AP Seminar
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About the Assessment
Important: Because of school closures due to COVID-19, we’ve made changes to the 2020 AP Seminar assessment. Get the details at the 2020 AP Coronavirus Updates AP Seminar assessment page. Note that these changes to the 2020 assessment may not be reflected on all AP Students pages.
The AP Seminar assessment has three parts: two performance tasks—which you’ll complete over the course of the year and submit online for scoring through the AP Digital Portfolio—and the end-of-course AP Exam. All measure your proficiency in the course skills, and all contribute to your final AP score on a scale of 1–5.
Assessment Dates
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Tue, May 26, 2020,
11:59 PM ETAP Seminar Performance Tasks Due Date
You must submit all final AP Seminar performance tasks via the AP Digital Portfolio and your teacher must have scored all presentations by this time.
Assessment Components
Team Project and Presentation
20% of Score
Work in teams of 3–5 to identify, investigate, analyze, and evaluate an academic or real-world problem, question, or issue. Your team will design and/or consider options, alternatives, or solutions and develop a multimedia presentation to communicate your conclusion or recommendations. The team project and presentation will be evaluated based on the following components:
- Individual research-based essay (1,200 words): scored by the College Board
- Team multimedia presentation and defense (8–10 minutes): scored by your teacher
Individual Research-Based Essay and Presentation
35% of Score
The College Board will provide stimulus material (texts) representing a range of perspectives focused on a single theme or topic. You will use these texts to identify a research question of your own; research, analyze, evaluate, and select evidence to develop a written argument of your own that you will present; and then you will defend your conclusion. The individual research-based essay and presentation will be evaluated based on the following components:
- Individual written argument (2,000 words): scored by the College Board
- Individual multimedia presentation (6–8 minutes): scored by your teacher
- Oral defense (2 questions from the teacher): scored by your teacher
End-of-Course Exam
4 questions 2hrs 45% of Score
During the AP Exam administration window, you will take a two-hour exam. The exam consists of four questions (three short-answer questions and one essay question). The exam will be scored by College Board–trained readers, similar to other AP Exams.
- 3 short-answer questions: These questions will be based on a single source. You’ll be asked to explain and analyze an argument.
- 1 essay question: This question will be based on 4 different sources, which give different perspectives on 1 theme. You’ll be asked to synthesize information and create an evidence-based argument.
How We Score Your Work
Teacher-Scored Components
The two AP Seminar in-class presentations and defenses are scored by your AP Seminar teacher. Your scores on these components contribute to your final AP score.
Here’s how we make sure that scoring by AP Seminar teachers is standardized:
- AP Seminar teachers use a scoring rubric designed by the AP Program.
- AP Seminar teachers also take part in mandatory training from the AP Program in how to score these components.
College Board–Scored Components
The individual research-based essay, the individual written argument, and the end-of-course exam given in May are scored by the College Board. These scores also contribute to your final AP score. All these components are scored by trained, experienced educators called AP readers.
Assessment Preparation
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Practice in AP Classroom
Enrolled in an AP course? If you’ve already joined your class section online, your teacher can assign you practice questions through AP Classroom. Sign in to access them.
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2019 AP Seminar Performance Tasks Directions and Scoring Guidelines
Review the directions and stimulus materials for Performance Task 2 and the scoring guidelines for both performance tasks.
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2019 Performance Task 2 Directions and Stimulus Materials
Review the directions and stimulus materials for the Individual Research-Based Essay and Presentation.
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2019 AP Seminar Performance Task 1 Scoring Guidelines
See the guidelines that AP teachers used to score the team project and presentation.
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2019 AP Seminar Performance Task 2 Scoring Guidelines
See the guidelines used to score the individual written argument (scored by the AP Program) and the individual multimedia presentation (scored by the AP teacher).
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2019 AP Seminar Free-Response Questions and Scoring Guidelines
Review the released free-response questions and the scoring guidelines for the end-of-course exam.
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2019 AP Seminar Free-Response Questions for End-of-Course Exam
Review the released free-response questions to get an idea of the exam format and content.
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2019 AP Seminar Scoring Guidelines for End-of-Course Exam
Review the released free-response questions and the scoring guidelines for the end-of-course exam.
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AP Seminar Performance Task and End-of-Course Exam Samples and Scoring Information Archive
Includes directions and stimulus materials for the performance tasks, free-response questions from the end-of course exam, and sample student responses and scoring information for the 2018 assessment and earlier.
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