[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-313855-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-313855-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","ap-world-history-overview","AP World History - Overview","","AP World History course overview explains how the College Board designs the program through expert committees and aligns instruction with the AP World History Exam each May. It details the course philosophy, emphasizing both selective factual knowledge and college-level analytical skills. The document outlines Historical Thinking Skills, covering crafting arguments from evidence, using historical evidence appropriately, chronological reasoning, comparison and contextualization, and historical interpretation and synthesis, then connects these skills to the Themes used to categorize topics on the exam.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/ap-world-history-overview/313855/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/ap-world-history-overview/313855.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Ben Jamin","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-21","2026-09-20",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Who creates the AP World History course and the exam?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The College Board creates AP World History. A Test Development Committee of about eight experienced high school teachers and college professors also designs the exam given each May.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What is the core philosophy behind AP World History?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The course aims to develop understanding of how global processes evolve through interaction among different human societies. It requires both selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills, so students learn history as both facts and interpretation.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What are the Historical Thinking Skills in AP World History?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The document lists skills such as crafting historical arguments from evidence, appropriate use of historical evidence, chronological reasoning, comparison and contextualization, and historical interpretation and synthesis.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},313855,1790183416,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":55,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":117,"preview_page_count":4},2336478466772,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","AP World History-Overview  \nWhat exactly is AP World History? Let’s start with how the course is created.  \nLike all AP courses, APWH is created by the College Board, a not-for-profit organization that also creates the SAT. Each AP course is designed by a Test Development Committee of~8 high schoolteachers and college professors who have years of experience teaching this course. (I served on this committee from 2008-2010) This Test Development Committee also designs the Exam given each May. Last year approximately 240,000 students took this exam.  \nPhilosophy of AP World History  \nIf you were going to design a world history course, how would you decide what is “important enough”to include in the course? Would you pick a set of important names, dates, and events, or concentrate more on trends that affect the greatest number of people? As the Test Development Committee says,“The purpose ofthe AP World History course is to develop greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts, in interaction with different types of human societies. This understanding is achieved through a combination of selective  \nfactual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills.”1  \nNote that APWH stresses both “selective factual knowledge” and “appropriate analytical skills.” Why not just one or the other? Factual knowledge alone would create a course that is little more than rote memorization of facts, without necessarily any real understanding or interpretation of those facts. Given that AP courses should be the same difficulty as a college-level course, AP students are required to demonstrate college-level thinking skills. Only when you combine the “selective factual knowledge”and the “appropriate analytical skills” do you have the necessary ingredients for an AP course. So, history is part fact and part interpretation. Memorizing facts is relatively easy. Learning to interpret facts is much more difficult. The Test Development Committee calls these interpretation skills“Historical Thinking Skills.”  \nHistorical Thinking Skills, or “Why should I study world history?”  \nEvery reading, assignment, essay, etc. should develop one or more of these skills.  \n\n| Historical Thinking Skills |  |\n| --- | --- |\n| Name of Skill | Description |\n| (Prerequisite)\u003Cbr>Content Knowledge | Deep knowledge of a great deal of information—names, chronology, facts, events, etc. |\n| 1 Crafting Historical Arguments From Historical Evidence |  |\n| Historical argumentation | • Make an argument that is:\u003Cbr>• Based on evidence\u003Cbr>• Acknowledges both pro- & con-evidence\u003Cbr>• Has a Clear Thesis\u003Cbr>• Evaluate other peoples’ arguments |\n| Appropriate use of relevant historical evidence | • Use evidence to support arguments.\u003Cbr>• Understand the context & limitations of evidence |\n\n1 AP World History 2006-07 Course Description, p. 3.  \n[http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/05821apcoursdescworld_4332.pd](http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/05821apcoursdescworld_4332.pdf)[f](http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/05821apcoursdescworld_4332.pdf)  \n2 AP World History-Overview  \n| 2 Chronological Reasoning |  |\n| --- | --- |\n| Historical\u003Cbr>Causation | • Relationship between causes & effects: Short-term vs. Long-term • Difference among Causation, Coincidence & Correlation |\n| Patterns of Continuity & Change Over Time | • Recognize, analyze & evaluate patterns of change/continuity • Relate patterns to larger historical processes/themes. |\n| Periodization | • Construct models of historical periodization\u003Cbr>• Realize that the choice of specific dates is subjective • Periodization changes a historical narrative.\u003Cbr>• Historians’ themselves are subjective & fallible |\n| 3 Comparison and Contextualization |  |\n| Comparison | • Compare multiple historical developments\u003Cbr>• Within one society\u003Cbr>• Between different societies\u003Cbr>• In different time periods or places\u003Cbr>• Compare multiple perspectives on one topic. |\n| Cont","cbCaimYiQfWeDIes","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimYiQfWeDIes","pdf",682710,"English","# What Is AP World History?\n# Philosophy of AP World History\n# Historical Thinking Skills\n## Why Should I Study World History?\n## Historical Thinking Skills Table\n# Themes","[{\"question\":\"Who creates the AP World History course and the exam?\",\"answer\":\"The College Board creates AP World History. A Test Development Committee of about eight experienced high school teachers and college professors also designs the exam given each May.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the core philosophy behind AP World History?\",\"answer\":\"The course aims to develop understanding of how global processes evolve through interaction among different human societies. It requires both selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills, so students learn history as both facts and interpretation.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the Historical Thinking Skills in AP World History?\",\"answer\":\"The document lists skills such as crafting historical arguments from evidence, appropriate use of historical evidence, chronological reasoning, comparison and contextualization, and historical interpretation and synthesis.\"}]","AP World History - Overview | PDF",1789899485]