AP seminar

About the AP Capstone™ Program

AP Capstone™ is an innovative diploma program introduced by the College Board that aims to equip students with independent research, collaborative teamwork, and communication skills that are increasingly valued by colleges. AP Capstone is built on the foundation of two AP® courses—AP Seminar and AP Research—and is designed to complement and enhance the in-depth, discipline-specific study provided through other AP courses.

In AP Seminar, students investigate real-world issues from multiple perspectives, gathering and analyzing information from various sources to develop credible and valid evidence-based arguments. AP Seminar is a prerequisite for AP Research. Completing AP Seminar and all of its required assessments is essential for students to develop the skills needed to succeed in AP Research. In AP Research, students cultivate the skills and discipline necessary to conduct independent research and inquiry to produce and defend their academic work.

The AP Capstone program aims to empower students by:

• Engaging them in rigorous college-level courses that focus on the skills needed for success in college;
• Expanding their ability to synthesize information from multiple perspectives and apply skills in new contexts and across disciplines;
• Enabling them to collect and analyze information accurately and precisely;
• Developing their ability to formulate, communicate, and defend evidence-based arguments;
• Providing opportunities for them to practice rigorous academic research skills while exploring topics of interest and curiosity.

Research Foundations

The key concepts and learning objectives in the AP Capstone program reflect the core academic skills identified by leading educational organizations and members of the College Board as essential for college, career, and life readiness, including:

• Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U), College Learning for the New Global Century: Essential Learning Outcomes
• College-level courses, skills, and practices identified in AP courses
• Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), Framework for 21st Century Learning
• Association of College & Research Libraries, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
• Council of Writing Program Administrators, Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing

AP Capstone Diploma™ and AP Seminar and Research Certificate™

Students who score a 3 or higher in both AP Seminar and AP Research, as well as on four additional AP exams of their choosing, will receive the AP Capstone Diploma™.
Students who score a 3 or higher in both AP Seminar and AP Research but do not pass four additional AP exams will receive the AP Seminar and Research Certificate™.

AP seminar

Course Overview

(Note: AP Seminar is a prerequisite for AP Research. Completing AP Seminar and all its required assessment components is essential for students to develop the necessary skills for success in AP Research.)

AP Seminar is an essential course that immerses students in interdisciplinary discussions, delving into the complexities of academic and real-world issues by examining diverse perspectives. Through an inquiry-based approach, students engage in reading and analyzing various sources, including articles, research studies, foundational literary and philosophical texts, as well as listening to speeches, broadcasts, and personal narratives, and experiencing artistic works and performances. They learn to synthesize information from multiple sources, articulate their own viewpoints in written essays, and create and deliver oral and visual presentations, both individually and collaboratively. The course ultimately aims to empower students to critically analyze and evaluate information with accuracy and precision, enabling them to construct and communicate well-supported, evidence-based arguments.

Course Content

AP seminar: Big Ideas and Skills Practice

Big Idea 1: Question and Explore

What You’ll Learn:

• The first step of conducting research: inquiry and investigation.

Skills You’ll Practice:

• Identifying a problem or issue and developing a question about it.
• Finding and organizing the information needed to answer the question.
• Evaluating the sources of information used.
• Looking at the problem or issue from different perspectives.

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Big Idea 2: Understand and Analyze

What You’ll Learn:

• How to read, comprehend, and explain a perspective or argument.

Skills You’ll Practice:

• Reading critically for a purpose.
• Explaining and analyzing the line of reasoning in an argument.
• Evaluating the evidence an author uses to support their argument.
• Assessing potential resolutions, conclusions, or solutions presented by an argument.

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Big Idea 3: Evaluate Multiple Perspectives

What You’ll Learn:

• How to compare and contrast different perspectives on an issue, idea, or problem to understand its complexity.

Skills You’ll Practice:

• Identifying, comparing, and interpreting different perspectives or arguments about an issue.
• Evaluating objections, implications, and limitations of different perspectives or arguments.

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Big Idea 4: Synthesize Ideas

What You’ll Learn:

• How to take gathered, analyzed, and evaluated information to form your own conclusions and build your own argument.

Skills You’ll Practice:

• Formulating a well-reasoned argument.
• Using data and information from various sources to develop and support an argument.
• Linking evidence to claims.
• Offering resolutions, conclusions, or solutions based on evidence.

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Big Idea 5: Team, Transform, and Transmit

What You’ll Learn:

• Peer review practices and how to effectively communicate your ideas to an audience.

Skills You’ll Practice:

• Planning, producing, and presenting an argument with consideration of the audience, context, and purpose.
• Communicating information through appropriate media.
• Using effective techniques to engage an audience.
• Contributing your own work to a group project

AP Seminar Curricular Requirements

The curricular requirements are the essential components of an AP course. The curriculum framework and supporting documents provided during professional development help teachers determine the appropriate evidence to include in their syllabi to meet or exceed these requirements. (All AP Seminar teachers must attend the College Board’s intensive AP Seminar training before their first year of teaching the course.)

The following curricular requirements must be included in the course syllabus developed by the teacher and submitted to the College Board for review and approval:

• Thematic Exploration: Students examine the complexities of one or more themes by making connections within, between, and across multiple cross-curricular areas. They explore these themes through various perspectives and lenses, such as cultural and social, artistic and philosophical, political and historical, environmental, economic, scientific, futuristic, and ethical viewpoints.
• Skill Development: Students develop and apply specific skills identified in the learning objectives of the enduring understandings within the following five big ideas:
  • Question and Explore
  • Understand and Analyze
  • Evaluate Multiple Perspectives
  • Synthesize Ideas
  • Team, Transform, and Transmit
• Understanding Issues: Students gain a deep appreciation and understanding of issues by engaging in the following activities:
  • Reading articles and research studies
  • Analyzing foundational, literary, and philosophical texts
  • Viewing and listening to speeches, broadcasts, and personal accounts
  • Experiencing artistic works and performances
• Ethical Research Practices: Students develop an understanding of ethical research practices and adhere to the AP Capstone™ Policy on Plagiarism and Falsification or Fabrication of Information.
• Collaborative Work: Students work collaboratively with a team to identify, investigate, analyze, and evaluate a real-world or academic problem or issue. They consider and assess alternatives or options, propose one or more solutions or resolutions, and present and defend their argument through a multimedia presentation.
• Independent Research: Students independently identify a research question based on provided stimulus material. They then research the issue, analyze and evaluate evidence, develop an argument, present and defend their conclusion, and produce a multimedia presentation to be delivered to their peers.

Give Our Students an Edge with AP Learning

In the 2024 AP exams, students from Amazing Education in the Greater Vancouver area were predominantly from the Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, South Surrey, and Langley school districts. This included students from well-known private and public schools that offer AP and IB programs, as well as high school students from schools that do not offer AP and IB programs. These students studied diligently, and under the meticulous guidance of Amazing Education’s many perfect-score AP teachers, they achieved an overall 98% high pass rate with perfect AP exam scores.