AP Calculus

Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus (also known as AP Calc, Calc AB / Calc BC or simply AB / BC) is a set of two distinct Advanced Placement calculus courses and exams offered by the American nonprofit organization College Board. AP Calculus AB covers basic introductions to limits, derivatives, and integrals. AP Calculus BC covers all AP Calculus AB topics plus additional topics (including integration by parts, Taylor series, parametric equations, vector calculus, and polar coordinate functions).

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AP Calculus AB

AP Calculus AB is an Advanced Placement calculus course. It is traditionally taken after precalculus and is the first calculus course offered at most schools except for possibly a regular calculus class. The Pre-Advanced Placement pathway for math helps prepare students for further Advanced Placement classes and exams.

Purpose

According to the College Board:

An AP course in calculus consists of a full high school academic year of work that is comparable to calculus courses in colleges and universities. It is expected that students who take an AP course in calculus will seek college credit, college placement, or both, from institutions of higher learning. The AP Program includes specifications for two calculus courses and the exam for each course. The two courses and the two corresponding exams are designated as Calculus AB and Calculus BC. Calculus AB can be offered as an AP course by any school that can organize a curriculum for students with advanced mathematical ability.[1]

Topic outline

The material includes the study and application of differentiation and integration, and graphical analysis including limits, asymptotes, and continuity.[2] An AP Calculus AB course is typically equivalent to one semester of college calculus.[3]

Score 2017[4] 2018[5] 2019[6] 2020[7] 2021[8] 2022[9] 2023[10]
5 18.7% 19.4% 19.1% 19.5% 18% 20.2% 22%
4 18% 17.3% 18.7% 20.9% 14% 16.1% 16%
3 20.8% 21% 20.6% 21.0% 19% 19.1% 20%
2 22% 22.4% 23.3% 24.1% 25% 22.7% 22%
1 20.4% 20% 18.3% 14.5% 24% 22% 20%
% of Scores 3 or Higher 57.5% 57.7% 58.4% 61.4% 51% 55.4% 58%
Mean 2.93 2.94 2.97 3.07 2.77 2.90 2.98
Standard Deviation 1.40 1.40 1.38 1.36 1.42 1.44
Number of Students 316,099 308,538 300,659 266,430 249,762 268,352

AP Calculus BC
Part of a series of articles about
Calculus
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AP Calculus BC is equivalent to a full year regular college course, covering both Calculus I and II. After passing the exam, students may move on to Calculus III (Multivariable Calculus).

Purpose

According to the College Board,

Calculus BC is a full-year course in the calculus of functions of a single variable. It includes all topics covered in Calculus AB plus additional topics... Students who take an AP Calculus course should do so with the intention of placing out of a comparable college calculus course.[1]

Topic outline

AP Calculus BC includes all of the topics covered in AP Calculus AB, as well as the following:

Score 2017[12] 2018[5] 2019[6] 2020[13] 2021[14] 2022[15] 2023[16]
5 42.6% 40.4% 43.0% 44.6% 38.3% 40.9% 42%
4 18.1% 18.6% 18.5% 17.6% 16.5% 15.5% 16%
3 19.9% 20.7% 19.5% 19.4% 20.4% 20.5% 20%
2 14.3% 14.6% 13.9% 14.1% 18.2% 16.6% 16%
1 5.3% 5.6% 5.2% 4.3% 6.6% 6.5% 6%
% of Scores 3 or Higher 80.6% 79.7% 81.0% 81.6% 75.2% 76.9% 78%
Mean 3.79 3.73 3.81 3.84 3.61 3.68 3.72
Standard Deviation 1.28 1.28 1.27 1.25 1.33 1.33
Number of Students 132,514 139,376 139,195 127,864 124,335 120,238 136,000

It is worth mentioning that the pass rate (score of 3 or higher) of AP Calculus BC is higher than AP Calculus AB. A possible explanation for this is that students who take AP Calculus BC are more prepared and advanced in math, leading to its higher pass rate compared to AP Calculus AB. The 5-rate is consistently over 40% (much higher than almost all the other AP exams), owing to the fact that many students who take AP Calculus BC may have taken AP Calculus AB the previous year. This gives them the advantage of just reviewing previously learned content, as well as having to learn less new content as only 2 additional units and a few additional lessons in previous units are taught.

AB sub-score distribution
Score 2017[12] 2018[5] 2019[17] 2020[18] 2021[19] 2022
5 48.4% 48.7% 49.5% N/A 46.7% 48.5%
4 22.5% 20.2% 23.5% N/A 17.7% 20.9%
3 14.1% 15.9% 13.2% N/A 16.0% 11.8%
2 10.0% 9.9% 9.7% N/A 13.0% 12.2%
1 4.9% 5.3% 4.2% N/A 6.6% 6.7%
% of Scores 3 or Higher 85.0% 84.8% 86.2% N/A 80.4% 81.2%
Mean 4.00 3.97 4.05 N/A 3.85 3.92
Standard Deviation 1.21 1.23 1.18 N/A 1.31 1.30
Number of Students 132,505 139,376 139,195 N/A 124,607 120,276

AP Exam

The College Board intentionally schedules the AP Calculus AB exam at the same time as the AP Calculus BC exam to make it impossible for a student to take both tests in the same academic year, though the College Board does not make Calculus AB a prerequisite class for Calculus BC. Some schools do this, though many others only require precalculus as a prerequisite for Calculus BC. The AP awards given by College Board count both exams. However, they do not count the AB sub-score piece of the BC exam.[20]

Format

The structures of the AB and BC exams are identical. Both exams are three hours and fifteen minutes long, comprising a total of 45 multiple choice questions and six free response questions. They are usually administered on a Tuesday morning in May.[21]

Multiple-Choice, Section I Part A Multiple-Choice, Section I Part B Free-Response, Section II Part A Free-Response, Section II Part B
# of Questions 30 15 2 4
Time Allowed 60 minutes 45 minutes 30 minutes 60 minutes
Calculator Use No Yes Yes No

The two parts of the multiple choice section are timed and taken independently.

Students are required to put away their calculators after 30 minutes have passed during the Free-Response section, and only at that point may begin Section II Part B. However, students may continue to work on Section II Part A during the entire Free-Response time, although without a calculator during the later two thirds.

Scoring

The multiple choice section is scored by computer, with a correct answer receiving 1 point, with omitted and incorrect answers not affecting the raw score. This total is multiplied by 1.2 to calculate the adjusted multiple-choice score.[22]

The free response section is hand-graded by hundreds of educators each June.[23] The raw score is then added to the adjusted multiple choice score to receive a composite score. This total is compared to a composite-score scale for that year's exam and converted into an AP score of 1 to 5.

For the Calculus BC exam, an AB sub-score is included in the score report to reflect their proficiency in the fundamental topics of introductory calculus. The AB sub-score is based on the correct number of answers for questions pertaining to AB-material only.

See also

References
  1. "2006, 2007 AP Calculus Course Description" (PDF). College Board. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  2. "Topic Outline". Calculus AB. College Board. Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  3. "Course Descriptions" (PDF).
  4. College Board. "AP Calculus AB May 2017 Score Distributions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-26. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  5. "Student Score Distributions, AP Exams - May 2018" (PDF). The College Board. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  6. "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  7. "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  8. "AP Calculus AB Exam: 2021 Results – All Access | College Board".
  9. "The 2022 AP Calculus BC scores". Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  10. "2023 AP Exam Score Distributions". Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  11. "Topic Outline". Calculus BC. College Board. Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  12. "AP Calculus AB and Calculus BC Chief Reader Report May 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-25.
  13. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS". Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  14. "AP Calculus BC Exam: 2021 Results – All Access | College Board".
  15. "The 2022 AP Calculus BC scores". Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  16. "2023 AP Exam Score Distributions". Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  17. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS – AP Exams May 2019" (PDF). College Board. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  18. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS – AP Exams May 2020" (PDF). College Board. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  19. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS – AP Exams May 2021" (PDF). College Board. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  20. "2018 AP Exam Dates | The Princeton Review". www.princetonreview.com. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  21. "The Exam". Calculus AB. College Board. Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  22. "2006, 2007 AP Calculus Course Description" (PDF). College Board. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  23. "AP: The Grade-Setting Process". College Board. Archived from the original on 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2008-11-29.

Further reading
  • Nahin, Paul (2014). Inside Interesting Integrals. Springer. ISBN 9781493912766.
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