Sweaty palms and an atmosphere of distress, we have all been there. Test-taking is strenuous, and AP exams are one of the most difficult challenges that millions of students in the world take on every year. Every year you open the booklet, contemplate answers, and bubble them in. The straightforward process we know and (somewhat) love is now being converted into a digital platform. Is this leap to technology favorable or will the smell of paper and the tapping of pencils be on everyone’s wish list for the next school year?
History Of AP Exams
The Advanced Placement Program arose in 1952, from the School and College Study of Admission with Advanced Standing, and the College Study of General Education. It was created to promote and reward capable and ambitious students. At first, 11 subjects ranging from literature to chemistry were offered. At some schools, receiving a good score allowed students to earn partial or first-year credit toward their bachelor’s degrees. A good score constituted a 3-5 on a 5-point scale (collegeboard.org).
New Implementations
12 of the AP exams will be hybrid, and 16 will be fully digital. For hybrid tests, the multiple-choice questions will be digital. For the other half, students will be able to view the free responses on Bluebook but are required to hand-write their answers in paper booklets.
Fortunately, accessibility to these tests will not be a problem. Students can use Mac and Windows devices, iPads, and school-managed Chromebooks. If a widespread internet outage occurs, the college board announced that students will be given a 4-day period after the exams to submit. In the case of extreme annotators, you do not have to worry. Bluebook offers the ability to highlight and annotate, as well as cross out questions you deem inaccurate.
Additionally, students will get a scratch piece of paper from the proctor to plan and outline responses (apcentral.collegeboard.org). These new implementations might seem to make the exams feasible, but issues are inevitable.
Science Behind The Tangible
In this world of digitization, one may assume that students of these new generations would be more accustomed to technology, but some tangible habits are simply irreplaceable.
After years and years of constant exposure to pencil and paper in school, it is difficult to adjust to a new format of test taking. This could apply to many cases. For example, a high-performance school district in Massachusetts saw lower test scores when they switched to a digital platform. Before this complete change, student performance increased every year (future-ed.org).
This is seen due to a small benefit of metacognition (onlinelibrary.wiley.com), hence the intuitive preference for paper. Metacognition is “the process by which learners use knowledge of the task at hand, knowledge of learning strategies, and knowledge of themselves to plan their learning, monitor their progress towards a learning goal, and then evaluate the outcome” (tll.mit.edu).
Student and Teacher Perspectives
A large group of students at Yorba Linda High School resonate more with the paper test format. Lucas Burnett (11), commented on the topic: “I feel that I am able to think a lot better when I have a tangible test in front of me, and I feel less comfortable in front of a screen. It’s also more difficult to access different documents in a DBQ, having to switch screens every time I need to access the prompt for that portion of the test.”
AP United States History teacher Lisa Garcia (S) believes that “classrooms are not acclimated to online testing tech capability; [she] spends time tinkering to get viable lockdown testing to decrease the amount of cheating. Students are not in testing shape going into the exam” since they have not been properly exposed to nor have had the chance to adapt to this new technology.
However, she also explains the differences in generational conflicts: “For more tech-savvy and adaptable students, you don’t see the use of tech as a potential loss. Whereas for a teacher, the less tech the more critical thinking skills are exercised.”
Good Testing Anxiety: Will Tech Issues Be A Setback?
Any mode of testing usually has a negative stigma. The only thing on every student’s mind is the pressure of getting a good score and reaching their full potential. As mentioned, the college board announced that if any tech issues occur, students will have four additional days after testing to submit them.
Having to take the test at a later date puts added stress on the administration as well as the students. These make-up tests that the students must take tend to be more difficult. Alongside an increased difficulty level, the time of testing is a vital determinant of test results. Lisa Garcia (S) says, “Same-day testing anxiety is beneficial and can greatly impact your score.”
The Final Countdown
With only three months to go, students around the world will have to become accustomed to the changes and learn to traverse the unfamiliar grounds of the digital testing world. Who knows, maybe with time comes acceptance.
