NOTES FROM THE 1997 AP CALCULUS READING 
Jeff Lucia - Providence Day School - Charlotte, NC  

Overall Commentary: Readers felt that the 1997 examinations clearly reflected the transition from questions requiring straight calculations to questions requiring understanding and application of concepts. 

1. Students should not leave any sign test or graph unlabeled. This was a factor in AS4, AB5/BC5, and BC1. Justification points may not be awarded. 

2. Newton's Method as a topic is out of the new syllabi for both AB and BC even though most descriptions of changes don't mention it. 

3. Results like L'Hospital' Rule, for AB, and volumes of solids using shells can still be used on the AP exams even though they are not in the syllabi. 

4. The AP examinations are getting away from formula-applications like shells and are moving toward concept-applications like rate of change or accumulation. 

5. The use of TI-92 calculator and others of equivalent capability are not presently permitted on the AP examinations. These use of these calculators will be considered in the future. 

6. Scientific calculators are prohibited from being used on the AP examinations for at least two reasons: 1. A backup calculator is allowed in the event of battery failure, and if the backup is scientific, the student is handicapped. 2. Some teachers may not have taught their students to use graphing calculators if a scientific calculator was more available and familiar. 

7. For the time being, the number of calculator-active multiple choice questions on the AP examinations will remain the same, i.e., 4-5, though the number of multiple choice questions will go back to 45 with 15 minutes of additional time. 

8. Though the free-response questions on the AP examinations have not been requiring computations of integrals for a couple of years, there may still be some in the multiple-choice section. DO NOT STOP TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO INTEGRATE! 

9. The AP calculus course should be taught for students to learn calculus and to be prepared for continuing college courses. The AP examinations test a subset of material in the course. 

10. About 40% of the content of SC examinations in the immediate future will be on "C" topics, i.e., those topics in the BC syllabus but not in the AB syllabus.

11. As the emphasis shifts from computation to concept on future AP examinations, there will be more writing required on free-response questions. This will lead to more reading for justification by the AP readers and, possibly, to less consistent scoring. 

12. All students taking the SC examination will now receive two scores - a BC score and an AB subscore. Both scores will be reported. 

13. In determining the grade for each examination, the score for the multiple choice questions and the free response questions will have equal weights in 1998.