In September, you stood in front of your class trying to sophisticatedly convey the gap you established in an academic space and identify how your research will fill it. Since then, you’ve synthesized over a dozen scholarly sources, updated NoodleTools too many times to count, performed a beta test, completed your research, analyzed findings, conducted countless peer reviews and constructed a poster. Suddenly, it’s April, and you are standing in front of the podium at an exact 45 degree angle, index cards shaking in hand, about to summarize a years’ worth of work in 15 minutes.

In lieu of an exam, AP Research students showcase their understanding through Presentations and Oral Defenses, or PODs, during the week of April 13 and a 4,000-5,000-word paper, submitted to the College Board on April 30.

The PODs consist of a brief summary of the literature forging the gap and discussion of the methodology used. Students also explain their findings, what they mean within the context of their work, limitations to their research, and state future inquiries.

This year the AP Research program tripled, increasing to 155 students enrolled from 50 students in previous years. Although this challenged logistics, there is an even greater variety of projects students have worked on. “What’s interesting is everybody has chosen something so incredibly different,” AP Seminar and Research teacher Michelle Hanson said.

This year, five to six students are working on “create” papers, a unique approach to the AP Research project centered around constructing a piece of work, as opposed to two last year. There are more quantitative papers than qualitative, likely due to more STEM-oriented students as humanities topics tend to lend toward qualitative work. “One of the coolest parts of my job is the fact that the kids do such different topics. At the end of the day, that means that everybody, hopefully, has picked something they’re passionate about,” Hanson said.

Senior Mia Stubbins’ project examines the representation of physical disability in 20th century body horror films. She discusses the portrayal of physically disabled villains and victims through identifying stereotypical tropes and stigmatization. “To be honest the POD has been really difficult. I feel like it is really rushed because of spring break and I am ha[d] a lot of difficulty memorizing my script. I feel like it is a lot of content to fit into one 15-minute presentation and it is one of the biggest presentations I have ever given,” Stubbins said.

Junior Elena Firoozfar conducted research regarding the influence of narrative and emotional framing in sports media advertisements on consumer interaction. “I plan on speaking about the different kinds of emotionally inducing elements commonly found within sports ads, and how my results rejected the common assumption that more emotion equals more interaction,” Firoozfar said.

Senior Adaro Francisco studied the relationship between perceived peer stigma and an individual’s likelihood to seek professional mental health support across racial and ethnic groups. Using Likert-scale statements and the Spearman’s rho correlation, he emphasized the patterns within his data in his presentation slideshow. “Overall, my goal is to make sure the audience understands both the data itself but also the larger meaning behind it. The POD process has been very insightful and productive for me so far. It has pushed me to think a lot more carefully about how to present my findings and year long research paper in a way that is both organized and meaningful. As I have worked through this process, I have developed a better understanding of my own paper and the most effective ways to communicate it,” Francisco said.

One of the most challenging aspects of AP Research is the pacing, testing students’ time management skills. “My POD process has honestly been pretty stressful for me since I didn’t prioritize this class as much as I should have from the start. I’ve spent many late nights working on different assignments. I’m glad that it’s almost over and I hope that I can get a good score on my submission,” Firoozfar said.

As AP Research students drift in and out of their presentations this week, they head into completing their papers and preparing for the symposium on April 23.