 The A+nyWhere Learning System (A+LS) high school elective courses are required for graduation in many states. Each elective is designed as a complete one-semester course of study with a two-fold purpose:
The first purpose is to enable the student to learn about a subject outside the core curriculum. With this experience, students are led to higher-level thinking and application of what they learn in extended projects. There is less reliance on multiple-choice questions in these lessons and a much broader use and focus on essays or constructed responses. For every constructed response activity, there is a grading rubric for the student and teacher to evaluate the work.
The second purpose of the elective titles is to provide a learning experience that will transition the student to adult learning. Some of the titles require access to Internet resources because much of the information that students explore and read is from sources linked from the A+LS lesson. This type of study provides the student experience using external resources, which gives them tools for lifelong learning. Each title provides the students with direct access to resources, agencies, and services that may serve them in the community at large.
The approach taken in the development of A+LS courseware elective titles recognizes the differences between electives and courses in the four core subject areas. While some states have course descriptions for electives, these courses are not part of the essential skills that are tested on state achievement tests. For this reason, A+LS courseware elective titles have not been linked to state standards.
Electives are subjects for personal exploration so the approach is not as strictly focused on mastering specific skills, as are courses in the four core subject areas. The focus in electives is to gain a broad perspective of the subject at hand. As a result, the following approaches are used in elective titles:
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There is extensive reading of materials and resources outside of lessons. Various departments within the United States government produced many of these resources, and many are found in the public domain. There are two secondary educational goals that this methodology serves. The first is providing students practice in becoming more independent learners. The second is for students to become familiar with public resources as they move closer to living as an independent adult in today’s information-based society. |
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The focus of the Practice and Mastery tests within these elective courses requires students to become familiar with the secondary reading material. There is less focus on acquiring a specific body of knowledge. The emphasis in the elective courses is for students to apply themselves to constructivist learning as it applies to real world experiences. As a result, there is a greater emphasis on essays, projects, journals, and constructed responses. For instance, in the Lifetime Fitness course, one task is keeping a fitness journal of no less than 20 hours of fitness activities. This is a significant portion of the course. For each independent activity a grading rubric is provided for the students as a guide to judge their own work and for the teachers to grade responses. |
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Each of the elective courses has been developed to constitute a robust one-semester high school course. As such, each course requires approximately 60 study hours of study time. These 60 hours include the time that each activity, project, or experience will require in addition to the actual work within elective course lessons. |
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