The AP Capstone program is offered at Winter Springs High School. The AP Capstone program has two parts AP Seminar and AP Research which both focus on researching on a topic of one’s choice. To begin the AP Capstone program one must first take AP Seminar and then AP Research. One must be in 10th grade or 11th grade and also be a proficient writer. The second year is AP Research which is where a student chooses a topic of their choice and researches a problem and possible solutions. Mr. Kyle Parker and Mrs. Pam Gaskill are the instructors for the AP Capstone program and both have expressed their thoughts on the program stating that almost all of their students have become better thinkers, writers, and public speakers. In addition, if a student gets a three or higher on both the AP Seminar and AP Research exam the student will receive an AP Seminar and Research Certificate, and if a student receives a three or higher on four additional AP exams they will receive an AP Capstone Diploma.
Turning to what students do in their first year of the AP Capstone program, students have two tasks that they must complete for the course. The first task is an individual 1200 word paper, a group presentation project about a problem in society, and a response to a series of oral defense questions. The first task is worth a total of 20% of the AP exam grade. The second task is a 2,000 word individual paper, an individual presentation between six-eight minutes long, and the student must answer an oral defense question which is presented from the teacher and one must provide a counter argument. This task is worth 35 %of the AP seminar end of the year exam. In addition, task two tests a student’s ability to derive a question that is a problem that society faces based on a philosophy paper, two medical papers, a literature paper, and a video or a picture. Lastly, task 3 which is worth 45 % of the exam score, begins with task three is analyzing an argument based on several documents and answering three short answer questions in 30 minutes. Part two of task three consists of writing an argumentative essay in 90 minutes based on several documents with different lenses.
