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| | We will start without a textbook, to encourage students to be more proactive in learning history. If we can find a good textbook or reference source, then we'll distribute it a few weeks into the course. | | We will start without a textbook, to encourage students to be more proactive in learning history. If we can find a good textbook or reference source, then we'll distribute it a few weeks into the course. |
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| − | This course will give you the foundation for taking three different College Board exams: the [[CLEP]], the [[AP]], and the [[SAT II]]. The CLEP is a multiple-choice exam that is recognized by thousands of colleges as a way to earn college credit. It costs about $50 and is administered on computers at local colleges, usually once a month. The AP, or Advanced Placement exam, is given only once a year in May at local high schools, and is more expensive. It includes both multiple-choice and essay questions, and is used by different colleges to give credit for courses. The SAT II in American History is an inexpensive multiple-choice exam that takes only an hour and is given at high schools on Saturdays once a month, October through June. No college credit is given for it, but it is used for college applications to recognize achievement. The SAT II is the most biased of the three exams, and is known for emphasizing liberal culture and matters of race and gender. The CLEP exam is probably the least biased on the three. There is no requirement to take any of these exams as part of this course. | + | |
| | + | == College Board Exams == |
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| | + | This course will give you the foundation for taking three different College Board exams: the [[CLEP]], the [[AP]], and the [[SAT II]]. The CLEP is a multiple-choice exam that is recognized by most (but not all) colleges as a way to earn college credit. It costs about $50 and is administered on computers at local colleges, usually once a month. The AP, or Advanced Placement exam, is given only once a year in May at local high schools, and is more expensive. It includes both multiple-choice and essay questions, and is used by different colleges to give credit for courses. |
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| − | The key to learning history is to find what you like and build on that. Learn what you like and then learn everything else that is connected with it. Since everything in history is somehow connected with everyone else, you can learn all of history just by starting with what you like. If you are most interested in religion, then learn about the 13 colonies based on their different attitudes towards religion. If you are most interested in one colony, then learn about it and how it relates to other colonies. If you like military history, then use that as your starting point. | + | The SAT II in American History is an inexpensive multiple-choice exam that takes only an hour and is given at high schools on Saturdays once a month, October through June. No college credit is given for it, but it is used for college applications to recognize achievement. The SAT II is the most biased of the three exams, and is known for emphasizing liberal culture and matters of race and gender. The CLEP exam is probably the least biased on the three. |
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| | + | Each of these College Board exams can be taken as often as one likes, though it is difficult to take the AP exam more than once because it is offered only once a year, and it is expensive to retake the CLEP exam. The SAT II, which is cheaper, is the easiest to take more than once and colleges only look at the highest score. |
| | + | <br><br>There is no requirement to take any of these College Board exams as part of this course. Our class has only two required, multiple-choice exams: a midterm and a final. This course will also help students improve their test-taking skills on multiple-choice exams. We will also have weekly homework assignments consisting of short-answer questions. |
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| | + | == What Students Find Challenging About History == |
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| | + | Students find the following aspects of American history challenging: |
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| | + | * interpreting political cartoons |
| | + | * keeping the different periods of American history separate, yet connected |
| | + | * understanding the importance of economic issues in shaping history |
| | + | * dealing with [[liberal]] bias in the selection and presentation of questions on College Board exams |
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| | + | == The Key to Mastering History == |
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| | + | The key to mastering history is to find what you like and understand, and then use it as your foundation to learn everything else. In other words, first find and learn what you like, and then learn everything else by connecting it to what you know. Use the same technique that we all use to for directions: pick a landmark or a place that you know how to get to, and then figure out how to go from there to where you need to go. |
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| | + | For example, if you are most interested in religion, then learn about the 13 colonies based on their different attitudes towards religion. If you are most interested in one colony, then learn about it and how it relates to other colonies. If you like military history, then use that as your starting point. |
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| | The very first words of the [[Mayflower Compact]] were “In ye name of God Amen.” Just as our Nation’s founders started with a prayer, so do we. Prayer clears out the noise in our minds. We are looking for knowledge and inspiration here, and that comes from God. In most countries parents do not have the freedom even to have a class like this. The main reason we have freedoms is because Americans are more devoted to religion than in other countries. | | The very first words of the [[Mayflower Compact]] were “In ye name of God Amen.” Just as our Nation’s founders started with a prayer, so do we. Prayer clears out the noise in our minds. We are looking for knowledge and inspiration here, and that comes from God. In most countries parents do not have the freedom even to have a class like this. The main reason we have freedoms is because Americans are more devoted to religion than in other countries. |