Last week, we had the distinct pleasure of witnessing AP Research students’ Oral Defense presentations.
Go deeper: AP Research is the second of two courses (AP Seminar is the first) that allow students to graduate with an AP Capstone Diploma.
To earn AP credit, students must submit a successful Academic Paper of 4,000 - 5,000 words, where they’re assessed on content, structure, format, conclusions, and citations.
They must also orally defend their research study in a 15-20 minute defense where they are assessed on their research design, their ability to establish an argument, their reflection, and their presentation skills to engage the audience.
These oral defenses were fantastic!
This year’s projects took students to higher level of academic rigor: they performed deep, extended research and were held to high standards of ethics (through our Institutional Review Board) as well as research design.
Some students did quantitative studies where they used their knowledge of statistics to show correlations between variables, while others did qualitative analyses of interview responses. And, some students mixed their methods and did both!
A Ramsey Graduate: AP Research is also a Profile Course. Because students researched topics close to their hearts and in line with their passions, these year-long research projects are also their Senior Profile Projects.
What’s next: In June, these seniors will defend their learning based on these projects. It will be interesting to hear their reflections and how they specifically tie this academic endeavor to our Profile Competencies.