Advanced Topics Tutorials

Advanced Topic Tutorials (more commonly referred to as “ATT” courses) provide upperformers who have excelled in a particular discipline the opportunity to engage in independent exploration, research, and projects beyond the standard curriculum in that discipline. Although most ATT courses are taken by VI Form students, any student in any Form may enroll in an ATT provided they have demonstrated mastery in the subject area.

ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN CHINESE This advanced course is designed to be equivalent to the first semester of a second-year college-level course for students who have mastered basic Chinese language skills. Students learn the full complexity of Chinese society from the point of view of an American student living in China. Students discuss themes such as population and housing, education and employment, privacy, women and children, and economic development issues. Challenges and opportunities facing China are explored through analysis, explanation, and debate. Students lead discussion in class and write weekly essays. Text: Chihping Chou, A Trip to China: Intermediate Reader of Modern Chinese (Princeton University Press)

ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN ENGLISH This individualized course, to be taken in the VI Form concurrently with AS English 4, allows the advanced student to explore further literature according to the interest of the student and instructor. This course offers the opportunity for student-directed reading and research. Departmental permission required.

ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN FRENCH ATT French is primarily project-based and driven by student interests and research inquiries. Each student is responsible for establishing a research topic and pursuing individual research that will culminate in a formal presentation at the end of the third quarter. Students then choose a novel to read fourth quarter.

ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN HISTORY This individualized course allows the advanced VI Form student to explore further topics and research in history outside of normal departmental curriculum. For example, in a recent tutorial, students researched the antebellum Episcopal Church in Delaware and its dual participation in and opposition to slavery. Students studied the broad history of slavery in the midAtlantic region and then worked through extensive diocesan and individual church archives to understand the church’s fluctuating stance on slavery. Their research contributed to a larger ongoing contemporary history project. Students experienced real-life deadlines for their written work and presented their papers and findings to the Diocesan Committee on Slavery in Delaware intermittently during the school year.

ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN LATIN: POETRY, PROSE & COMPOSITION Advanced Topics Tutorial in Latin provides an immersive study of one or more Latin authors. Readings will vary from year to year, depending on the interests of the class and instructor; authors may include Ovid, Catullus, Livy, Cicero, Pliny, or Seneca. ATT Latin may also include a Latin prose composition unit, in which students would explore the nuances of Latin, study the styles of various Latin authors, and develop their own writing style in Latin.

ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN MATHEMATICS Advanced Topics Tutorial in Mathematics is a course designed for students who have completed Advanced Studies in Calculus BC. Each quarter is a different topic of advanced mathematics taught by a different teacher in the department. Recent topics have included cryptography, recreational mathematics, discrete logic, and proving Euclidean geometry from scratch. Topics can vary each year based on student and faculty interest.

ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN SPANISH 1 This college-level course is the culmination of a student’s progress through the St. Andrew’s Spanish program. The course is designed by student interests and research inquiries, and it is primarily project-based. Students will also be expected to read works of literature in Spanish as well as do major presentations, analytical papers,and oral exhibitions with mastery of advanced grammar.

ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN SPANISH 2 Advanced Topics Tutorial in Spanish 2 is a college-level independent course where poems, short stories, and literary novels in Spanish are read, analyzed, and discussed. At this high level of study, students begin to think only in the target language. Our goal is for students to leave with a balanced view of any Spanish-speaking culture or country that we study. Narratives are discussed in-depth to ensure the deep understanding of historical context as well as the beauty and art of the culture that gave rise to each. At the end of each quarter, students choose their own topic of interest on which to write a persuasive essay; they follow up with a formal, oral exhibition or a creative documentary group project that connects the themes discussed.