many hours, minutes you should be covering each topic and what percentage of that will be on the test. Everyone has to do that so that it’s regulated.”
As teachers and students get acquainted with the website, navigating AP Classroom can take time to get used to.
“The user interface, I’ve heard and I’ve noticed, is very difficult to work with,” physics teacher Anthony Pham said. “It did take me about an hour or so of just messing around with the program and the website itself to figure out how to assign things to students.”
According to some students, the website has been easy to adapt to. Not only can students track their progress through the dashboard, but students can sign up for AP exams with just a few clicks. Students will no longer have to bubble in their information for every AP exam, saving a combined 2 million hours of pre-exam bubbling, according to College Board.
“It gives me extra practice, and it shows me what the actual AP test is going to be like, so I’m more prepared,” senior Aditya Sasanur said.
