Altered AP Tests Taken Online
By Joelle Gendzel
By Joelle Gendzel
As COVID-19 has plunged the world into a new era of social distancing, the education system has been significantly altered. With over 2,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Santa Clara County, all schools have transitioned to distance learning. Pioneer students enrolled in AP classes took May exams online at home instead of the traditional paper exam taken during the school day.
All 2020 AP exams were administered online by the College Board from May 11 to May 22 to be taken at home due to coronavirus school closures. Students took their exams on a computer, tablet or smartphone. Each exam was 50 minutes, 45 minutes to complete the exam and five minutes to submit answers. Questions were free response and could be submitted through a picture of written work, typed work, or audio recording for certain world language and music exams.
Shorter exams proved to be a very different experience for students opposed to the typical exams lasting several hours. While the shorter time frame could pose a potential issue, the 2020 exams appeared more straightforward overall. Heather Duckworth, 11, recognized an advantage in the new format but worried some students may have a harder time.
“I felt the exams were much simpler compared to regular AP exams, but that could also work against students as shorter tests mean we aren’t given the opportunity to show more of what we learned throughout the year,” said Duckworth.
Despite the change from typical AP exams, many students had an overall positive experience. Chris Olivares, 11, felt well-prepared for test day and was pleasantly surprised with the exam format.
“I did feel as though I was accurately prepared for the exams. Ms. Moaven helped tremendously throughout the whole distance learning experience and really helped her students thrive” said Olivares. “Overall, the exams weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be. I didn’t expect to be able to take the test as smoothly online as I would have in person but it was still not bad.”
Unfortunately, all students did not find the online format as agreeable. According to the College Board, less than one percent of students were unsuccessful in submitting their exams. After spending long hours preparing for exams, students who could not submit feel frustrated with the College Board. Crystal Le, 11, questioned why the testing site was unable to handle all the submissions in the first place and how the proposed solution, retaking the exams online in June, will ensure a response is received for all students.
“It makes no sense to me why I have to retake my exam when the same problem could happen again,” said Le. “I also feel that it was their fault their servers could not handle the tests. I know it isn’t really their fault but it’s unfair to so many kids who put in the work and studied and fought through their anxieties and have to redo it.”
All 2020 AP exams were administered online by the College Board from May 11 to May 22 to be taken at home due to coronavirus school closures. Students took their exams on a computer, tablet or smartphone. Each exam was 50 minutes, 45 minutes to complete the exam and five minutes to submit answers. Questions were free response and could be submitted through a picture of written work, typed work, or audio recording for certain world language and music exams.
Shorter exams proved to be a very different experience for students opposed to the typical exams lasting several hours. While the shorter time frame could pose a potential issue, the 2020 exams appeared more straightforward overall. Heather Duckworth, 11, recognized an advantage in the new format but worried some students may have a harder time.
“I felt the exams were much simpler compared to regular AP exams, but that could also work against students as shorter tests mean we aren’t given the opportunity to show more of what we learned throughout the year,” said Duckworth.
Despite the change from typical AP exams, many students had an overall positive experience. Chris Olivares, 11, felt well-prepared for test day and was pleasantly surprised with the exam format.
“I did feel as though I was accurately prepared for the exams. Ms. Moaven helped tremendously throughout the whole distance learning experience and really helped her students thrive” said Olivares. “Overall, the exams weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be. I didn’t expect to be able to take the test as smoothly online as I would have in person but it was still not bad.”
Unfortunately, all students did not find the online format as agreeable. According to the College Board, less than one percent of students were unsuccessful in submitting their exams. After spending long hours preparing for exams, students who could not submit feel frustrated with the College Board. Crystal Le, 11, questioned why the testing site was unable to handle all the submissions in the first place and how the proposed solution, retaking the exams online in June, will ensure a response is received for all students.
“It makes no sense to me why I have to retake my exam when the same problem could happen again,” said Le. “I also feel that it was their fault their servers could not handle the tests. I know it isn’t really their fault but it’s unfair to so many kids who put in the work and studied and fought through their anxieties and have to redo it.”