AAR-SJ
| Department | CTE |
|---|---|
| Length | Year |
| Credit type | Repeatable |
| Teacher(s) | Ms. Firenzi |
AAR-SJ (Advanced Authentic Research, Social Justice) is a course that does not fall under any standard discipline. It is part of the Social Justice Pathway, although one does not need to have taken Social Justice U.S. History and Contemporary World History to enroll in the class. It is a dual enrollment course with Foothill.
Like general AAR, AAR-SJ is centered around working on a single project for the year. However, unlike AAR, AAR-SJ follows a different curriculum, known as Changemakers. It is centered around researching a community social justice issue and designing and implementing a project to alleviate that issue.
Course catalog description
The Advanced Authentic Research (AAR) Program is a unique opportunity for students in grades 10-12, designed for those with interest, passion, curiosity, and perseverance to investigate an authentic topic of their choosing. Students are encouraged to develop a mentorship relationship with an industry expert in their field of inquiry. The student research will be supported by the process-oriented curriculum developed by the AAR Team. Students will spend about 60 hours per semester (about 4 hours per week) on their project both in and out of class. Class may meet fewer than three times a week, which will require independent learning by students using Web-based tools, along with check-in times with teachers/mentors/attending AAR events.
This course can satisfy the Career Technical Education graduation requirement.
- Prerequisite: None
- Homework Expectation: 3-4 hours per week
- Please see page 87 in the General Credit section of the course catalog for information about AP Seminar (8401)
- District SLOs Addressed in this Course: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
- For more information, please visit: https://aar.pausd.org
**This is the Social Justice Pathway (SJ) section of this course. Please see page 86 for a description of the SJ Pathway program.
Approximate timeline
- August-September: Form groups, decide on an issue, learn about the Design Thinking process
- October-Novemeber: Empathy and expert interviews, research
- November-December: Find community partners who can support the project (e.g. YCS), write project proposal
- (January: PAUSD Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews all project proposals and either approves projects to be executed or requires provisions to protect all those involved)
- January-February: Continue research, plan project, prototype
- March-April: Carry out actual project, write research paper
- May-June: Finish project, present paper and findings at Foothill Symposium
Should I sign up?
AAR-SJ is part of the Social Justice Pathway. If there is a project you would like to execute or a community issue you care about, taking this class is an accessible and convenient method of doing so.