AP Physics 1

Advanced Placement (AP) Physics 1 is a year-long introductory physics course administered by the College Board as part of its Advanced Placement program. It is intended to proxy a one-semester algebra-based university course in mechanics. Along with AP Physics 2, the first AP Physics 1 exam was administered in 2015.

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In its first five years, AP Physics 1 covered forces and motion, conservation laws, waves, and electricity.[1] As of 2021, AP Physics 1 includes mechanics topics only.[2]

History

The heavily computational AP Physics B course served for four decades as the College Board's algebra-based offering. As part of the College Board's redesign of science courses, AP Physics B was discontinued; therefore, AP Physics 1 and 2 were created with guidance from the National Research Council and the National Science Foundation.[3] The course covers material of a first-semester university undergraduate physics course offered at American universities that use best practices of physics pedagogy.[4] The first AP Physics 1 classes had begun in the 2014–2015 school year, with the first AP exams administered in May 2015.

Curriculum

AP Physics 1 is an algebra-based, introductory college-level physics course that includes mechanics topics such as motion, force, momentum, energy, harmonic motion, and rotation; The College Board published a curriculum framework that includes seven big ideas on which the AP Physics 1 and 2 courses are based, along with "enduring understandings" students are expected to acquire within each of the big ideas.:[5]

Questions for the exam are constructed with direct reference to items in the curriculum framework. Student understanding of each topic is tested with reference to multiple skills—that is, questions require students to use quantitative, semi-quantitative, qualitative, and experimental reasoning in each content area.

Topic[6] Exam Weighting
Kinematics 12-18%
Dynamics: Newton's laws 16-20%
Circular motion and gravitation 6-8%
Energy 20-28%
Momentum 12-18%
Simple harmonic motion 4-6%
Torque and rotational motion 12-18%

Exam
Section Questions Time Exam Weighting
Section I: Multiple Choice 50 MCQ; 45 are single-select, 5 are multi-select 1 hour 30 minutes 50%
Section 2: Free Response 5 FRQ 1 hour 30 minutes 50%

Science Practices Assessed

Multiple Choice and Free Response Sections of the AP® Physics 1 exam are also assessed on scientific practices. Below are tables representing the practices assessed and their weighting for both parts of the exam

Section 1: Multiple Choice
Science Practice Exam Weighting
1. Modeling 28-32%
2. Mathematical Routines 16-20%
3. Experimental Method 2-4%
4. Data Analysis 10-12%
5. Argumentation 24-28%
6. Making Connections 10-16%
Section 2: Free Response
Science Practice Exam Weighting
1. Modeling 22-36%
2. Mathematical Routines 17-29%
3. Experimental Method 8-16%
4. Data Analysis 6-14%
5. Argumentation 17-29%
6. Making Connections 2-9%

Score distributions

The exam score distributions since 2015 are as follows:

Score 2015[7] 2016[8] 2017[9] 2018[10] 2019[11] 2020[12] 2021[13] 2022[14] 2023[15]
5 5.0% 4.6% 5.0% 5.2% 6.2% 8.8% 6.9% 7.4% 8%
4 13.6% 14.0% 15.8% 15% 17.8% 17.9% 16.3% 16.8% 18%
3 20.7% 21.2% 20.3% 19.5% 20.6% 24.8% 18.9% 18.1% 19%
2 29.8% 30.2% 29.5% 29.1% 29.3% 26.5% 26.4% 27.5% 28%
1 31.0% 30.0% 29.4% 31.2% 26.1% 21.9% 31.4% 30.2% 27%
% of Scores 3 or Higher 39.3% 39.8% 41.1% 39.7% 44.6% 51.6% 42.1% 42.3% 45%
Mean 2.32 2.33 2.38 2.34 2.49 2.65 2.41 2.47 2.52
Standard Deviation 1.19 1.17 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.25 1.27 1.29
Number of Students 171,074 169,304 170,447 170,653 161,071 149,488 136,238 144,526 ~162,000

This AP course has the lowest average score and the lowest proportion of students that score a 5 out of all current AP subjects.[16]

See also

References
  1. Jacobs, Greg (25 July 2011). "Jacobs Physics: AP Physics 1 and 2 Redesign (as it stands now) and Honors Physics I". Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  2. "The Course". AP Physics 1: The Course. The College Board. 10 July 2006. Archived from the original on 2020-12-18. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  3. "AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 | Advances in AP". Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  4. Jacobs, Greg (23 January 2016). "What does a 5 on the AP Physics 1 Exam mean? It still means an A, but read on..." Jacobs Physics. Greg Jacobs. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  5. "AP Physics 1: Algebra-based and AP Physics 2: Algebra-based Curriculum Framework 2014–2015" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  6. "AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based" (PDF). collegeboard.org. Fall 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  7. Total Registration. "2015 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  8. Total Registration. "2016 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  9. Total Registration. "2017 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  10. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  11. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  12. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  13. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  14. Total Registration (2022-06-22). "2022 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
  15. Total Registration (2023-06-15). "2023 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  16. "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS, AP Exams - May 2017" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
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