Pembina Trails Collegiate 
AP Capstone
Pembina Trails Collegiate strives to meet the needs of all learners using interdisciplinary learning and the 6 global competencies. Every course at PTC provides students the opportunity to learn new information and challenge themselves in many different ways. Although every course offered provides opportunities for students to enrich their learning, the AP Capstone program may be of interest to students who are passionate in going even deeper in their subject area of passion. AP Capstone™ is a diploma program based on two yearlong AP courses: AP Seminar and AP Research. Instead of teaching specific subject knowledge, AP Seminar and AP Research use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the critical thinking, research, collaboration, time management, and presentation skills students need for college-level work. College Board developed the AP Capstone Diploma program at the request of higher education professionals, who saw a need for a systematic way for high school students to begin mastering these skills before college.
Participating in AP Capstone can help students stand out to colleges, become independent thinkers, develop key academic skills, and more.
“AP Capstone helps students develop key skills that they will use over and over in college: conducting research and communicating their results.”
— Stu Schmill, Dean of Admissions and Student Financial Services, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Click below for the AP Capstone Program Student Brochure.
- Hear from other students who are involved in the AP Capstone Program by clicking on the link here.
- Hear from students who speak how they explored their interests/passions through the AP Capstone program by clicking on the link here.
- Discover the college and career benefits from participating in the AP Capstone Diploma Program by clicking on the link here. Students from around the world explain how the skills they learned in the AP Capstone program helped them advance in college and career.
In 2024/25 we will be offering AP Calculus 42S for grade 12s. We understand that is required for direct entry into certain post-secondary programs.
Why AP Capstone?
AP Capstone was created at the request of higher learning professionals to address the specific needs of university students. Unlike other Advanced Placement (AP) programs, this program encompasses many interdisciplinary topics, allowing students to explore many subjects throughout the course, and aligning with the interdisciplinary educational philosophy at PTC.
• AP Seminar is a foundational course in which students explore the complexities of academic and real-world issues.
• AP Research allows students to deeply explore an academic topic, problem, issue, or idea of individual interest.
What are the benefits of the AP Capstone program?
There are many key skills in this program that help students to engage deeply with high level research. Traditional AP programming -- such as AP Chemistry or AP Physics -- dives into specific concepts that can be more easily accessed through independent exploration of a student's interest. In contrast, AP Capstone lets students develop foundational skills like working on higher-level reading comprehension and technical writing. This means students can discuss current academic literature. These skills can be utilized in any university field of a student's choosing, so if a student pivots from Biology to Physics or Computer Science later in their university experience, their learning will still apply. It also allows students to choose a topic of their interest, rather than specifying a subject-related curriculum.
Students are challenged to think deeply and look for connections between sources. They learn how to be independent and critical thinkers who can assess the validity and reliability of research. Students also learn professional presentation techniques and are challenged to build strong collaboration skills with their research teams.
The AP Capstone program compliments many specific courses offered at PTC, including: Global Issues 40S, Treaties and Treaty Relations 41G, Biology 30/40S, Chemistry 30/40S, or Physics 30/40S. Other courses can be considered based on the structure of the AP Capstone courses. Over the two-year program, students are required to:
• Analyze topics through multiple lenses to construct meaning or gain understanding.
• Plan and conduct a study or investigation.
• Propose solutions to real-world problems.
• Plan and produce communication in various forms.
• Collaborate to solve a problem.
• Integrate, synthesize, and make cross-curricular connections.
What is included in the AP Capstone program?
The AP Capstone program at Pembina Trails Collegiate consists of two parts: AP Capstone Seminar is a pre-requisite to AP Capstone Research. Students will typically take AP Capstone Seminar in grade 11 (in conjunction with grade 12 English) and then AP Capstone Research in grade 12. The official written work submitted to the AP College Board is not marked by the assigned high school teacher but instead the AP College Board, but formative feedback is provided throughout the course.
Students typically take AP Seminar in grade 11, followed by AP Research. Each course is yearlong, and AP Seminar is a prerequisite for AP Research. In both courses, students investigate a variety of topics in multiple disciplines. Both courses guide students through completing a research project, writing an academic paper, and making a presentation on their project. There is an exam as part of the AP Capstone programming.
AP Seminar
AP Capstone Seminar consists of a Team Multi-Media Presentation (8-10 minutes), Individual Research Report (1200 words), Individual Multi-Media Presentation (6-8 minutes), and Individual Written Argument (2000 words). Both presentations have an oral defense where students must defend their academic process through questioning. Students are evaluated on the content, format, and conclusions of their research. To be eligible for university credit, students take the AP Capstone Exam in early May (evaluation fee of $150-200, depending on USD-CAD exchange rate).
Video 04 – What Group Work Was Like
AP Research
AP Capstone Research consists of one major individual research project in two parts: an academic paper (5000 words) and a presentation (15-20 minutes). Students take up a passion project and conduct a research study. This study may be interdisciplinary and connect with a 40S-level course offered at the school. Students use the skills they learned in AP Capstone Seminar to report their findings in an academic paper. Students then give a presentation as an overview of their work and complete an oral defense to justify their findings. Students are often connected with an expert advisor for their project work, which is sometimes a university professor in a related field. There is no exam given at the end of this second course.
What is the workload like?
This is a rigorous program, and time management is a key part of it. Students will learn how to manage their time, work as a team, collaborate, prioritize their work, and challenge themselves. AP Capstone is a demanding, laborious, time-consuming course load that will impact the student’s schedule and personal time; however, it is extremely rewarding as well.
“AP Capstone may be difficult compared to other courses you may be taking. But if you are passionate about a certain topic and have the desire to learn, then this is a great course for you. You will develop excellent skills in research, reading, and writing. If you decide to take AP Capstone, use your time wisely to the best of your ability.”
- Ahmed, AP Seminar Student (2024)
Video 05 – What Are You Getting Yourself Into
How does the exam work?
The AP College Board offers an exam as part of the course. The exam has an evaluation fee ($150-200, depending on the USD-CAD exchange rate) and is a requirement for students who want to be eligible for university credit. However, if students opt out of the AP exam, they are still eligible for the high school credits that are part of this program.
The AP Capstone exam is written after the student completes all the research tasks in AP Seminar. It is 2 hours in length and is typically scheduled in early May. The exam is written and tests high level reading comprehension, writing skills, and critical synthesis processes learned in the course. It is comprised of two sections, including a series of short and long answer essay questions that analyze texts and synthesize an argument.
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