AP歐洲歷史課程Q&A

What is AP?

AP, or Advanced Placement, is a curriculum / exam organized by the College Board (an NPO).

The aim is to prepare high school students in certain subjects at an academic level. American colleges and universities may grant placement and / or course credit to students who obtain high scores on AP exams, i.e. a result from grade 3 to 5.

什么是AP？

AP，是由大學理事會組織的一門課程考試。其目的是能夠讓高中生在學術水平上做好準備。

美國的大學可以向在AP考試中獲得高分的學生授予學分，比如獲得3-5分。

Why study AP European History?

In the Advanced Placement of the American College Board there are three different history courses: AP US History, AP European History, AP World History.

In our program it is possible to study each of those courses if there is demand, however we do focus on AP European History, and it is also the theme of our regular AP class. There are a few reasons for that, listed below you canfind the most important ones.

為什么我們要學習AP歐洲歷史？

在美國大學理事會的高級課程中，有三個不同的歷史課程：AP美國歷史、AP歐洲歷史、AP世界歷史。

在我們的課程中，如果有需求的話，可以學習每門課程，但我們關注的是AP歐洲歷史，也是我們AP課程的主題以下是幾點理由。

1. The statistical chance for a student to achieve a useful result, i.e. grade 3 to 5, is higher for AP European History than for the two other AP History courses.

The comparison of AP exam results between the years 2011 and 2017 reveals that on average 61% of students taking AP European History were graded between ‘qualified’ and ‘extremely well qualified’. Only 51% of students in AP World History and 52% of students taking AP US History accomplished that.

Even though in the ‘extremely well qualified’ segment AP US History and AP European History are mostly heads on, on average the chance of AP US History students to score ‘extremely well qualified’ - grade 5 - is only 1% higher than that of AP European History students, while the average of AP US History students end up 11% lower than AP European History in getting a ‘qualified’ grade.

(See: A comparison of the results of the AP exams from 2011 to 2017, Appendix A)

1. 統計數據顯示，相比較其他兩門AP歷史課程，AP歐洲歷史更容易幫助學生獲得3-5的分數。

AP考試的結果顯示，在2011到2017年，平均有61%的學生AP歐洲歷史獲得“合格”或“優秀”的成績，然而AP世界歷史只有51%，AP美國歷史只有52%。

盡管獲得“優秀”的AP美國歷史學生和AP歐洲歷史是差不多，但是AP美國歷史獲得“合格”的卻比AP歐洲歷史要少11%

2. AP European History is considered by many students to be easier to master.

AP US History deals with a quite limited time and space in history in which not too many major historical events occurred, thusly it is focusing extremely on a great number of minor details which may make studying them dull. Additionally those details may be difficult to remember. AP World History goes the opposite direction by essentially covering all times and spaces in history, which results in a huge amount of information. Due to that fact much more time is needed to learn all the relevant information.

AP European History goes a good middle way, it offers a lot of major topics and events of the history of the world, while being limited in scope to a certain time frame. It’s not covering too much information. It is thusly easier for a magnitude of students to learn the necessary material.

2. AP歐洲歷史對很多學生來說都更加簡單并容易掌握。

AP美國歷史所考察的是美國歷史上有限時間內發生的不太多的歷史事件，因此它聚焦了極大量的小細節，這可能使得學習變得枯燥, 而且這些細節很難記憶。

AP世界歷史則恰恰相反，它基本上涵蓋了歷史上發生的所有事件，導致了大量的信息。因此需要更多的時間來學習相關信息。

AP歐洲歷史則處于中間，它包括了世界歷史上主要的話題和事件，同時也受限于一定的時間范疇。它并沒有涵蓋太多的信息，因此學習起來相對比較簡單。

3. AP European History educates students more extensively about the development of history than AP US History does.

The rather narrow focus of AP US History is not as suitable as the more inclusive AP European History for students to get an overall understanding of the main topics of history.

3. AP歐洲歷史學習相比較AP美國歷史對歷史的整體認知要更加廣。

AP美國歷史的重點比較狹窄，不能像更具包含性的AP歐洲歷史一樣給學生提供一個全面了解歷史的機會。

How is the course structured?

The whole course consists of 30 units, each unit consisting of 2 lessons (2 x 45 min = 90 min). For a certain period of the AP European History course 2 units per day are taught consecutively. Of course a reasonably timed break is given between 2 consecutive units, in order for students minds to have sufficient time to regenerate.

課程是如何設置的？

這門課程總共有30個單元，每個單元包括2課時（45分／課時），其中有一段教學時間我們會連上2個單元，當然課間會有休息安排，讓學生們有時間去放松。

From the Late Middle-ages topics like the Renaissance, Reformation, Religious Wars, Exploration, Conquest, Absolutism, Revolutions, Ideologies, Nationalism up to the events surrounding the World Wars and the Cold War will be taught and discussed in class.

Besides the content itself the students receive an introduction into the AP exam, its structure, focus of grading and systematics.

Key elements of practice for the AP exam are the testing of factual knowledge, the skill of text and source analysis, the ability to identify the context of documents and to categorize them as well as the art of crafting good theses essays.

課程內容會涵蓋文藝復興，宗教改革，探索，征服，專制主義，革命，意識形態，民族主義等，圍繞世界大戰以及冷戰的各種活動也會在課堂上講授和討論。

除了內容之外，學生們會通過課程學習了解AP的考試，包括它的結構，評分重點以及它的體系。

AP考試的重點是對事實知識的測試，對文本以及來源的分析，識別文章的內容并且進行歸類，以及撰寫好論文。

How does the course benefit the student?

At the end of the course the student will have the ability to attend the AP European History exam with a good chance to receive the result ‘qualified’ or better. This will give the student a real advantage when applying for studying at US colleges, under the condition of course that the colleges in question accept AP credits. A few notable schools that accept AP credits are Vanderbilt University, the University of Virginia, UCLA, Northwestern University, Rice University, the University of Missouri, Boston University, Drexel University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

For a complete list of all universities accepting AP credits please visit:

https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement

An other benefit is that the student will also have vastly improved his knowledge of history which is helpful in school as well as in university, and the skills acquired regarding source analysis and essay drafting are useful in any academic subject and also for working life.

我們可以從AP歐洲歷史學習中收獲什么？

課程結束后，學生們將有能力去參加AP歐洲歷史的考試并且獲得一個“合格”甚至更好的分數，這對于學生申請美國大學（接受AP分數的學校）有很大的幫助。

接受AP學分的幾所著名學校有范德堡大學、弗吉尼亞大學、加州大學洛杉磯分校、西北大學、萊斯大學、密蘇里堪薩斯大學、波士頓大學、卓克索大學、北卡羅來納大學教堂山分校。

申請接受AP學分的所有大學的完整名單請訪問：

https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement

另一個好處是，學生們將大大提高他們的歷史知識，提升對信息的分析能力以及論文的起草和寫作，這對于他們不僅是學校或是工作生活都有極大的幫助。

What is the most important requirement for this course?

The basic requirement and an absolute condition sine qua non for positive results is the willingness and ability of the student to do an EXTENSIVE AMOUNT OF SELFSTUDY. The whole course depends on the student to do his homework assignments with utmost diligence. If the student does not also invest sufficient time outside the classroom into the study of European History, then he most likely will not succeed.

這門課的重點要求是什么?

如果想要獲得理想的成績，學生們在這門課程的學習上必須要做大量的自主學習。整個課程取決于學生們是否能夠盡自己最大的努力去完成作業。如果學生無法把足夠的時間投入課堂以外的歐洲歷史學習，那么他很有可能會不成功。

Which material is used in this course?

The main work used for this course is A History of Western Society Since 1300 - For AP (McKay et al.). Further more Barron’s AP European History can be used to supplement the course.

需要用到什么教材？

主要的授課教材是“A History of Western Society Since 1300 - For AP (McKay et al.)”，此外，Barron的AP歐洲歷史書也會作為輔助材料來補充。

Appendix A - A comparison of the results of the AP exams from 2011 to 2017 percentage of students with an AP result from ‘qualified’ to ‘extremely well qualified’

附錄：以下是2011-2017各門AP歷史考試的結果比較：

Percentage of students with an AP result ‘well and extremely well qualified’

獲得“合格以及優秀”的結果比較。

Percentage of students with an AP result ‘qualified’

獲得“合格”的結果比較。

Percentage of students without a qualified AP result, meaning for most purposes it is useless.

沒有獲得“合格”的結果比較。

Highest percentage of students scoring ‘qualified’ to‘extremely well qualified’ achieved in a year between 2011-2017

2011-2017年獲得“合格”或“優秀”的結果比較。