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World History
AP Annual Conference Submission
Mathew Astrom
Head of Social Studies Department
Carol Morgan School
The goal of this session is to empower teachers to embrace change, particularly a change from a chronological approach of delivering historical content to a thematic organization, centered on the five major themes of AP World History. As exam creators move toward thematic learning objectives and away from specific content knowledge, our courses should be organized accordingly. Participants in this session will learn a model of syllabus reorganization that allows for teacher flexibility and choice while abiding by APWH geographic coverage and periodization models. Instructors’ knowledge, interest and regional specialization, in addition to students’ cultural background, should inform syllabus choices. If so, courses could become more student-centered and informed by prior knowledge of both teacher and student. The result will be improved test scores, as teacher flexibility and control over the curriculum pushes course design deeper rather than wider.