Skip To Main Content

AP Research

Course Overview with Philosophy 

AP Research, the second course in the AP Capstone experience, allows students to deeply explore an academic topic, problem, issue, or idea of individual interest. Students design, plan, and implement a yearlong investigation to address a research question. Through this inquiry, they further the skills they acquired in the AP Seminar course by learning research methodology, employing ethical research practices, and accessing, analyzing, and synthesizing information. Students reflect on their skill development, document their processes, and curate the artifacts of their scholarly work through a process and reflection portfolio. The course culminates in an academic paper of 4,000–5,000 words (accompanied by a performance, exhibit, or product where applicable) and a presentation with an oral defense.

Expectations & Support

Successful AP students will have the dedication, self-discipline, and the desire to apply themselves as a college student, and will budget their time effectively to manage the workload. AP courses maintain a level of rigor and a commensurate workload of a college-level course. This requires students to be organized and manage their time to support the demands of the class. Academic integrity is expected at all times, for students are given additional authority over their learning and as such, are expected to conduct themselves accordingly. 

Assessment 

  • 1 Research Paper (4,000 - 5,000 word count)
  • Oral Presentation and Defense before a panel

Materials & Resources

  • AP Classroom
  • EBSCO and JSTOR databases

Time Commitment 

AP Research requires students to research and write extensively. While time spent on these tasks may differ from student to student, on average, a student should expect to spend about 3 hours of work outside of class per week.