AP Physics 1 and 2 Courses

Connie Wells, Co-Chair, Physics 2 Development Committee

Karen Lionberger, College Board’s AP Program Director, Science Curriculum and Content

I attended this session to learn as much as possible about the new AP Physics 1 and 2 courses as we are “piloting” AP Physics 1 in the context of our Honors Physics course this upcoming school year.

• Out of 1 million high school freshen interested in STEM majors and careers, 57.4% loose interest and switch to a different career path.
• Big Ideas -> Enduring Understandings -> Essential Knowledge + Science Practices -> Learning Objectives
• Physics 1 designed to have a couple of weeks of extra time to cover additional topics to meet requirements for state exams or teacher preference.
• Big Idea 7 is only addressed in Physics 2. Some new material related to probability.
• Rigor (or Vigor) = Complexity (and Autonomy) + Engagement
• Teaching Strategies for Success in the AP Physics 1 and 2 Courses
  • assessment of prior knowledge, beliefs, and misconceptions that students bring with them to the course(s)
  • analysis of how to deal with students’ misconceptions
  • greater depth of conceptual understanding through the use of student-centered, inquiry-based instructional practices
  • use of formative assessments to guide instructional practices and provide feedback to students about depth of understanding
  • planning lessons based on the clearly articulated AP Physics learning objectives
  • integration of student inquiry laboratory work into the course
• How the Learning Objectives Will Be Assessed
  • ability to solve problems mathematically – including symbolically – but with less emphasis on only mathematical routines used for solutions
  • questions relating to lab experience and analytical skills: designing and describing experiments; data and error analysis
  • questions asking for explanations, reasoning, or justification of answers
  • more emphasis on deeper understanding of foundational principles and concepts
  • interpreting and developing conceptual models
• laboratory emphasis on students – inquiry-based, hands-on, integrated, investigative and collaborative
• lab questions will focus more on error analysis and what the next step in the investigation would be
• students will have to write at least one paragraph-length argument (make a claim and support with evidence) in the short-answer questions
• 2014 professional development will launch new One-Day and AP Summer Institute Workshops to support the new courses
• June 2014 – practice exams for both AP Physics 1 and Physics 2
• sample syllabi available before March 2014
• course and exam description (including equation sheets) available March 2014
• course planning and pacing guides (8 total, 4 for each course)
• teacher’s guide on inquiry-based investigations
• 2 pacing guides will be available August 1st
• Advances in AP site
• 140 instruction hours is the target for AP courses (Physics 1 is targeted at 115-120 to allow time for additional topics)