AP Macro/Micro Econ with FLVS

<p>Has anyone here taken the online AP Macro/Micro Economics course with FLVS? I am registered to take to the course this year (it is year-long) and I was wondering how the workload is for an online course? Are the teachers good?</p>

<p>I only took world history honors online, but it seems like you haven't taken an FLVS course, so I'll share my experience.</p>

<p>I did not enjoy FLVS. It's a great rank-raiser for students who are into that. Courses aren't difficult: they're just somewhat time-consuming, and not well-structured. Of the four or five people I know who took AP Econ on FLVS, one got a 3 and the others didn't pass (all As in the classes). However, if you get a prep book to compensate for FLVS's shortcomings you'll be fine, and it'd be a great way to keep you on pace with complementary material instead of just self-studying.</p>

<p>The teachers are usually very nice and supportive, like elementary school teachers who want to make sure everyone gets an A and feels special about it :). Most teachers are quite lenient, but some are somewhat strict. The assignments are easy, but the projects will sometimes make you feel like you're wasting your time, and everyone's prone to lying about the ridiculous assignments ("Go to the beach and examine the area. Note the shells, trash, etc"). I found the content and style skewed toward lower-level students rather than AP or honors. Many people are completely fine with this (easy A).</p>

<p>You may have an entirely different experience from me, and the grace period will allow you to decide that on your own. You can also simply drop the course after the semester (when you finish Micro or Macro) with no penalty.</p>

<p>I am actually an NC resident, but our department of public instruction partnered with FLVS to offer some more online AP courses (NC now offers around 15 online AP courses) and the courses we personally offer are extremely challenging for online courses. Personally, I have taken German 1-4 through Oklahoma State University, Astronomy through NCVPS, and Contemporary Moral Problems, Anthropology, and Sociology through UNC-Greensboro. I haven't had a bad time with any of these providers, so hopefully FLVS won't screw up my online experience. ;)</p>

<p>Thanks for sharing your experience. I could certainly self-study AP economics, but it would be more impressive to actually have the course on my transcript. ;)</p>

<p>I took Microeconomics through FLVS last fall. The teacher is really good and helpful, but honestly, anybody could make an A in this course. It seemed like every grade was a completion grade, and the questions on the final all came from past quizzes/tests. It was no problem at all, other than some assignments were pretty time-consuming.
I surprisingly got a 4 on the AP exam (I was expecting a 3).</p>

<p>^ Thanks about telling me about the final!!! lol. I'm in the class right now :P</p>

<p>Has the AP Macro Economics FLVS course already started? I don't return to school until August 25th...</p>

<p>You can choose what month you wish to start.</p>

<p>Oh, so the AP Macro/Micro Economics course is not interactive? (As in have discussions with your class that are due by the end of the week?)</p>

<p>Well, there are 'forums,' but that is as far as that goes. I took AP Art History, btw.</p>

<p>FLVS courses try to create interactions, but I haven't heard of it succeeding. Sometimes you have to do an assignment that requires making one post on the forums, but that's not exactly interaction, in my opinion. Some of the tougher courses, like AP Calc, I've heard have had optional chat room sessions with the teacher explaining a more difficult concept.</p>

<p>Anyone else had any experience with FLVS AP courses in general?</p>

<p>I took art history and the discussion asignments were stupid. The class was definitely not that hard, but wayyyyyy too much work.</p>

<p>Aren't you taking AP Macro/Micro Economics right now? I will be starting it on August 25th (when my school starts back). How is it going for you (if you have started on the work, that is)?</p>

<p>Um, right now it's not too bad. I think that the teacher I have (Ms.Miller) is an amazing teacher. Module 3(deals with the different types of industries and their graphs.) is kinda confusing at first, but not too bad. Overall, I think that it's a decent class, a class where most of the students will do well on the AP exam, and a class where it's relatively easy to get an A.</p>

<p>Hey sligh, I think I told you about my school's experience with FLVS. If I have just, ignore this. We had a student who took Geometry standard with FLVS. He signed up for 1 semester, they had no problem with him continuing to year-long.... they also had no problem with him waiting until the last month to do 50% of his work. (Not quite so bad as my 72 hour all-nighters to finish Algebra II online) </p>

<p>The only problem I see other than the course material, is that FLVS courses seem to me to be set up more like a web-site and everything is already there... you don't have a teacher. My only other experience with FLVS is the reviews NCVPS paid for. I really didn't like them... and apparently NCVPS didn't either. Only 14% of NCVPS students made a 3 or 4 last year, and FLVS reviews cost 70k, and will be dropped for 2008-2009. (Inside info)</p>

<p>The FLVS reviews cost 70k? Those reviews were pathetic. I checked 'em out before AP testing and said, "This blows!" I can't believe they blew that much money on it!</p>

<p>Yep, they struck them from the budget this year. But you can only imagine how much money is wasted. 200k alone is designated for something like "Course improvements" which has nothing to do with new courses or anything like that.</p>

<p>That, my friend, is the fatal flaw of government bureaucracy!</p>

<p>I would rather have the money spent on another courses being developed. Maybe more AP or language courses.</p>

<p>Is the AP Exam for Macro/Micro with FLVS hard ?</p>