AP Physics B will be separated into two different year-long classes starting in the 2012-2013 school year. Many teachers and students complained that the current AP Physics B exam covers too much content for one year.Members of the College Board announced in 2009 that there would be nation-wide changes to several curricula, including AP Physics. This year, the Board decided to divide the course and have two separate AP exams.
“The one-year class is so condensed and compact that you don’t get to finish the curriculum,” said John Logun, who teaches AP Physics B. “If you do finish it, you are panting and out of breath at the end of the year.”
Each semester of the current physics course will be spread out over one year so teachers can spend more time on labs and go deeper in the curriculum, science resource teacher Donald DeMember said. Students will have the option to take just AP Physics B part one or AP Physics B parts one and two. Each part will count for four credits instead of the eight credits many colleges award for the full AP Physics B course.
Students will have the option of beginning the two-year course their sophomore year. Science or math teachers would likely have to recommend students for the rigorous two-year course, DeMember said.
“We’re just in the middle of formulating our plans, but we’re trying to get the word out that change is coming,” DeMember said. “It’s important to let the ninth graders know now to keep their options open.”
Some students agreed that taking the course over two years would help them better learn the wide variety of concepts.
“The amount of material covered on the AP exam was a bit much,” said senior Cameron Clements, who took the course last year. “I think the main issue was that the exam focused on materials that we had rushed at the end of the year so even just a slightly different order of units would help.”
Because there are other course options, some students said they would just take AP Physics C, a more advanced course that includes calculus but covers less material.
