Another change to AP exams?

[Hadley]

My son is hearing rumors that the AP exams will be open book.  That might just be more than he can take, having already studied all of the material for all of these exams.  I’m so hoping that this is just a fallacious rumor...

We have now entered the Twilight Zone, where all things are possible, so has anyone else heard this rumbling?

[freesia]

I think I saw that on the College Board website.  Tests that are open book are written differently and have different expectations. Many college classes have open book tests.  The free response aspect will not be testing the factual knowledge as much as the analysis and synthesis of the information which tests understanding as opposed to recall.

However, it won’t be the same. But that is okay and the flexibility and experience of having prepared for one thing and experiencing another is so so valuable to our high achievers.  Life often has unexpected twists and unfairnesses.

And all we parents need to remember we set the tone ( I am speaking to myself, too.)  we need to lower our anxiety and not join our teens in their despair. This is the first time they’ve experienced a huge impediment to their goals.  Empathize and affirm that it is hard, but also communicate that he will be able to handle this and good things will happen despite this and he will be ok .

 

[freesia]

Oh, and gently remind him that the knowledge from what he studied is with him forever. Surely the whole point of the class wasn’t a 5 on the exam.

[EKS]

Tell your son that the more knowledge you have in your head, the better you'll do on an open book exam.  The worst thing you can do for an open book exam is think that since you have access to the book, you don't need to know anything.

[Hadley]

Thanks.  This one is no stranger to setbacks.  He should have great character one day😉

[freesia]

37 minutes ago, Hadley said:

Thanks.  This one is no stranger to setbacks.  He should have great character one day😉

It would so hard to watch them have setbacks. I had no idea before I had kids. I hate that suffering is the only thing that build resilience.

[Roadrunner]

My guess is if it’s open book, it’s going to be haaaard and I am not sure how one does that in 45 minutes. 
May this point I really wish they had just postponed it till mid June. 

[Roadrunner]

nm

Edited March 28, 2020 by Roadrunner

[8filltheheart]

12 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

My guess is if it’s open book, it’s going to be haaaard and I am not sure how one does that in 45 minutes. 
May this point I really wish they had just postponed it till mid June. 

Not sure how the APs will be done, but my ds has told me that the exams they are designing are meant to be time crunched.  Students who know the material and don't have to search for the info to solve will be able to finish. Students who plan on relying on looking up info will not be able to finish in the time limit.

[chiguirre]

7 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Not sure how the APs will be done, but my ds has told me that the exams they are designing are meant to be time crunched.  Students who know the material and don't have to search for the info to solve will be able to finish. Students who plan on relying on looking up info will not be able to finish in the time limit.

The online tests that dd has taken for her college classes are like this. They're open book, but if you need to look up more than a couple of things, you won't finish. 

[Kassia]

2 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

The online tests that dd has taken for her college classes are like this. They're open book, but if you need to look up more than a couple of things, you won't finish. 

 

I wish my dd's classes were like that.  She had her first online physics exam this week and knows there was a lot of cheating going on.  The professor gave them 12 hours for the test.  My daughter was well prepared, studied hard, and I'm worried that the curve will be all off due to those who cheated.  

[8filltheheart]

2 minutes ago, Kassia said:

 

I wish my dd's classes were like that.  She had her first online physics exam this week and knows there was a lot of cheating going on.  The professor gave them 12 hours for the test.  My daughter was well prepared, studied hard, and I'm worried that the curve will be all off due to those who cheated.  

That's nuts.  UCB is giving them their exact normal time for the exam plus 30 minutes to allow for downloading and uploading the exam with a few buffer minutes for technical problems.

[Roadrunner]

How much open book helps depends on a subject as well. I could see in a subject like chemistry, where some things have to be memorized, having couple of pages available with that information can make the exam easier. For some other subjects, maybe not so much. 

[linders]

17 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

My guess is if it’s open book, it’s going to be haaaard and I am not sure how one does that in 45 minutes. 
May this point I really wish they had just postponed it till mid June. 

Our AP Calc/AP Chem teacher expects that the FRQs will be "humdingers" given the open book aspect. She and I share the same concern - kids will look at the difficult prompt and get flustered, and it will take time 10-15 minutes to settle down. Which is a good chunk of 45 minutes.

[Arcadia]

crosspost 

https://mobile.twitter.com/AP_Trevor/status/1243603081373323265
 

“Trevor Packer

 

@AP_Trevor

 

Replying to

@LowderHist

Yes. Like a college exam, these exams will be open book/”open note.” They won’t test simple factual recall; instead they’ll be focused on skills and thematic understandings.

11:17 AM · Mar 27, 2020·”

[Lilaclady]

On 3/27/2020 at 7:09 PM, Roadrunner said:

My guess is if it’s open book, it’s going to be haaaard and I am not sure how one does that in 45 minutes. 
May this point I really wish they had just postponed it till mid June. 

They are planning on having two dates. One in May and one in June depending on which ones students/ schools choose. I guess for most homeschoolers it will depend on which ones the schools they registered with choose. 

[RockHoundTX]

Has anyone figured out how an "exam only" self-study/home-schooler can get access to all the FRQ's that are supposed to be uploaded to AP Classroom? My DS13 is freaking out. He needs a 5 on Calc BC and Biology in order to get full college credit (luckily only needs 4 on Macro). Not having access to AP Classroom has not been a big deal up until now since there is so much info available online. He already finished all the content on Khan Academy in February so the next few months were strictly for "review". On the practice tests, he pretty much aces the MC and then gets about half-credit on the FRQ (he knows the content but never knows how much to write and tends to run out of time). Now that this is 45 min/open book/FRQ/only covers 65% of what he learned/etc, his head is about to explode :-/

I already called AP Central and they pretty much said "tough luck". I had applied for an audit back in January but evidently I missed some un-published deadline since they never contacted me to submit my material (and I really don't care about AP accreditation, just wanted access to AP Classroom). Just really frustrating (for both of us) as to how the lack of the RFQ test bank potentially puts self-study/home-schoolers at such a big disadvantage on this particular test. He is already watching the online videos for review (of content not on the exam) with the idea that they are supposed to do "test review" at some point in the coming weeks. Really don't want to push all of these until next year since he already has 7 additional APs in the pipeline for 2021.   

[Tmhearn]

Possibly, I don’t understand what you’re asking... But, the only way I know of to take an AP exam is to register with a school who is offering the exam. Therefore, you must have a college board account setup with access to the AP classroom. My dd has access to a college board AP classroom even though she is taking the exam as a homeschooler at a local high school. This will be her second year taking an exam like this at a local high school. You would have setup the account when you registered for the exam. Perhaps someone with more experience than I have can elaborate. 
 

[Hadley]

16 hours ago, RockHoundTX said:

Has anyone figured out how an "exam only" self-study/home-schooler can get access to all the FRQ's that are supposed to be uploaded to AP Classroom? My DS13 is freaking out. He needs a 5 on Calc BC and Biology in order to get full college credit (luckily only needs 4 on Macro). Not having access to AP Classroom has not been a big deal up until now since there is so much info available online. He already finished all the content on Khan Academy in February so the next few months were strictly for "review". On the practice tests, he pretty much aces the MC and then gets about half-credit on the FRQ (he knows the content but never knows how much to write and tends to run out of time). Now that this is 45 min/open book/FRQ/only covers 65% of what he learned/etc, his head is about to explode 😕

I already called AP Central and they pretty much said "tough luck". I had applied for an audit back in January but evidently I missed some un-published deadline since they never contacted me to submit my material (and I really don't care about AP accreditation, just wanted access to AP Classroom). Just really frustrating (for both of us) as to how the lack of the RFQ test bank potentially puts self-study/home-schoolers at such a big disadvantage on this particular test. He is already watching the online videos for review (of content not on the exam) with the idea that they are supposed to do "test review" at some point in the coming weeks. Really don't want to push all of these until next year since he already has 7 additional APs in the pipeline for 2021.   

I understand what you are asking about here, and I am so sorry to have to tell you that yes, you are out of luck. My son can get access to practice questions, but his online teacher can’t figure out how to open the answers/rubrics and does not seem too concerned about it.  My son has been very upset.  Like yours, he had studied so very hard and taken many practice exams, only to have the game changed on him before the exam.

I am actually a former AP teacher, but of course, I can’t access the subjects that my son needs.  My husband spent much time on the phone with the College Board trying to figure out how to get access to these questions and answers, only to come away with the knowledge that they just don’t care about Homeschoolers...or kids in classes with teachers who don’t want to put in the extra effort now, for that matter.

I wish I had  better news for you.  I am trying to keep up a good attitude, but I really feel that kids who worked hard this year have been bitten in the butt, while some who have coasted will get a bump up in this process...just stinks for our students.

Editing to add that your son will probably be just fine, as will mine.  Surely, if they know the material well enough to make 5s on the former tests, they will make 5s on this version.  I think it’s the added stress that is making it so frustrating right now, and the madness of the unfair way this is being delivered.  Hugs to your son.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Hadley

[freesia]

My dd has been watching the college board prep videos for the class she is self-studying. She says they set an FRQ question at the end and go over the answer at the beginning of the next class. This is psych, but maybe the others do, too. This is a bad year for this to happen with homeschoolers being shut out of the AP classroom area. We weren’t concerned bc ds self studied and pulled a five do I was doing the same plan with dd.  She, too, aces the MC in both her APs, do I get the sadness!  But try the videos.

[madteaparty]

22 minutes ago, freesia said:

My dd has been watching the college board prep videos for the class she is self-studying. She says they set an FRQ question at the end and go over the answer at the beginning of the next class. This is psych, but maybe the others do, too. This is a bad year for this to happen with homeschoolers being shut out of the AP classroom area. We weren’t concerned bc ds self studied and pulled a five do I was doing the same plan with dd.  She, too, aces the MC in both her APs, do I get the sadness!  But try the videos.

I will need to look at these videos. DS started watching the AP euro one but said they were covering content that wouldn’t be on the test.

is the AP classroom changed in light of this announcement? I don’t see a difference but I’m often sort of lost in there anyway.

i have my own personal theory as to what the Ap history questions will look like but maybe I should get some actual info! 

[freesia]

24 minutes ago, madteaparty said:

I will need to look at these videos. DS started watching the AP euro one but said they were covering content that wouldn’t be on the test.

is the AP classroom changed in light of this announcement? I don’t see a difference but I’m often sort of lost in there anyway.

i have my own personal theory as to what the Ap history questions will look like but maybe I should get some actual info! 

Dd says the first videos cover what was assumed wasn’t taught yet, but later ones are review. At any rate, the questions set give an idea of what the FRQ will look like.

[madteaparty]

14 minutes ago, freesia said:

Dd says the first videos cover what was assumed wasn’t taught yet, but later ones are review. At any rate, the questions set give an idea of what the FRQ will look like.

The question sets on the videos you mean? Thank you!

[freesia]

15 minutes ago, madteaparty said:

The question sets on the videos you mean? Thank you!

Yes

15 minutes ago, madteaparty said:

The question sets on the videos you mean? Thank you!

 

[RockHoundTX]

9 hours ago, Tmhearn said:

Possibly, I don’t understand what you’re asking... But, the only way I know of to take an AP exam is to register with a school who is offering the exam. Therefore, you must have a college board account setup with access to the AP classroom. My dd has access to a college board AP classroom even though she is taking the exam as a homeschooler at a local high school. This will be her second year taking an exam like this at a local high school. You would have setup the account when you registered for the exam. Perhaps someone with more experience than I have can elaborate. 
 

Thanks. I am very surprised that your local school allowed you access to their AP Classroom content. My son is registered for 3 tests at the local high-school but within the AP Central system he is listed as "Exam Only" (versus "class + exam" which would give him access to the testing material). Your dd seems to be lucky (I am guessing someone at the school messed up when setting up her account) since I do not think that is the norm.  

[RockHoundTX]

3 hours ago, Hadley said:

I understand what you are asking about here, and I am so sorry to have to tell you that yes, you are out of luck. My son can get access to practice questions, but his online teacher can’t figure out how to open the answers/rubrics and does not seem too concerned about it.  My son has been very upset.  Like yours, he had studied so very hard and taken many practice exams, only to have the game changed on him before the exam.

I am actually a former AP teacher, but of course, I can’t access the subjects that my son needs.  My husband spent much time on the phone with the College Board trying to figure out how to get access to these questions and answers, only to come away with the knowledge that they just don’t care about Homeschoolers...or kids in classes with teachers who don’t want to put in the extra effort now, for that matter.

I wish I had  better news for you.  I am trying to keep up a good attitude, but I really feel that kids who worked hard this year have been bitten in the butt, while some who have coasted will get a bump up in this process...just stinks for our students.

Editing to add that your son will probably be just fine, as will mine.  Surely, if they know the material well enough to make 5s on the former tests, they will make 5s on this version.  I think it’s the added stress that is making it so frustrating right now, and the madness of the unfair way this is being delivered.  Hugs to your son.

That is exactly what I was afraid of. Like you, I definitely came away with the fact that AP really does not care about home-schoolers or self-study :-( I tried three different sources at AP Central and pretty much got the big "No".

In my son's case, FRQ's have always been a sore spot. He just get's wrapped around the axel regarding how much to write. He either writes way too much or way too little. In the past we really did not worry since he has zero issue with the MC questions and just needed some partial credit on the FRQ to get a 5. I am guessing that if we had to take the test tomorrow, he would be a solid 3. He just needs a lot more practice on the FRQs and thus the dilemma. Thanks again and best of luck.     

[RockHoundTX]

Thanks for the reply. My son has been watching all the videos. As you noted, the current content is stuff that will not be on the test (but since he already studied it, it is still good info to check his knowledge). Their are supposed to be review sessions later this month. As for the FRQ that were being covered (at least in the videos he watched), most came from past exams (i.e., the FRQ covered in the Biology lesson was from the 2013 test). Unfortunately, I do not think the FRQs from the past tests are going to be overly relevant given that the new test is Open Book/Notes (and usually one or two parts of each FRQ have a memorization component). I am looking forward to what AP comes out with tomorrow on the April 3rd update.  

[Brigid in NC]

Trevor Packer just held a webinar about the AP exams, and the recording of that will be available tomorrow. These will be the exam questions for AP English:

• AP Lit, Q2 Prose Essay
• AP Lang, Q2 Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Some changes of note:

• AP Calc test takers will have to choose either AB or BC. If they take BC, they will not get an AB sub-score.
• Teachers will receive copies of the exams approximately two weeks after they've been taken.
• Exams will be graded online and there will be TWO graders/scorers (rather than just one in the past).

Students can use their cell phones, iPads, computers. They can type their responses or handwrite and then take a cellphone shot and upload their exam.

The revised exam dates for the 45-minute, online, at-home exams:

Edited April 3, 2020 by Brigid in NC

[Hadley]

Brigid in NC, you beat me to it! 😅

I just watched the webinar.  It will be posted tomorrow.  I texted in a question about unlocking the teacher materials for those of us at home.  Unsurprisingly, it was not selected to be answered.

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Brigid in NC said:

 

The revised exam dates for the 45-minute, online, at-home exams:

Thanks. I’m glad we don’t live in Hawaii. My kids earliest papers are at 11am PST 🙂

[freesia]

Did they say how the tests would be accessed?

[Hadley]

10 hours ago, freesia said:

Did they say how the tests would be accessed?

I’m the worst person to answer this because I don’t speak technology, but I think that is covered in the video that should be posted today.  They also did say that they would have some sort of “practice” rounds for The IT parts of the test.

[freesia]

1 hour ago, Hadley said:

I’m the worst person to answer this because I don’t speak technology, but I think that is covered in the video that should be posted today.  They also did say that they would have some sort of “practice” rounds for The IT parts of the test.

My biggest concern is that the test can be accessed outside of the classroom s that folks who self study have no access to.  I’ll watch the video, but would live to know now if anyone knows. 

[Brigid in NC]

6 minutes ago, freesia said:

My biggest concern is that the test can be accessed outside of the classroom s that folks who self study have no access to.  I’ll watch the video, but would live to know now if anyone knows. 

It's my understanding that students will access the test through their College Board "My AP" log in (https://myap.collegeboard.org/login). This is where students set up their account this year and entered information needed to sign up for an exam with a local school. So I believe that homeschoolers will access their exams there--as will public schoolers. 

[Arcadia]

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/educators/taking-the-exams

“Before Exam Day 

In late April, we’ll provide AP students and educators with information on how to access the testing system on test day, and video demonstrations so that students can familiarize themselves with the system”

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/educators/taking-the-exams/security

We've Designed the Exams with Security in Mind

• The exam format and questions are being designed specifically for an at-home administration, so points will not be earned from content that can be found in textbooks or online.
• Each subject’s exam will be taken on the same day at the same time, worldwide.
• On test day, students will be required to verify their identity and confirm the work they submitted is their own.

We'll Use Tools to Detect Plagiarism

• We’re using a range of digital security tools and techniques, including plagiarism detection software and post-administration analytics, to protect the integrity of the exams.
• In addition, each student’s AP teacher will receive copies of the work the student submits to us, enabling teachers to spot inconsistencies with students’ known work.”

https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/educators/taking-the-exams/ap-exam-schedule?SFMC_cid=EM294654-&rid=97485225

“Exams by Local Start Times

Below are the primary exam dates. Makeup exam dates can be found below the Course Specific Exam Information.“

[Brigid in NC]

Here is a link to last night's webinar about the AP exam: https://globalmeet.webcasts.com/viewer/event.jsp?ei=1299211&tp_key=56f627d7d4