On May 13th thousands of high school kids across the U.S. will sit down to take the advanced placement biology exam to try and get college credit. This year the exam has changed from past years as well as the curriculum that is going to be on it. Previous years the exam has consisted of 100 multiple choice and 4 long response essays. This year there will be 63 multiple choice a new math section consisting of 6 grid in problems, 2 long response and 6 short response essays. There is a greater weight on writing and multiple choices this year than in past years.
Mr. Henry is the AP bio teacher at Norton high school. This is his 3rd year teaching the course but the first year the curriculum has changed. When asked if he enjoys teaching AP biology he responded “I do. It’s probably my favorite course to teach”. He also teaches regular and honors level biology, honors anatomy and physiology and honors biotech. Mr. Henry knows what’s changed in the new curriculum and how it has affected the way teachers have to teach the course.
Not only has the test format changed but the material as well “they are getting away from memorization of the course. It’s looking more at the big picture and understanding how things connect. Focusing on science practices” said Mr. Henry. Another change is the labs “It has been a little challenging especially designing labs to be more inquiry based”. The new curriculum has caused teachers to adjust to the new test.
The teachers have had to adjust and change their lesson plans to teach to this new curriculum. “I dislike the unknown of what the new test will look like. There has been some indications but without any released tests, there’s some uncertainty of what changes there will be to the test” Jason Henry. The adjustment and uncertainty has been difficult for the teachers but they plan on having their students ready to pass the test come May 13th.
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