Are AM’s Beneficial for Students?

AM’s, (short for accelerated math) is a system in Mr. Kim’s math classes (AP Calculus, AP Statistics, and Sports Statistics) that gives students objectives that they need to practice and master in order for the student to have a good grade in the class and more importantly, being able to receive the curve for the test. Although some students might not like the AM system, it is indeed beneficial for students as the AM’s help students understand the concepts and materials introduced in these math classes.

Junior Seth Quarto gave his take on the AM system as he stated, “AMs are definitely beneficial because they force you to learn the objective. You can’t just cheat on them with Slader or Photomath and if you fail them you have to retake them.” Quarto further explained that, “I would improve AMs by having review seperate and more AM days.” Above all, Quarto feels that he benefits from the AM system and the only thing that he would change is having more chances to work on them. This is understandable as AMs can tend to be difficult and more time to work on them would help students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts.

Senior Jacob Goodman also believes that AMs are ultimately beneficial when he remarked, “AMs I would say definitely benefit the way I learn and study for a test. I would add example problems for each objective. Being able to analyze and understand a concept before practice would help a lot.” One possible issue students may have with AMs is that it is difficult to find example problems that are similar to the ones introduced in the AM, however most students feel that adding example problems similar to the questions will help those who are stuck on an objective. Junior William Contreras added that, “AMs have definitely benefited me as it is like bite sized math that keeps the topic in your mind. They help me see the different ways a topic can be presented and helps me remember how to tackle them.”

One problem that haunts students in any math class is the possibility that they might not remember all the concepts that the lesson had presented that day. The AMs are a way for students to remember said concepts and keep them fresh in their minds for future tests and homework.

All in all, AMs play a crucial role in the understanding and comprehension of the lessons that are presented to students in these math classes. Even though there are some parts of the AM system that students would possibly like to change, the system has been proven to be beneficial for students it will continue to be a big part of Mr Kim’s math classes.