Content update: Brand new high school physics and biology courses are coming soon!

Will the older courses be placed in the Biology Library or will they be removed entirely?

Hi zahaan.hasham, the older courses will no longer be viewable by the public. However, many of their videos and articles will remain accessible either in the new courses themselves, or in the libraries. Thanks for the question, and happy learning!

Hi! I'm excited to see the new courses, but I'm curious if these will combine both NGSS and non-NGSS HS science courses.

While NGSS standards do cover important concepts, they also don't necessarily include several other foundational concepts, and which were included in the non-NGSS courses. Moreover, the NGSS courses seem to be a supplement to lab-based courses than a fully standalone biology/physics course.

So will the new courses be standalone courses that cover all of the standard physics/biology material in a mastery-enabled format, and also include NGSS topics?

Megan Cohn So since you guys at Khan Academy are replacing some of the older courses, I had a few questions that popped into my head while reading this.

Question 1: Does this mean the KA code migration project is done?  I know coding a new course to bring to the platform is already difficult so in the middle of a code migration I would imagine it would be impossible. 

Question 2: If you are done, does this mean that we could see the return of old features like backgrounds or maybe even some newer badges as that has been requested for a long time.

Question 3: if you aren't done, then can we maybe get an update on when you hope to be done and follow up question why are you worrying about replacing classes if the code migration isn't done?

Hi G. Tarun, thanks for your question! The new courses will be stand-alone, mastery-enabled courses aligned to the NGSS standards. They will be more comprehensive in what they include compared to the current NGSS courses. Additional biology and physics topics can be found in our AP courses and Libraries.

Best, Megan

Hi @ඞ-turtleneck15-ඞ, to request the return of old features, follow the instructions in this article. Hope that's helpful!

Hi Megan Cohn, thanks for clarifying this, it's good to know that the updated NGSS courses will be more comprehensive than the current ones, and I assume these were the standalone courses alluded to in a 2022 Science courses update (when the NGSS betas were launched).

In these new 2024 courses, I'd also love to see the course intro videos included: those are super helpful in fueling student curiosity. Also, like Adobe x KA Creativity in Biology, something like Philosophy in Physics, or Physics in the Lab and Math (or Creativity in Physics) might make the physics course more fun.

I also think some of the Science Essentials content from Khan Academy India would fit well into these new courses, given that they're focused precisely on understanding science through concrete, real-world contexts, in both videos and exercises.

Is this meant as a full or half year course? 

Hi CutTheBigCheese! These courses are designed to be full-year courses when used in a classroom setting. Individual learners can go through them at their own pace. I hope that answers your question! 

Hi! I was also wondering if it's possible to add an additional resources unit for teachers, with the Khanmigo for science videos. (And in math and humanities courses, Khanmigo for those subjects). These videos can be included both in the Khanmigo for teachers and students courses, as well as in the relevant subject courses.

Can learners in the middle of this course finish it after July?

I'm in the middle of the HS Biology NGSS course. Will any of my progress I've already made there rollover to this new one? Thanks!

What will happen with tutors certified with NGSS on Schoolhouse? Will their tutor title be revoked if they were certified through NGSS course challenges, or will they be required to learn the new content? 

Hi Robin and Logan,

Since these are brand new courses, progress made on older courses will not transfer. Once the new courses are rolled out, the older ones won't be visible anymore on the course menu. So, make sure to bookmark the courses you're working on so that you can continue to access them. You can always reach out to our support team if you run into any issues.

Hi Dana Curiel Mar, please check out: https://schoolhouse.world/faq/en. 

Best, Megan

Good Afternoon,

My daughter just started the HS physics NGSS course for her last homeschooling year. I'm not sure I want her to continue as you are putting up a new course. Hope you can give answers to some questions for me.

1. What day in July will the course be available?

2. How many days will the course take to finish?

 We want her to complete her last HS year by the end of December, but not rush the course and therefore maybe not understand what she is learning.

Thank you for your time in helping us make a decision about how to handle our situation.

Cheers

Hey!

I'm a homeschool student and I started the high school physics course this year.

I was wondering if my progress will go towards the new course?

Thanks,

Aleena Thompson

Hi Alexus-Anne Richardson,

Thank you for reaching out! The course will be available on July 2. The course is designed to last a whole school year in a classroom setting, but if your daughter is working independently she could likely go through it faster and be done by December. I would recommend waiting for the new course because we've made many improvements. I hope this helps, and best of luck to your daughter in her last year!

Hi ALeena,

Because this is a brand new course, your progress will not transfer over. Keep the current course bookmarked if you want to continue to access it. You can always contact our support team if you run into any issues. :) 

Is there a specific way to bookmark courses? If so, I'm not sure how to ...😅 Will the material still be accessible, but not editable or interactive?

Hi jadem8700! Some web browsers will allow you to bookmark a specific website, but you can also just copy-paste the url of the course and keep it in handy. When you want to access the course, just paste the url into your browser. The material will still be interactive. Hope this helps!

I have some concerns about this plan. Why not just introduce the new courses and maintain the old ones, with both being mastery-enabled courses, instead of completely replacing the older courses before the new NGSS courses have proven themselves?

Hi, I was wondering if the normal high school biology course would be updated as well, or is it just the high school biology NGSS course? I was also concerned if we could be able to save our progress by copy and pasting the URL and still access the high school biology material? 

Thanks,

Jeshna Kanagala

Hello, I was wondering when the exact date the new courses will be published? I was wondering this because I am taking AP Bio next year, and I'd like to use the new course as a way to prepare for the class.

I'm excited for the new update but I do have one question. As there was no high school chemistry prior to this, I did the chemistry library instead. I was about halfway through, will that progress be erased? (due to the new course replacing the old one)

Hi JeshnaK! Yes, both high school biology courses that are currently on our course menu will be updated. Both will be available if you save the url.

Hello sharanatiksh! The new course will be published July 1.

And, hi EHAN, the chemistry library is not being deprecated at this point.

Can Khan Academy add a course aligned to Florida's NGSSS standards?? I'm taking high school physical science next year and having a course would be really helpful!

Sincerely,

Ali Zain Bukhari

Hello Khan Academy, may I ask how many hours the course will be? 

Thank you in advance.

Best,

Moein 

Another question, what about the NGSS courses that we can already select? Will those be replaced as well?

Hi, just wondering how many hours of coursework the current high school biology course has in comparison to the new NGSS standards biology course? Thanks in advance.