Mrs. Cross' Advanced Placement European History Description

2007-2008

Why take AP courses?
AP courses are designed to challenge talented students by offering college-level courses while the students are still in high school. Students will take a comprehensive exam in May that is scored from 1-5. Students achieving 3s, 4s, or 5s could be eligible for college credit depending on the policy of the university that they attend. Regardless of their score on the AP exam, students will have the opportunity to study European History in-depth, preparing them for future high school and college courses.

My goals for the class:
I am primarily interested in transferring my enthusiasm and passion for history to my students. I prepare them for the exam in May, but first and foremost I want them to develop an appreciation and understanding for history. I want them to advance their writing skills, their interpretive and analytical skills, their study skills, and have fun in the process. This is the first AP course offered to students at NSA, thus it is a great learning experience for the students. Their grades at the beginning of this trimester could be lower than they are accustomed, but as they adjust to the pace and demands of the course, their grades should rise. The AP exam itself is just one day, thus I want to not only prepare them for it, but also for future courses.

Specifics of the exam:
Date: Friday, May 9
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: Paul D. Camp Community College – Suffolk Campus. Students have traditionally organized their own transportation (we will often meet for breakfast at IHOP before the exam), but transportation can be provided if necessary. We will discuss this further in April and directions will be posted on the NSA website at that time.
Content of the Exam: The exam is 3 hours and 5 minutes in length. It consists of a 55-minute multiple-choice section and a 130-minute free-response section. Although the exam technically begins at12:00 p.m., there are inevitably delays that cause the exam to go beyond the allotted time period. Please know that because of these delays and breaks it is possible that the exam will not conclude until 4:00 p.m. Students WILL NOT be permitted to leave the exam early.
The multiple-choice section consists of 80 questions designed to measure the student’s knowledge of European history from the High Renaissance to the present. Approximately one-half of the questions deal with the period from 1450 to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic era and one-half from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic era to the present. The questions covering the nineteenth century and the twentieth century are divided evenly (approximately 25 percent o f the total number of questions from each century).
Approximately one-third of the questions focus on cultural and intellectual themes, one-third on political and diplomatic themes, and one-third on social and economic themes. Of course, many questions draw on knowledge of more than one chronological period or theme. A student is not expected to be familiar with all the material covered.
Section II, the free-response section, begins with a mandatory 15-minute reading period followed by Part A, in which students are required to answer a document-based essay question (DBQ) in 45 minutes, and Parts B and C, in which students are asked to answer thematic questions in 70 minutes. Students choose one essay from the three essays in Part B and one essay from the three in Part C; they are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 30 minutes writing each of their thematic essays. Thematic questions are grouped to ensure that students consider a range of historical periods and approaches. Grouping is often not chronological. Students are instructed to spend the introductory 15-minute reading period of Section II analyzing the documents for the DBQ and outlining their answer.
Within the free-response section, the DBQ essay is weighted 45 percent and the thematic essays are together weighted 55 percent. For the total exam score, the multiple choice and free-response sections are weighted equally.
Content taken from The College Board, 2007

Scores: Scores will not be received until July. Although students will take regular trimester tests the first and second trimesters, there will not be a final exam at NSA for AP MEH. There will be a final project to be detailed at a later date.

Preparation for the Exam:
Throughout the year we will work to improve writing skills with assignments geared to prepare students for the essay portion of the AP exam. Students will receive extensive instruction in writing historical essays and will be taught the skills necessary to master both the thematic essays (FRQs) and the document-based questions (DBQs). Additionally, students will learn techniques to help them master the difficult multiple-choice questions that they will encounter on the AP exam. Through both practice in the multiple-choice books and graded assignment, students will adjust to the difficulty of the questions and learn how to apply their knowledge. As the time for the exam approaches, their will be numerous review sessions available to students at various times as well as a practice AP exam on a Saturday (date to be determined later). Students are encouraged, but not required to participate and need not attend EVERY session – I offer many simply because I know how busy teenagers are in the spring!

Finally – I believe that every student enrolled in AP MEH benefits from the course, regardless of their score on the AP exam. The course provides a firm foundation for future studies and helps students in many ways! I am excited for a great year!