Understanding College Board’s AP Curriculum Goals

Module 1 - Identifying Your Goals

In complex gaming, you beat your opponent by understanding what they are trying to accomplish, then beat them before they can get to that objective. Understanding the rules of the game are also paramount here, so that you can maximize your own efforts in such a competitive environment.

Watch this lesson to get look behind the scenes of what the College Board wants to accomplish with the AP History exams. (For a moment, we will put aside the ultimate goal to make money by creating a variety of tests that everyone in America is generally required to take multiple times . . . ) If you can understand what they are trying assess, I suggest that we should try to give them exactly what they want.

As we begin down the road toward the AP exam, I want you to incorporate an understanding of WHY we are going to review the WAY that are going to review. The answer lies in what AP College Board and the colleges and universities that use their services want to see. . . .

AP HISTORICAL THINKING SKILLS

REASONING PROCESSES

UNIT STRUCTURE AND PERIODIZATION

THEMES

EXAM OVERVIEW

SECTION I - PART A: MULTIPLE-CHOICE

SECTION I - PART B: SHORT-ANSWER

SECTION II - DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION

SECTION II - LONG ESSAY QUESTION

TASK VERBS USED IN FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

REASONING PROCESSES

Link to BONUS VIDEO: How To Plan Your AP Review (previously published in the “SECRETS TO EXAM SUCCESS” group

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The Drive for the Five Roadmap