Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, both AP European History and AP US History, two of the most difficult history classes at Campolindo, will be undergoing a digital shift in their written sections on the AP exam.
In previous years, both classes have relied on writing by hand when it came to the DBQs (Document Based Questions), LEQs (Long Essay Questions), and SAQs (Short Answer Questions). While some students have no problems with this aspect of the test, others struggle with the “legibility” issue that causes them to not score as high as they would have otherwise.
“The writing component is challenging because it’s very formulative,” said AP European History teacher Paul Verbanszky, who has been teaching at Campolindo High School for around 20 years and has a passion for helping his students. “If you understand the formula and the rubric, you’ll do well.”
“Students’ handwriting, since we don’t use handwriting as often, has declined in general,” said Verbanszky. Despite this, “the College Board will make every effort to read what you wrote.”
“You can’t help but feel like it’s a little bit unfair,” said junior Anna Chen, current AP US History student and AP European History peer tutor. “[Some students] struggled through handwriting for two years…I’m interested to see how the College Board will change the timing of the test.”
Sophomore Isabelle Culinco said, “I think digital is easier to go back and fix things, but I’d also be worried about how that would affect grading…[if] it’s digital, I’d feel the need to make it look more ‘pretty’ since it takes less time to type.”
While a digitized version of the writing sections on the AP test would potentially save time and aid students with illegible handwriting, there is the rising debate over the usage of ChatGPT in academic dishonesty. Verbanszky is not the only one who has been stating his opinion on this issue: “I think it’s great that the AP test will be going digital. However, as a teacher, I will still ask my students to write by hand so we can avoid cheating with ChatGPT.” The College Board may respond to the ChatGPT controversy by using secure browsers, according to Verbanszky.
The College Board’s motivation behind adapting written components in the first place is to allow more students to take the AP by making it more affordable and accessible. “It’s also that it’s easier to share the digital files with the readers,” Verbanszky added.
In past years, students and teachers have been forced to rely on their devices more and more often following COVID-19; chromebooks, laptops, and phones have become more common educational tools during classes. However, this newest announcement replacing handwriting by typing will be a fresh start for AP Euro and APUSH.
