AP CAPSTONE: To What Extent Are Seven AP Students at Sparta High School Done With Their AP Seminar Projects?

Written by: Elise Kerim

Ms. Amber Mauriello's inaugural AP Seminar class recently wrapped up their CollegeBoard Performance Tasks. AP Seminar is part of the AP Capstone Program, where students will earn an AP Capstone certificate for getting a score of a three or better on both the AP Seminar and AP Research exam, and an AP Capstone diploma if they pass three additional exams of their choosing. 

English Supervisor Ms. Mary Hassenplug states, "To be an informed citizen of this world, students need to be able to recognize that issues have multiple perspectives and levels of complexity. That understanding is the primary benefit of the AP Seminar course. Students learn to look at a topic from different points of view and through different lenses, ultimately coming to a more thorough understanding of the topic or issue."

Addressing the current class of seven students, two seniors and five juniors, in AP Seminar, Hassenplug continued with, "I am confident that this pilot group of AP Seminar students will be well-prepared for the rigors of college-level analysis and research, based on the focused work they put into this class. I'm proud of them for taking on the challenge of this new course and look forward to hearing great things about their futures." 

The AP score for the AP Seminar exam comes in three parts:

- A Team Multimedia Presentation plus an Individual Research Report, with each partner investigating a lens, on any topic of their choosing 

- An Individual Written Argument and Individual Multimedia Presentation based upon a common theme of stimulus materials

- The physical sit-down AP exam

Students are given various stimulus materials to read through, examine, and then come up with a theme that the stimuli has in common. From there, students formulate their own thorough research question and conduct research. However, students are not just reporting on credible findings, they are entering the conversation of a real world topic.

These are a few of the research questions students came up with based on the theme of perception:

 - To what extent is the media responsible for the level of distrust in the American federal government?

-  To what extent is police evidence in America used accurately when used in police misconduct cases between police officers and minorities?

- To what extent are technological advancements benefiting the human race?

-To what extent do the advancements of technology in the  media create racial stereotypes?

- How does conventional use of textbooks perpetuate bias regarding conflict based historical events?

Junior Luke Kurian presenting his Individual Multimedia Report. 

Junior Taylor Muse said of the experience, "I feel insanely relieved that we are completely finished with four marking periods of hard work and dedication. Both of our Performance Tasks are done, and it all paid off - hopefully we do well! The research skills I learned in this helps me a lot in other classes, especially when doing other papers." Muse and the other juniors in the class will go on to take AP Research next year, where they will conduct a year-long research project on a topic they are passionate about, working closely with an expert in the related field. 

But, it is not done yet! The class will continue on strong to prepare for their AP exam in just a week, where they will analyze the arguments of various articles and then write their own argument about the topic.