Area high school students gain a glimpse of the college classroom

One area high school teacher wanted to show his students what college classes are really like, and one academic department at Coastal Carolina University was happy to oblige.

Eric Beers, English teacher at St. James High School, took a group of about 50 students in his advanced placement English Composition and English Literature courses on a field trip to visit CCU Friday, Feb. 22, where they will sat in on composition and literature classes alongside CCU students.

Advanced placement (AP) courses, with curriculum designed and determined by the national College Board, offer college-level content and academic credit to high-performing high school students. Beers said his students are eager to learn firsthand how the material is handled in an authentic college classroom.

“The AP mantra is that these kids are supposed to be treated academically as second-semester college freshmen, and the rigor of our courses is supposed to be equivalent,” said Beers. “So both they and I are curious about details: What are the size of the classes? What’s the setting? How Socratic is it? How much technology is involved? What are course expectations?”

Joe Oestreich, professor and chair of the CCU Department of English, said he’s happy to welcome students into the classrooms to experience a taste of college for themselves. 

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