In Dawn Benish’s classroom, students in AP Research recently finished their research papers, which they had been working on for the entire school year up until the end of Spring Break. However, the work for these students is not yet finished, as their last assignment of the year is the presentation of their paper to a board of College Board certified experts who will judge their presenting skills and ability to properly explain their research. These presentations will go from April 16th to April 17th and will last all throughout the day, with students expected to obey a time limit, as well as answering several questions on their paper and their topic at the end of their presentation.
“The paper is the actual knowledge, whereas the presentation is going through what the process was,” AP Research teacher Dawn Benish said. “Almost like a metacognition study on the process the student went through.”
AP Research is similar to AP Seminar in that students write papers throughout the year. One of the two major differences between the two is that while AP Seminar works on several smaller papers over the school year, AP Research works on a single, significantly longer and more complex paper. The second difference is that papers in AP Seminar simply reword and state pre-existing information from sources in order to prove a point. The AP Research paper combines their personal research, as well as the work of others and uses them as tools to answer a question. Besides the paper, students must also present their findings in the form of a 20-minute presentation, rewording and rewriting their paper to effectively convey their discoveries in a completely different format.
“I think the hardest part is going to be hitting all of my points within the time limit,” senior Elijah Blanton said. “Also being able to compile all of the data I’ve collected over the year into a brief slideshow.”
(Erich Bohn)
The presentations require around ten to twenty minutes, and students are encouraged to dress in formal attire in order to make a good impression with the judges and to appear professional during their presentation. The number of slides is usually around ten to fifteen, but can be longer or shorter depending on the Research Question and topic of the original paper. These presentations will be held in front of students, teachers, parents, and the judges, meaning that students are encouraged to practice their slideshows and to rehearse their lines in order to effectively convey their findings and research in front of a crowd. Following the presentation, AP Research students will have no further assignments or projects, as the paper and the presentation count as both their official AP test and final exam for the class.
“I think every junior should sign up for AP Seminar and every senior should sign up for AP Research,” Benish said. “The skills you learn here are ones that directly translate to college and the level of work that is expected there.”
