Parents of the HS Class of 2020 (Part 1)

[lkg4answers]

AP Capstone Research students achieved the highest-yet percentage of research papers earning scores of 3+, even as teachers expanded the course to more than 5,000 additional students this year.

The 2019 AP Research scores: 5: 10.8%; 4: 22.3%; 3: 43.1%; 2: 19.3%; 1: 4.5%.

150 students so far this year, out of more than 15,000 worldwide, have achieved perfect scores of 80/80 points possible on their AP Research academic paper, presentation and oral defense.

I’ll post a few examples of AP Research projects and papers that caught the attention of my colleague Serena Magrogan, who is the AP Program’s leader of the AP Research course; these each earned good scores.

An AP Research paper from this year: “A Practical Examination of the Efficacy of Two Combat Styles in Two Species of Chasmosaurine Ceratopsian.” The student used a 3D printer to build skeletal frames of a dinosaur species to determine defense techniques based on bone structure.

Another example of a good AP Research paper this year: “Folding Under Pressure: Exploring the Properties of Nonstandard Origami Tessellations as Folded Cores in Sandwich Structures.” The student explored properties of folded structures for use of such structures in engineering.

Another example of a good AP Research paper this year: “Art, Social Class and Critical Thinking: A Varied Interpretation of Mexican Muralism.” The student looked at how different socioeconomic structures affected the opinions of individuals viewing murals throughout Mexico.

One more example: a good AP Research paper this year - “The Swiss Film Industry.” The student studied the extent to which Swiss filmmakers’ perspectives on Hollywood’s media imperialism & the cultural discount theory hindered potential for producing international box office hits.