This year's Advanced Placement Research students at Trinity College School have launched into their research topics which they will study over the course of the school year. On Thursday, October 28th, during morning break and academic assistance period, the students set up their poster presentations in Cirne Commons so that their peers and staff members could circulate, viewing the students’ work so far and asking questions about their topics.
The posters provided an overview of each student’s project direction, including their problem statement, research question, assumptions to date, the significance of the area of inquiry and key sources found. Having proactively developed their “elevator speeches” in class (short introductions to gain interest in their inquiry topic), AP Researchers engaged with staff and students and practiced summarizing and discussing their projects. By having multiple conversations with different people, the students reported that they received ideas on different sources of information and gained more confidence and understanding of their topic by having to explain it to others (a truism of education any teacher can relate to!).
The direction and scope of these projects may well change as further research is completed – AP Research students know they are undertaking a process of uncovering and discovering and that it is important to remain open to new ideas and directions as the research unfolds.
Here is a sample of some of the research topics being explored:
- What is the prevalence of impostor syndrome and the associated personality traits for impostor syndrome in high school honour roll students?
- Given the misrepresentation of Indigenous history and issues in the Canadian citizenship guide and test, to what extent does the Canadian citizenship process affect the implicit bias of naturalized Canadian citizens who completed the process between 2000 and 2021 towards Metis, Inuit and First Nations?
- To what extent do the psychological consequences of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis affect person perception in young girls aged 12-15?
- Given the lasting evident success of roundabouts in countries such as England, Finland and Germany, and the consistent data that roundabouts benefit factors such as safety, gas emissions and their compact nature, why have roundabouts failed to be implemented in the Northumberland region of Ontario?
- Do Eurocentric beauty standards have negative effects on the number of film castings and accolades of black actresses in Hollywood during the 21st century?
- To what extent is Bermuda’s foreign worker policy consistent with others around the globe and is it suited for their current economy?
- To what extent do 23andMe health results affect the healthcare and genetic research foster children and adults of the foster care system receive?
- Which method of bilingual parenting is most effective for French-English acquisition in Québécois families?
- How has the stigma of mental illnesses progressed among Chinese high school students studying for at least three years in Canada?
- How might cat companion animals support and enhance the social development of children aged 3-12 years old who are in need of secure human attachments?
- How has the recent increase of East Asian representation in popular North American films and television affected the average non-Asian’s perception of first-generation East Asian immigrants in Canada?
- To what extent does the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition (ADOS-2) provide an accurate identification of an individual with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) based on the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5)?
We are excited to see how the work of our AP Research students progresses over the course of the year, and look forward to their final presentation and defense of their research in the spring.
-By Mr. Myke Healy, director of faculty & curriculum
