Personal anecdote: While conducting part of a workshop for HS teachers, I gave them 20 minutes of my freshman Intro Bio lecture on basic chemistry concepts (what's an atom, what are the types of molecular bonds, the really simple stuff that I shouldn't have to cover in college).
After the 20 minutes, there was silence. The teachers were astonished - not that I would lecture on such elementary ideas (as I had expected), but that it went so fast. One of them said, "What you just covered in 20 minutes is a third of my semester", and the others nodded. My turn to be astonished. I can't even imagine how you could stretch that stuff out for more than a week. The point: if a student takes AP Bio, they MIGHT just be getting what you and I consider a proper HS bio class. Certainly not college-level biology. Joe > Subject: Re: Treatment of Ecology in AP classes > > I can't speak directly to the question of whether the > classes provide adequate > coverage of any given topic. Consulting the AP web > site confirms your suspicion that ecology coverage comes > last in the course. And of course, whether any given > topic is covered adequately is strictly dependent on the > school and the teacher, not the topical listing on the web > site. I can say, from having served as a grader for > the AP Biology exam, that ecology is well covered on the > exam. > > That said, I also suspect that ecology may be a subject > that gets less than full > coverage in some of the classes because of > sequencing. Also, it is typically > covered in most intro biology courses late in the second > semester if a two > semester course. So, if you are wanting to assign > credit according to coverage > (seems to make sense), the proposal to give credit for the > ecology portion of > your course may be out of sync with the sequencing in the > AP course. > > FWIW, I have long had a problem with AP coursework. > Many schools likely do a > good job with it -- but, and I know, I am an old school > curmudgeon -- if these > kids are ready for college, just send them to > college. If they are not ready, > don't let a high school offer them college level > courses. But of course, that > is a fight long ago lost. > > mcneely > >
