Patrick Henry College Online Prep? This is new...

[Rebecca VA]

We just got our HSLDA newsletter, and there's a mention of an online AP course service that Patrick Henry College is trying to get started. It's called PHC Prep. They've got a questionnaire up to gauge interest in various AP courses before they develop them.

 

I had never heard of this, in spite of the fact that my son is a freshman at PHC (he lives at home and commutes). He never heard of it. It must be extremely new. This is really exciting news for me -- I've been wondering how to provide AP courses for my second child.

 

The website is http://www.phcprep.org.

[momee]

Cool! I wanna do it myself. Ds, he's overwhelmed at this point and gets all prickly when I mention anything PHC related. He wants to be a Marine instead of a politician :)

[Rebecca VA]

Well, my daughter (my seventh-grader) is not the slightest bit interested in history, literature, or government, but she can still take AP courses in the subjects that do interest her -- and it looks as though PHC is considering offering whatever courses students are willing to take. I'm really psyched about this!

 

Does your son know about the Strategic Intelligence major at PHC? Has he been to the Spy Camp? I'd bet that a Marine with an SI degree could go *very* far in his career.

[MomsintheGarden]

It sounds interesting, but they need to keep up with things a bit. Their online questionnaire (Course Information Request form) asks if people are interested in studying for four APs that no longer exist: Italian, Computer Science AB, Latin Literature, and French Literature.

 

It is also interesting that they are considering teaching these courses, yet PHC college gives credit for fewer than half of the available APs (16 of 37), and useful, degree-applicable credit for only four of them (http://www.phc.edu/transfer.php). The only AP course they are offering this year (US Govt & Politics) will only award a future PHC student with 3 open elective credits, which makes hardly worth taking, imho.

 

I like PHC, but find this new venture rather strange, considering they themselves don't reward hardworking high school students for most of their efforts.

 

GardenMom

[readwithem]

It sounds interesting, but they need to keep up with things a bit. Their online questionnaire (Course Information Request form) asks if people are interested in studying for four APs that no longer exist: Italian, Computer Science AB, Latin Literature, and French Literature.

 

It is also interesting that they are considering teaching these courses, yet PHC college gives credit for fewer than half of the available APs (16 of 37), and useful, degree-applicable credit for only four of them (http://www.phc.edu/transfer.php). The only AP course they are offering this year (US Govt & Politics) will only award a future PHC student with 3 open elective credits, which makes hardly worth taking, imho.

 

I like PHC, but find this new venture rather strange, considering they themselves don't reward hardworking high school students for most of their efforts.

 

GardenMom

 

Interesting observation, GardenMom. The price will be prohibitive to many - $350 per semester for HSLDA members, $400 for nonmembers. $700-800 for a year-long course is higher than any other online course to my knowledge. As a comparision, PA Homeschoolers charges $375 for the year for their US Government course.

 

Does anybody (Rebecca?) know whether PHC has received AP approval from the College Board? The wording on the website is a bit confusing:

 

All PHC Prep courses are designated official AP courses once they have been approved by the College Board via the AP audit process. The AP designation means that the courses meet the College Board’s standard for fully preparing students to take the AP exam. After any PHC Prep course, a student can go on to take the related AP exam with confidence.

Edited October 25, 2009 by readwithem

[Rebecca VA]

I found out a few things this morning. First, PHC Prep is *not* an official part of Patrick Henry College. It's an HSLDA program. I have the feeling that it's in the very early planning stages, and honestly, if I were running things, I would have waited to set up the website until things were a little more set in stone. (I would also have put up a nicer photo on the website. The picture of the girl in lime green and purple clothing with her bra strap showing and wearing way too much eyeliner doesn't exactly inspire confidence.)

 

I got the name of the HLSDA employee who's running the program, and one day I may call over there and ask some questions. But it really does look as though a full-fledged program is at least a few years out. Right now there's only one AP course being offered.

[G5052]

I would tend to choose something proven versus unproven though. I had superb AP teachers in high school including several who had been on various national AP committees. It was definitely worth the pressure in the long run.

[MomsintheGarden]

I would tend to choose something proven versus unproven though. I had superb AP teachers in high school including several who had been on various national AP committees. It was definitely worth the pressure in the long run.

 

:iagree:

 

I had a long discussion with three superb AP Chemistry teachers while waiting for dd to take the National Chemistry Olympiad exam. They all agreed that it took them each about five years before they felt they were truly proficient at teaching AP science. They judged this on three factors:

1. Their students' pass rate (at least 3's, and they all hope for at least a couple of 5's from their students). Remember that many colleges don't award credit for 3's, but a 3 is generally considered passing.

2. Their student's enthusiasm for the subject, which they felt was directly correlated to their mastery of the subject and their teaching/class management skills.

3. Their understanding of the AP test and the kinds of questions on it. All three teachers had collected huge amounts of practice tests and other study aids and gave me lots of ideas on what to use. They had been to AP-specific teacher training where they had taken sample tests and discussed them, etc.

 

I would expect any online teacher to be able to share information on his/her students' scores - something worth waiting for from PHC.

 

And readwithem - my guess is that PHC (or HSLDA or whatever) will not offer a course until they have their syllabus approved by the College Board. They won't go through the approval process until they have enough potential students.

 

GardenMom

[Karenciavo]

I like PHC, but find this new venture rather strange, considering they themselves don't reward hardworking high school students for most of their efforts.

 

Yeah.

[G5052]

:iagree:

 

I had a long discussion with three superb AP Chemistry teachers while waiting for dd to take the National Chemistry Olympiad exam. They all agreed that it took them each about five years before they felt they were truly proficient at teaching AP science. They judged this on three factors:

1. Their students' pass rate (at least 3's, and they all hope for at least a couple of 5's from their students). Remember that many colleges don't award credit for 3's, but a 3 is generally considered passing.

2. Their student's enthusiasm for the subject, which they felt was directly correlated to their mastery of the subject and their teaching/class management skills.

3. Their understanding of the AP test and the kinds of questions on it. All three teachers had collected huge amounts of practice tests and other study aids and gave me lots of ideas on what to use. They had been to AP-specific teacher training where they had taken sample tests and discussed them, etc.

 

 

I know that things have changed some, but at my high school it "the norm" to get a 3 on an AP if you had gotten at least a "C" on the class itself, and there were lots of 4's and 5's. For the English AP, there were about 10 of us that got 5's, which shows how good the sequence was.

 

Given how much time I spent on those classes and the outside studying and cram sessions they held, I can't imagine bothering with it unless it was really going somewhere.