AP Research

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO AP RESEARCH Dedicated to CCC

By Sharmie Azurel, Diana Chernyak, Jacqueline Duong, Renee Garcia, Christina Kwak, Sharon Nah, Zoe Rodriguez, Teresa Thomas, and Lacthu Vu

TABLE OF CONTENTS AP Seminar vs. AP Research

2

About the AP Research Exam

3

About the AP Research Paper

4

About the AP Research Presentation

5

About the AP Research Oral Defense

6

Essential Components of the Research Paper

7

Ups and Downs of Conducting Our Research

8

Pointers to a Strong Research Paper

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AP SEMINAR VS AP RESEARCH AP SEMINAR is the first course in AP Capstone. In it, students discover existing real world issues by addressing multiple perspectives and sources and synthesizing information from published works in order to develop their own solution to an issue or question. In AP Seminar, students will create a paper and presentation for a team project, in which each student will address individual lenses of a single research question or topic, as well as an individual paper and presentation, basing their research question off of stimulus materials and documents provided by the College Board as well as their own sources. At the end of the course, students will take a written AP exam requiring them to read and evaluate sources.

AP RESEARCHÂ is the second course of AP Capstone, and allows students with the freedom to explore a research topic or inquiry question of their own choosing. Rather than just synthesizing sources and documents, students will attempt to further the research of a body of knowledge by designing and conducting their method in order to answer a gap in the field of study. Students will create their own research paper, consisting of an introduction, a literature review that synthesizes credible sources relating to the field of study, a methodology that details the research that will be conducted, the results and discussion, and a conclusion that addresses the implications of the study and suggestions for further research.

Students will then present their findings and defend and justify their research through answering oral defense questions at the end of the year.

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ABOUT THE AP RESEARCH EXAM AP Research Through-Course Performance Task 100% of AP Research Score

Component Academic Paper

Scoring Method

Weight

College Board scored

75%

Teacher scored

25%

(4000-5000 words)

Presentation and Oral Defense (15 - 20 minutes total for both the presentation and 3-4 questions from a panel of 3 evaluators that follows).

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ABOUT THE AP RESEARCH PAPER AP Research Academic Paper 75% of AP Research Score A score of 5 provides rich analysis of a new understanding addressing a gap in the research base.

Focuses a topic of inquiry with clear and narrow parameters, which are addressed through the method and conclusion.

Explicitly connects a topic of inquiry to relevant scholarly works of varying perspectives AND logically explains how the topic of inquiry addresses a gap.

Logically defends the alignment of a detailed, replicable research method to the purpose of the inquiry.

Justifies a new understanding or conclusion through a logical progression of inquiry choices, sufficient evidence, explanation of the limitations of the conclusion, and an explanation of the implications to the community of practice.

Enhances the communication of the student's ideas through organization, use of design elements, conventions of grammar, style, mechanics, and word precision, with few to no errors.

Cites AND attributes sources, with a consistent use of an appropriate discipline-specific style (in both bibliography/works cited AND intext), with few to no errors.

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ABOUT THE AP RESEARCH PRESENTATION AP Research Presentation and Oral Defense 25% of AP Research Score Content Area

High Performance Score

Research Design

The presentation states the research question/project goal AND method AND argument, conclusion, or understanding.

Establish Argument

The presentation or additional scholarly work presents an argument that identifies and explains the consequences and/or implications made in the conclusion.

Reflect

The presentation explains how steps in the research process led to the development of the student's personal conclusion(s).

Engage Audience

A careful selection, for a targeted audience, of design, delivery or performance techniques (e.g., eye contact, vocal variety, emphatic gestures, movement), coupled with a dynamic execution of those techniques, enhances the communication of the argument.

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ABOUT THE AP RESEARCH ORAL DEFENSE AP Research Presentation and Oral Defense 25% of AP Research Score Content Area

High Performance Score

Establish Argument

The oral defense provides a rationale by logically explaining why the choices made during the inquiry were appropriate.

Establish Argument

The oral defense provides specific details to address the question posed and describes the relationship of those details to the new understanding.

Reflect

The oral defense provides an explanation of how the project or process, in the context of the question posed, is significant for the student's own understanding, self-awareness, or personal learning.

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ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF THE RESEARCH PAPER The introduction of the research paper provides the reader with the context surrounding your inquiry question, in order to give the reader an initial understanding of your topic. Be sure to clearly state the research question, the initial assumptions and background information, your hypothesis, and the significance of your research when writing your introduction.

The literature review of your research paper synthesizes past research into your topic and details how past research in the field contextualizes your own work and how your research expands upon or addresses a gap in your field of study in a clear and organized manner. The literature review should adequately detail the studies that you used in order to develop your inquiry question, and how those studies led you to develop your research question.

The methodology of the research paper describes the research method that you will be employing over the course of your study, and provides a justification for the use of that research method. The methodology should be written in a way that is replicable by future researchers, and include pictures and diagrams detailing the setup of your surveys or experiment setup, if appropriate. Some examples of methods to use in the research include meta-analysis, phenomenology, narrative research, and experimental research.

When writing an effective discussion of the results, be sure to state the major findings of the study. After, explain the meaning and the relevance of your findings. Using your new gathered information, relate it to similar studies whilst also considering alternative explanations for it. However, it is important that you acknowledge your study's limitations and make suggestions for future researchers who wish to partake in a similar inquiry. The conclusion of your research paper reflects upon the understanding that you come to as the result of your study. The conclusion briefly summarizes your research and relates the findings of the research paper back to the initial inquiry question. The conclusion should also explain the broader implications of the research on the field of study and suggest what future research could be done to further advance the body of knowledge.

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UPS AND DOWNS OF CONDUCTING OUR RESEARCH

Among a vast amount of topics, ranging from humanities to sciences to arts, students choose their topic of interest. Throughout their journey, they face different ups and downs. In the following pages are the behind-in-the-scenes of the researchers who created this book.

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Researcher: Sharmie Azurel Intro: Hello! I am a part of the Medical Magnet program and was a research student here at Van Nuys High School. I took AP seminar in my junior year and decided to embark on my year long inquiry during my senior year. Through the courses that I have taken throughout high school, I grew very fond of AP Capstone because of the infinite amount of skills that it taught me. Now, I am on my way to pursue and discover new findings as I begin my collegiate journey in Barnard College this upcoming fall.

Background: The summer before the beginning of senior year, I visited my parent's mother country, the Philippines. With my interest on improving my Filipino language skills, I decided to enroll in a language class. Through my teacher, I was able to learn not only about the language but also about the rich history and culture of my own heritage. However, I quickly learned that the preservation and further cultivation of the Filipino language is slowly disappearing through the lack of its sustenance as many Filipinos are now arguably choosing to speak the English language globally. Therefore, through the process of formulating my topic, linguistics and cultural perspectives continued to pique my interest leading me to choose this particular subject.

Context of my Research: Realizing the problem facing the Filipino language, I wanted to know the extent at which it is true. As a multilingual Filipino American student, I also wanted to choose a topic that I can easily identify with. I eventually found a middle ground between the two and decided to inquire on the present implications of multilingualism in a student's academic confidence in Los Angeles High Schools. With many varying factors to be presented, I decided to adopt a mixed methodology where I follow through the subjects through a narrative and prove my assertions through a qualitative approach from the data that I have collected.

Through my research, I was able to find many implications and even presented potential solutions that can assist Filipino American students with the linguistic challenges that they have faced in order to achieve their academic goals.

My UPs: I was able to bring a group of Filipino American students together at my school through the recruitment process. Hearing similarities in the challenges that they have faced was eye opening.

My DOWNs: Scheduling and managing your time efficiently throughout the year was challenging. As a senior, your priorities are different with college applications and everything, so it is easy to fall back on your research.

Next thing you know, you are presenting to the panel trying to pass your AP Capstone/AP research "exam".

My Tips/Advices: Find a mentor or peer advisor early. Ask a lot of questions to your research teacher and other teachers in the school, many of them have done research themselves.

Choose a topic that you are genuinely passionate about, this is something that you will be with for a whole year. Try to look at things that you are interested in to be your research such as hobbies, previous curiosities, or even people!

Getting a larger group such as the school or community involved in your research puts you in a different pedestal, you're using your academic opportunities to do something more meaningful and making a difference in your own way.

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Researcher: Diana Chernyak Intro: WELCOME FELLOW HUMAN to AP Research, where you will quite possibly be doing what a senior in college would for their research thesis, except you won't get any credit for it:):). Don't despair, however, because at least you get the chance to screw up now before it actually matters and you can make some real impact on the knowledge of this world. As for me, I'm just some girl livin' in a lonely world taking the midnight train to UC Berkeley where I'll be studying psychology and microbiology:0 (what's consciousness?, what are our limits? etc). If ya wanna find me, now you know hehe good luck this year!!

Background: I was interested in the brain and neuroscience in middle school. And then in high school, I pursued a lot of other hard science - biology, anatomy, chemistry, microbiology, etc. which gave me a very strong base. However, I also fell in love with art, music, and philosophy, especially Eastern philosophy (watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, you have to). I want to combine these two approaches to help people with something there's still a huge stigma around - mental illness, opening up the conversation about it and seeking ways to prevent it rather than only treat it.

Context of my Research: How can a yoga and meditation program affect high-achieving high school seniors' perceived stress levels and coping skills? 6-week program w/ professional instructor that showed positive results .

My UPs: I got lucky and found a professional that actually led my program and pushed me to continue pursuing Eastern medicine and its implications for the healthcare field (I'm part of med magnet btw). I was ahead of my timeline too.

My DOWNs: It was just hard most of the time. From raising the money to the program, to getting people to stay after school for it, to logistically working everything out - it gave me an insight into the real research process and how difficult it is to get support. welp now i know , and hopefully you will too My Tips/Advice: Start early, seriously, and just start - it's the hardest part . Once you get things rolling, things will kinda fall into place but you HAVE to start. And you might as well have fun since you're stuck here for a year:).

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Researcher: Jacky Duong Intro: Hello future AP Capstone scholars!! My name is Jacky Duong and I graduated with the Class of 2019 at Van Nuys High School. I'm so excited for your journey in AP Capstone. This class will test your ability to cram one paper in one night. Just kidding!

That was definitely not me (maybe). Anyways, as you start and begin your journey, I hope you find this booklet helpful! Good luck in all your future endeavors. As for me, I will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall of 2019 in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Background: For the majority of my high school career, I participated in Student Government and board.

However, outside of class, I frequently volunteered at a local Kaiser Permanente Hospital. I loved helping the nurses on my floor and in the summer going into senior year, I was given the opportunity to intern in the Kaiser Permanente Summer Youth Employment Program. There, I interned with the nurses on the maternity department. I was in a rotation in the Labor and Delivery Unit, the Family Centered Care Unit, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Through my journey, I learned about "float nurses" under the shadows of the postpartum department manager.

Context of my Research: My research focused on the work efficiency between float nurses and staff nurses.

Float nurses are basically nurses that move from one unit to the next due to shortage of staffing. This topic was interesting for me as I worked with both staff nurses and float nurses, so it was really cool to have them take part in my research on their work ethics. I used a data collection survey and aimed to help future medical institutions understand and get a closer look into implementing a float pool at their institution. Â My UPs:Â My biggest UPs was getting a peer advisor early. Because I had worked in this hospital, I closely worked with the postpartum department manager who was very acknowledged on my topic. Therefore, I was always able to reach out to her when I needed help. Also, having my classmates struggle with me made me more safe.

My DOWNs: My DOWNs was definitely time management. Although I set plans and goals, I did not always follow deadlines. If you procrastinate, just make sure you finish eventually!

My Tips/Advices: Choose a topic you will enjoy - it makes life easier Get a peer advisor!

Don't procrastinate - self explanatory Plan ahead and make tentative schedules for yourself! Your teachers won't always be there to nag about deadlines (especially since this paper is due in May) Set goals and complete them Ask your peers for help! Your friends will be your biggest help during this process. Seriously. All these girls in this booklet helped me a TON and I couldn't do it without them.

Most importantly, have fun!

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Researcher: Renee Garcia Intro: WOW! You finally made it to AP Research. After the IMP, IWA, TMP, IRR, and the AP Seminar Exam's FRQ's you'd think the hard part was over, right? Well, think again- because we're just getting started...

This AP Research course will require you to apply yourself to work in new ways you wouldn't think were possible (conducting your own study method by yourself! Working with professors or mentors! Writing a 15+ pg research paper 12 hours before it's due *cough *cough*). On the subject of myself, on the other hand, I will be a freshman at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York starting Fall of 2019. I will be studying neuroscience and competing for my college's swim team.

Background: I was an only child for the first 8 years of my life and during that time, I heavily relied on my imagination and creativity to entertain myself. Before my little brother was born, I had multiple imaginary friends- sometimes it was a princess, a hero fighting crime, or a fancy guest at tea-time. As a teenager now, looking back on those years, I realized a sense of wonder and curiosity within that simple memory. I was amazed at how much my past has affected me and shaped who I was today, and my inclination towards the creative arts alongside my drive to excel in my academics and extracurriculars. Incorporating my past- my childhood, present- my newly attained research skills, and future- my pursuit of a career in medicine, I conducted a research study investigating childhood imaginary friends and their possible role in academic performance in adolescence.

Context of my Research: The importance of this study will bring further understanding to the issue of the decrease in creativity among American youth. Perhaps this research may provide teachers and educational institutions ways to maximize, improve, or alter their methods of teaching so as to benefit children’s learning.

Another possibility may be that the research will help parents and family members to find the importance of fostering creativity and imagination to help benefit their children’s performance and success in life. And most important of all, the research study may help to raise awareness of the value of imagination and creativity as a vital quality and skill to have in life as it plays a fundamental role in independent thinking and growth.

My UPs: I was able to use new research methods that I haven't before.

My DOWNs: I eventually grew uninterested in my topic at the end of the research process and it became difficult to continue writing my paper.

My Tips/Advices: Don't allow "senioritis" to affect your performance. You don't want all your years of hard work from middle school to junior year to go to waste because you relaxed and slacked off in your senior year. You may feel burnt out, lazy, and uninterested throughout the year, but you need to ignore that. Fake it 'til you make it, find your inner drive, and power through the rest of the year. Remember why you took all these difficult classes and what you were trying to achieve through doing so: Was it to get into a good college? To hone your research writing skills? To complete course requirements and receive the AP Capstone diploma? It's important to remind yourself who you are, what you want, and where you want to go in the midst of the whirlwind that is your senior year.

It's okay to pivot. Don't be afraid to change your topic if you're currently uncomfortable with it. Choose a topic that you are genuinely interested in.

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Researcher: Christina Kwak Intro: Hi! My name is Christina Kwak, and as you read this, I will probably already be well past my high school days. Anyways, you have a tough year ahead of you, but I know that you can do this!

Senior year is tough and this course can be difficult, but if you give it your best, I know that you'll succeed.

Background: I graduated in the class of 2019 and attended Stanford University. I am a Korean American student who moved to California in 6th grade. I have a variety of interests that span across almost all disciplines, but I lean towards STEM. However, for this research, I delved into my interests in business and management as opposed to STEM since we couldn't do any in vitro research.

Context of my Research: As said before, my research lay in the field of business and management with the focus of the question being on figuring out which factors within an employee's workplace had the greatest effect on their satisfaction. My research was carried out using a survey method that I was able to distribute and gain usable results from.

My UPs: I really loved this research class. It was a 6th period class that gave a lot of freedom, which sometimes wasn't the best thing, but I was with a lot of my friends and we had a lot of fun just being together. Doing the research was interesting as well since the process of reaching out to people in order to gather results was a new experience as well.

My DOWNs:Â There was a long period where I wasn't sure what I was going to conduct my research on. I had too many interests in things I wanted to pursue that led me to be unable to narrow down the scope of my research. I also had a large pivot in my topic during second semester which really changed things up, but I made it through.

My Tips/Advices: Take some serious time to think about the topic that you want to research. Choose carefully and then conduct real research on it to make sure that it is a viable subject. Don't procrastinate on this, but also don't be afraid to pivot. You will (almost) always have enough time to finish even if you pivot a bit late :) so don't worry.

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Researcher: Sharon Nah

Intro: Hello! My name is Sharon and I am a Korean-American student at Van Nuys High School. I was excited to take the AP Capstone course because it gave me the opportunity to learn things I was actually interested in. What high school offers courses solely on Korean culture, society, and history? You can make AP Capstone the course in which you explore whatever topic you want. And that´s what I did with AP Seminar and AP Research. I am planning to continue studying about Korea at Amherst College and to study abroad for a semester at Yonsei University in South Korea.

Background: When I entered AP Research my senior year, I decided to do my research on current happenings in Korea. I found a web-drama on YouTube titled ¨It´s Okay to Be Sensitive¨ which was about the #MeToo movement in South Korea. This short drama addressed negative aspects of Korean society, including gender inequality and sexual harassment. I wanted to explore how the #MeToo movement arose in South Korea and what effects it had on Korean society.

Context of my Research: I conducted a film analysis on the web-drama to discover its accuracy in portraying the #MeToo movement in Korea. Media is very popular among young teens, making it an effective tool in influencing the minds of young adults. Therefore, one can say that what is published on Korean media will change the future of Korea. Korea has historically been a patriarchal, male-dominant society, but the web-drama attempts to move away from this norm, encouraging female empowerment.

My UPs: I had lots of fun researching my topic because I was genuinely interested in how the #MeToo movement was changing the social atmosphere of Seoul, South Korea. Also, I was able to watch a fun web-drama as part of the research process, making it much more enjoyable.

My DOWNs: It was difficult conducting a film analysis because I had never done anything like it and it was limited to one ¨film¨ that could be biased based on the views of the writer and director. My findings may also have been biased because of my own views. I had hoped to visit Korea personally over Winter Break to conduct a field analysis in which I would personally experience the #MeToo movement in South Korea. However, this was difficult because the travel was expensive and I was busy writing college applications.

My Tips/Advices: Plan ahead for what you will do each week for your research. Stay organized with what you need to do, and get them done.

Look for various perspectives on your topic (consider the different lenses) and don't rely on just one view.

Talk to people about your research - this will help you become more familiar with your topic.

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Researcher: Zoe Rodriguez Intro: Hi there! I'm Zoe,but I guess you know that already. Anyway, I decided to take Capstone because it was all the challenge and none of the memorization. Sounded like a win to me. So I talked to Ms Pellegrini (Yeah, I'm a PA kid. This will be important later on) and signed myself up. So far it's paid off. I'll be taking what I learned with me next year to USC where I'll be studying Civil Engineering.

Also, quick note, if you're planning on doing the musical or any other major PA thing, stock up on your favorite caffeine conduit now.

Because hun, you ain't sleeping for a while.

Background: When I first started brainstorming, I knew I wanted to focus on the experiences of students. I was particularly interested by the intersection of performance extra-curriculars and academics. From there I came up with my topic of Renaissance Kids.

Context of my Research: For my research, I studied the school experience of Performing Arts Magnet students who take on a rigorous academic course load as well. Hence the title of my research, Renaissance Kids, arts exploration existing simultaneously with academic study. I had a survey that asked for information like how much sleep they get, do they feel that their teachers support them, and what their future plans looked like.

My UPs: I think my greatest (and most memorable) ups were when I began to get my data back from my subjects. I had done all this background research and was so stressed out with everything, but then their responses started coming in. Their answers reminded me of why I chose this topic. They clearly showed a discrepancy in the support for Performing Arts students in high level classes and that because of this, they were over-worked and under-rested My DOWNs: So remember that whole "If you're oing to be in the musical prepare not to sleep" thing? Yeah...that may or may not be from experience. I had so much on my plate that I would be constantly playing catch-up with my work. And this made me so stressed out that I struggled to enjoy any of it. It was frustrating to say the least.

My Tips/Advices: Choose a topic that you want to study. Often times the only way I could get myself to actually sit down and do the work was by reminding myself why I chose my topic. I was writing my paper for a reason.

You're going to need that kind of push to get across the 20 page finish line.

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Researcher: Teresa Thomas

Intro: Hello! My name is Teresa and I'm a student in the Math/Science Magnet at Van Nuys High School. I decided to join the AP Capstone program because I thought it be interesting and unique in comparison to my other classes. As for the future, I will be attending UCLA as a Physiological Science Major on the Pre-Med Track.

Background: When I started this class, I knew that I wanted to pursue research related to science.

However, I also had a little interest in the humanities as well. Because of this, I looked into various fields and cognitive psychology stuck out to me the most. Within this field, language development and understanding really caught my attention. Therefore, I decided to pursue these topics, in my research.

Context of my Research: The research question I settled on for the academic year was: To what extent does being bilingual affect the cognitive abilities of Malayalam-English speaking students in Los Angeles high schools. I decided on this question because it combined my interests in language, cognitive psychology, and the Malayalam speaking community, that was underrepresented in the academic community.

My UPs: My high point during the entire research process was when I was analyzing the data I had received based on the surveys I had sent out. I found this process really interesting and exciting. Even though the data did not align with my initial hypothesis, it was nonetheless intriguing.

My DOWNs: My lowest point this year was when I had procrastinated on my research project so I had to cram the data collection and the paper writing process in a small time period.

My Tips/Advices: Don't procrastinate! If you can, start conducting your research in first semester. Make sure to write your paper continuously rather than cramming it all in one session. Good luck!

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Researcher: Lacthu Vu

Intro: Hello world! My name is Lacthu Vu, a student in the Math and Science Magnet at Van Nuys High School. I initially wanted to participate in the AP Capstone program because it seemed like an easy enough class - how hard could writing a research paper be?

While I found myself to have severely underestimated the difficulty of AP Research, I found myself nevertheless enjoying the process of discovering how to write a research paper, which can cater to any student looking to research any topic, from data analysis to performing actual experiments! I am sure to use the valuable skills that I've learned from AP Research and AP Seminar as I head off to study Computer Science and Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall.

Background: I started out my research inquiry interested in biomedical engineering and computer science and wanting to do further research in the field of artificial intelligence. I ultimately landed on the topic of artificial intelligence in emergency department triage, and focused on the data analysis aspect of my research in order to be able to employ my knowledge of statistics, MATLAB, and programming.

Context of my Research: My research paper discussed the question of what variables must be considered by machine learning automated triage systems before their implementation in emergency room settings? I looked at a data set containing the biometric data and symptoms of one million patients in order to try to model an artificial intelligence triage system to measure the potential of triage AI. My UPs: I was glad to have found a research project that "fit" me, since I didn't really want to work on surveys for my research and wanted instead focus on the programming and computer science aspect of my research.

My DOWNs: I can't believe I thought that because my research project didn't involve human subjects, I could procrastinate more on doing my method. Wow, it sure was fun to try to load a 378,880 kB file of vital measurements of over one million patients when my computer crashed every few minutes.

My Tips/Advices: Sure, you could be doing homework or studying for exams or senioritis might have hit extremely hard, but procrastination really kills your progress when it's nearing May and you're not even close to done.

At the end of the day, you're doing a high school research project, and the College Board knows this.

It's good to be ambitious with your research, but not to the point where you can't feasibly do it.

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POINTERS TO A STRONG RESEARCH PAPER Have a strong literature review!

You should be referencing and using multiple studies in building the background behind your research question. Ultimately, your research question should be the culmination of your hunt through the sources and the literature review should reflect that with multiple sections moving through any necessary definitions or knowledge your reader should know that lead to your gap.

Have a strong methodology early!

Your methodology is HOW you're investigating your research question and has to be precise and detailed as well as statistically valid and appropriate for your method of researching. It's a lot, I know, which is why you have to start early so you can at least know what the heck you're doing throughout the year instead of pulling something together last second. Yeah, I'm calling you out - DON'T DO IT. If you can just establish what you're gonna do and then DO IT everything else comes along with it.

Connect it all nicely together.

Upon concluding reading your research paper, a reader should feel as if they've learned more about your field and about a specific thing in your field. They should feel as if they can discuss the topic with you in normal language(nothing overtly niche or scientific).

And Of Course, Bibliography

In your specific discipline, alphabetized, correctly cited, with the appropriate amount of sources so you have a good amount of differing ideas and perspectives about your topic represented in your paper.

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