Over the years, there has been controversy between the use of semester-long or year-long based courses in schools. Generally speaking, semester-long courses are quick paced and only last around 15-17 weeks. Furthermore, this type of course allows students to take more classes in one school year. On the contrary, year-long courses take place over a longer period of time, allowing students to take more time to comprehend the material.
Currently, here at Green Level highschool, we use semester-based courses and we interviewed a few students to understand their opinion on this controversy. On one side of the spectrum, senior Lucca Neto explained, “Overall, I like semester long classes more because I think that year long classes would get too boring. Also, in semester-long classes I get to meet more people and take more classes.” Similarly, several other students agreed with Lucca and enjoy the fast-paced environment and schedule they are used to here at Green Level.
However, some students have other things to say. According to Ryan Norton, a junior at Green Level, she said, “I’d prefer my classes to be year-long because I think it allows us much more time to get an in-depth understanding of the class content. I think this is especially important for AP classes, but I still enjoy the semester classes to switch things up.” Another benefit to year long classes would be allowing teachers to have more time to teach the curriculum instead of cramming it into one semester.
Furthermore, when it comes to the second semester in AP level classes, we found students’ responses to vary in terms of semester-long classes. One junior, Lachlan Perkins, explained, “When I have AP classes in the second semester, I find it hard to move through the curriculum so quickly and it feels like everything is rushed. I would prefer AP classes to be year round, as that would give me more time to study, and the class would be nowhere near as rushed.” While Lachlan makes a very valid point that many students can agree with, at a competitive school such as Green Level, some students would rather take more AP classes in one year in order to receive more credits.
Overall, each type of class has its pros and cons because some people like a slower paced classroom, whereas others prefer a faster paced class. When it comes to AP classes in the second semester, many students at Green Level come to the consensus that they do not have enough time to learn before the AP exam. A solution to this concern would be to have separate AP exams for students in first and second semesters or to switch to year-long AP classes. However, responses vary from student to student and it can be difficult to weigh out the pros and cons.
