After a study by the National Research Council found that AP Physics B was too broad and failed to emphasize important physics principles, the College Board is splitting the class into two classes, AP Physics 1 and 2.

“It’ll be the same topics spread over two years, but you’ll be going into more depth,” AP Physics teacher Alyssa Meyer said. “Also, we’ll be able to do more labs and independent learning. We’ll have more time to figure out the concepts.”

Meyer will teach both of the new courses. AP Physics 1 will be introduced to the curriculum next year, and AP Physics 2 will follow in the fall of 2015.

Meyer agrees with the College Board’s argument that this change would be more beneficial for students.

“The College Board felt like … the high school course wasn’t mirroring what students would take in college,” Meyer said. “They wanted to get more away from just facts and get to higher-level thinking.”

Sophomore Jack Booth took AP Physics this year but says he will not take either of the new classes, preferring the current class.

“I would prefer AP Physics B because it’s all the same material,” Booth said. “It’s just kind of in a shorter time frame, and I don’t think they need to go into as much depth as they want to. I just think it’s already well-covered in my experience with the class.”

Meyer recognizes that students will have to take AP Physics 1 at least as juniors, and she said the class will have some new material.

“My only concern would be that students will need to take AP Physics as juniors to have the opportunity to take both classes, but I’m excited about how they’re laid out,” Meyer said. “There are some new topics, and I’m pretty familiar with them, but there will be new labs, different homework, different setup.”