The Iowa Online Advanced Placement Academy (IOAPA) allows Iowa students to take APTM classes online. IOAPA is especially meant for rural schools that do not have the resources to support APTM classes. Educators can learn more at www.belinblank.org/ioapa
Changes will soon roll out for two of our courses—APTM U.S. History and Physics. These changes will not affect current students; however, they will affect students in the 2014-15 school year.
Changes to the Physics course include a new focus on Newtonian mechanics and a greater emphasis on student-led inquiry. Considering U.S. History, the revised course centers on use of historical thinking skills, and it incorporates more structure through defined learning objectives. The U.S. History exam, which will launch for all students in May 2015, has also been redesigned to include more multiple-choice items. To prepare for this transition, mentors and teachers can review examples of teacher-developed course planning and pacing guides for U.S. History and Physics, and they may review the timeline below.
Fall 2013 – Spring 2014 Workshops will be available that present the changes and help teachers and mentors prepare for the revised courses. These workshops will focus 20% of their time on the new courses and exams and 80% on the current courses and exams. Workshops will also be available that center on developing students’ reasoning skills for Physics and historical thinking skills for the U.S. History course.
Summer 2014 AP Summer Institutes, such as the AP Teacher Training Institute provided by the Belin-Blank Center, will focus solely on the new courses and exams. At this time, practice exams containing course updates will also be available through the AP Course Audit website.
Fall 2014 The revised courses will debut in classrooms.
May 2015 Students will take the new AP Physics and U.S. History exams.
Don’t forget! Spring 2014 course registration is now open for Iowa Online AP courses.
Belin-Blank Center 