FOR THE FIRST TIME, AP Physics 1 is being taught at El Cerrito High School this semester.
Taught by Elan Lavie, the class was approved last school year after 12th grader Shannon Chen petitioned for it. After surveying how many students were interested in the class and able to enroll in it, the course was approved for the second semester this year.
“Because we didn’t have that class at our school, I thought it would be cool to try it and advocate for it,” Chen said. “I really enjoyed taking Physics of the Universe my freshman year. I thought it would be really interesting to learn more about physics in a less conceptual way with more math.”
Advanced Placement classes are college-level courses offered through the College Board to high school students, allowing them exposure to more challenging classes and giving them the opportunity to earn college credit. Students may be able to earn between three and five college semester units by earning a 3, 4 or 5 on an AP exam.
AP Physics 1 expounds fundamental physics concepts like kinematics, forces, mechanical energy, rotational dynamics and fluid dynamics, and requires mathematical knowledge up to Algebra 2. The class is among the 21 AP courses offered at El Cerrito High.
Before AP Physics 1 was added to the course list this year, the only physics class Lavie taught was Physics of the Universe, a compulsory, conceptual physics course for freshmen. Lavie also teaches other STEM courses, including astronomy and Engineering Honors.
Taking a hands-on approach
Lavie credits Principal Stacy Wayne for making the new course become a reality.
“Physics of the Universe is basically conceptual physics, the level of math and algebra is significantly lower than AP Physics 1, but the activities are a focal point unlike AP Physics 1,” Lavie said. “I think the class is more fun in a lot of ways because there’s a lot more hands-on stuff going on.”
Some students believe the pace of the class is quite rushed, though, and not as structured as it could be. Several also said more hands-on activities would help them understand the concepts they are learning. Lavie said he is trying to address these issues but he emphasized the difficulty of working on a block schedule with this AP course.
At El Cerrito High, students take two sets of classes, one during the first semester from August to January and another during the second semester from January to June. Because the AP Physics exam is in May, the time Lavie has to teach is reduced by almost a month compared to the AP courses taught during the first semester.
As a result, the time students have to learn the subject is reduced, especially when compared to AP Physics students in a traditional, yearlong version of the course commonly found at other high schools.
Because of the shortened time schedule to learn the material for the AP exam, Lavie said he planned on more hands-on activities this month after the test, which was administered May 6. He also acknowledges that any time an instructor teaches a class for the first time, it will be choppy.
But Chen emphasized her appreciation for the strong academic community of the class.
“I really like how everyone is very supportive of each other and we always help each other with the practice problems,” said Chen.
Teaching physics about the right chemistry
El Cerrito 10th grader Zeno Abergel Pinto said he also appreciates the class dynamic and is enjoying the class.
“I’m pretty interested,” said Abergel Pinto. “I think it’s pretty cool to see how the world works.”
The class environment is not a coincidence. For the first three weeks of class, Lavie engaged students in community-building and name-learning activities. In the future, Lavie said he would like to make the class more diverse and equitable. He noted the class has only four females.
“There are diversity and inclusion issues with AP classes. … We didn’t have the opportunity to recruit or advertise for this class, so that makes diversity even worse. If we did have the opportunity to recruit ahead of time, it would be something I’d focus on.”
Elan Lavie, AP Physics 1 teacher
“There are diversity and inclusion issues with AP classes and if you look at the makeup of our class, that’s very obvious, and I think that’s an important point,” Lavie said. “We didn’t have the opportunity to recruit or advertise for this class, so that makes diversity even worse. If we did have the opportunity to recruit ahead of time, it would be something I’d focus on.”
The question remains whether the class will continue to be taught in the future. Wayne said AP Physics 1 was added to the course selection list for next year, but it will only be offered beyond that if there continues to be sufficient interest in the class.
Lavie said he believes he will likely teach the class next year and perhaps the year after that, but he noted the challenge of juggling the various courses he teaches with a new AP class.
Christopher Laursen-Bailey is a 10th grader at El Cerrito High School in El Cerrito and a CCYJ reporter. This story originally appeared in CCSpin.