As the month of May comes closer and students in Advanced Placement (AP) classes are starting to think about their exams, they now have another concern to add to the pile. The majority of AP tests will be moving either fully online or to a hybrid model.
Besides a few outliers, AP tests are most commonly made up of a multiple choice section (MCQ) and free response questions (FRQ).
For English and social studies based subjects the MCQ will be completely digital and the FRQ will be made up of typed essays. This includes popular classes at Loyola, such as AP United States History and AP English Literature and Composition.
For subjects focused on math and science, like AP Biology or AP Statistics, the MCQ will also be online, but the FRQ will stay on paper, as students will need space to solve questions and make calculations.
The College Board, who is in charge of AP exams, said this switch will modernize their testing and hopefully reduce the amount of cheating.
Loyola students seem to be very divided on this new change. Some think that their testing experience will be easier and some think it will be harder.
As a student in AP English Language and Composition and AP Psychology, I will be taking two exams that are entirely digital.
I personally wish that they would have stayed as pen and paper because I have grown used to this model. For the past three years, I have taken tests with paper MCQ and have handwritten all of my FRQs.
I do not think the online MCQ and typed FRQ will be impossible, I just find it annoying to have to adjust to a new format and essentially relearn how to take these tests.
At Loyola, a lot of students think the debate of digital or paper depends on what subject they are taking.
Seniors Allie Powers and Shae Burke are students in both AP Calculus and AP English Language and Composition. They agreed that they look forward to typing their AP English Language essays, but not taking the hybrid AP Calculus exam.
“We’re still going to have to do our work on paper, so we’re going to have to switch back and forth,” Powers said in regards to the AP Calculus MCQ.
The questions and answers for this MCQ will be online, but they will do their calculations and work on scratch paper, and Powers and Burke expressed that they do not like the thought of having to switch back and forth between paper and digital.
However, when it comes to AP English Language, they find that doing it online will be much easier.
The girls agreed that they will not mind taking the MCQ online since there is not any extra work to do like there is in math, and they actually enjoy typing their essays over handwriting them.
“I can write more complex sentences when I’m typing and I can think of more advanced words faster when I see it all laid out,” Burke said.
They also both find it nice that they can go back and add or delete thoughts if they need to, which was not as easy on paper.
However, not all AP English Language students agree with them. Senior Anna Hammerl says she likes handwriting her essays and wishes the test would have stayed on paper.
“I articulate my thoughts faster and I don’t have as many errors when I write,” Hammerl said.
When I am thinking about taking the AP English Language test, I can see the arguments of both sides. I do think digital MCQ and typing essays is overall easier, but I agree with Hammerl that I write better on paper.
AP English Language and Composition teacher Mrs. Whelan was also slightly torn on the issue. She finds that around 20-30% of her students perform better when they type their essays. However, most students are better with a pen and pencil.
This switch isn’t going to change how she teaches the class, though. “It’s still about reading, and thinking, and writing,” Whelan said.
The online format of the AP tests is going to require all students to have a device with a keyboard. I think this makes the tests a lot less accessible, as many students do not have these resources.
Another big issue I noticed was the website. I had issues setting up the lockdown browser app that is required, I have seen students not be able to access their tests, and even a classmate whose entire essay disappeared as she was writing.
Teachers agreed that their side of the website is not any easier to navigate. It makes it very hard to assign and to grade tests.
The online platform also gives the College Board access to students and their data. They are essentially using it to spy on us.
“They want to have more information on how kids write and think,” Whelan said.
I think all of these issues, as well as the fact that students are used to paper tests, the hybrid model makes students switch back and forth a lot, and a majority of students handwrite better than they type, make a strong argument for the paper and pen side of the issue.
I can understand that the College Board sees the switch to digital as necessary, some subjects may be easier online, and there are students who prefer to type, but the cons outweigh the pros overall for me.
I do not agree with the switch to digital and hybrid tests, and I think the paper format that AP tests have always used should have been kept.
