<p>How drastic are the new changes to the AP Chemistry curriculum? Will it make it less memorization? Will the exam be easier? I’m eager to hear what you guys have to say about it.</p>
<p>Hi, swimmerman. I’m not an AP teacher or anything, so I don’t know everything about the new exam. However, I did take AP Chem last year and I did do a research project on Project -Based Learning and AP exam redesign. </p>
<p>I think this paragraph (taken from this article [The</a> College Board Redesigns the AP Chemistry and AP Spanish Language and Culture Courses](<a href=“News and Press Releases - Newsroom | College Board”>News and Press Releases - Newsroom | College Board)) sums up the redesign in a nutshell:</p>
<p>Advances in AP® Chemistry</p>
<p>Working in collaboration with the National Science Foundation and eminent educators nationwide, the College Board revised AP Chemistry to promote a balance between developing solid content knowledge and applying that knowledge to the practice of chemistry. </p>
<p>The revised course allows students more time to master the quantitative aspects of chemistry and to test, evaluate and refine explanations and predictions of natural phenomena. In moving away from the lecture-and-demonstration model toward a more hands-on, interactive approach to studying chemistry, the course also enables students to take risks, apply inquiry skills, and direct and monitor their own progress. The new AP Chemistry Curriculum Framework provides clear learning objectives, based on what colleges expect students to know and be able to do by the end of an introductory college-level chemistry course.</p>
<p>The redesigned course engages students in a broad range of scientific practices, such as experimental design and interpretation, estimation, and drawing connections across topics, said David Yaron, associate professor of chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University. The goal is to promote and reward instruction that gets students to think more deeply about the material.</p>
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<p>So, basically you guys are going to get more time than we did to focus on “critically thinking” sorts of concepts.
They’ve cut the number of labs you have to do from 22 to 16 labs.
You’re not going to have to dig through the formula chart to find the standard reduction equations (they’re going to give them to you).
You can now use your calculator on the entire free response section.</p>
<p>Is there going to be less memorization?
Essentially, yes. They’re giving you more time to focus on these concepts, and are therefore teaching you fewer concepts. I think that want you to understand more how to use the concepts and why we use them rather than just regurgitating facts. I’ve heard some friends taking AP Chem now that you won’t have to memorize colors like we did.</p>
<p>Is it going to be easier?
This depends on the way you learn. If you’re a very global, analytical thinker who prefers connecting concepts to memorizing them, it might be easier. But don’t get too caught up in thinking it’s going to be easier because even though you don’t have to memorize as much and have shorter FRQs, the CB will probably expect more advanced critical thinking out of you.
Take this with a grain of salt, but I’m expecting the changes to the Chem exam to be very similar to those made to the Bio exam. Lots of people who took the new Bio exam last year told me that they though it was super easy, yet only about 5.4 % of people who took that exam got 5s. </p>
<p>Here’s an excellent blog post from a chemistry teacher about the redesign of the exam (it might be a bit outdated, though):
[AP</a> Chemistry Curriculum Framework, July 2011 Draft ? The Dingle Analysis](<a href=“http://www.adriandingleschemistrypages.com/miscellaneous/ap-chemistry-curriculum-framework-july-2011-draft-analysis/]AP”>http://www.adriandingleschemistrypages.com/miscellaneous/ap-chemistry-curriculum-framework-july-2011-draft-analysis/)</p>
<p>Also, here’s a CC thread on the new exam:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sciences/1506058-official-ap-chemistry-thread-2013-2014-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sciences/1506058-official-ap-chemistry-thread-2013-2014-a.html</a></p>
<p>And, if you’re interested in the reasons why the exam was changed, I used some of these articles/information in my research project:
<a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/apac/2012apac/APAC-APChemistryRevisions.pdf[/url]”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/apac/2012apac/APAC-APChemistryRevisions.pdf</a>
<a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/2013advances/AAP-ChemistryCED_Effective_Fall_2013.pdf[/url]”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/2013advances/AAP-ChemistryCED_Effective_Fall_2013.pdf</a>
<a href=“Rethinking Advanced Placement - The New York Times”>Rethinking Advanced Placement - The New York Times;
<p>Sorry for the long post. Hope it helped!</p>