It has been interesting to read the responses to this topic.
Speaking from my own personal experience and having taken AP Bio in high
school, I did feel that yes, the ecology portion was a bit rushed because
it was towards the end of the curriculum. We had to study a bit of material
on our own because we didn't have time to cover it all in class before the
exam. However, we were also told by our teacher that we needed to make sure
to cover our bases in all areas when studying on our own. She also
suggested that the AP exam covers a lot of plant-related material and to
focus on that while studying since that is where previous students hadn't
done so well in the past. I felt the class in general was fine, and was
successful on the AP Exam (testing out of both semesters of college intro
bio). I was happy to not have to pay the tuition fees for 2 extra courses
and did fine in upper-level bio courses that I went on to take. I later
tutored students taking the same college intro bio course I had tested out
of, so I was able to see what the course entailed. Honestly, I believe that
the AP course I had taken in high school was just as intensive as what was
being taught at college level. However, if I would have been required to
take one semester of the intro course, I would definitely have preferred
the ecology/evolution/genetics portion since that wasn't covered as much as
the other areas in my circumstance. All in all, it seems very dependent on
the school (in terms of high school or even college) as to what level of
material the students are exposed to.
Cheers,
Melanie H.
On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 6:14 PM, joseph gathman <jpgath...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> 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
> >
> >
>
--
Melanie Hedgespeth, PhD Student
Aquatic Ecology, Dept. of Biology
Lund University
Sölvegatan 37
SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
≈≈≈ ><{{{{{º< ≈≈ ><(((º< ≈ ><>
