Habits of Mind
The AP World History course addresses habits of mind in two categories: (1) those addressed by any history course, and (2) those addressed by a world history course.
Four habits of mind are in the first category:
- 1 - Constructing and evaluating arguments: using evidence to make plausible arguments
- 2 - Using documents and other primary data: developing the skills necessary to analyze point of view and context, and to understand and interpret information
- 3 - Assessing continuity and change over time and over different world regions
- 4 - Understanding diversity of interpretations through analysis of context, point of view, and frame of reference
Five habits of mind are in the second category:
- 5 - Seeing global patterns and processes over time and space while connecting local developments to global ones
- 6 - Comparing within and among societies, including comparing societies' reactions to global processes
- 7 - Considering human commonalities and differences
- 8 - Exploring claims of universal standards in relation to culturally diverse ideas
- 9 - Exploring the persistent relevance of world history to contemporary developments
Regarding the first, it pays off to learn to use arguments, that help us to answer things like, "How would a Marxist historian explain imperialism differently than a Social Darwinist?"
Alert students will find that the Habits of Mind are makable into questions, and notice that the questions in our class do not only seek objective answers, but interweave the HofMs into them. Mr. Tamm plans very tightly around the HofMs. And not only are they valuable in class! In point of fact, every part of the AP World History Exam assesses habits of mind as well as content. For example, in the multiple-choice section, maps, graphs, artwork, and quotations may be used to judge students' ability to assess primary data, while other questions focus on evaluating arguments, handling diversity of interpretation, making comparisons among societies, drawing generalizations, and understanding historical context. In Part A of the essay section of the exam, the document-based question (DBQ) focuses on assessing students' ability to construct arguments, use primary documents, analyze point of view and context, and understand global context. The remaining essay questions in Parts B and C focus on global patterns over time and space with emphasis on processes of continuity and change (Part B) and on comparisons within and among societies (Part C).
