1. Where can I get "start up" materials for APWH?

You can download a free copy at:   AP Central . 

First: Do not panic.  The APWH course is going to be tweaked in a few years, just as it has been continually since 2002. 

Here's an example:  Instead of asking a multiple choice question like, "Which Chinese dynasty traded with the Roman Empire?", there will be more synthesis/analysis questions and questions based on reading selections. 
The idea behind redesign is to incorporate more materials that get students analyze and link important themes in World History.
I could write several more pages, but that's for the future, and for College Board training sessions.  AP Central and the APWH listserv will keep you up to date.

5. What years does the APWH course cover?

The APWH Course Description Guide  (the "Acorn Book") spells out the years of the APWH exam:

6. Where can I get help from real APWH teachers?  

Join the College Board-sponsored APWH Electronic Discussion Group.  
Remember when you send a message to the group: be cordial--and brief.    E-mail the host, Monty Armstrong, to join.

7. What text books do APWH teachers recommend?

The three most popular texts cited by APWH teachers are:  Bentley and Ziegler's Traditions and Encounters;
Stearns, et al,  World Civilizations:The Global Experience (the AP edition); and Bulliet, et al, The Earth and Its Peoples (the AP edition).
There are several other excellent choices, including the new Voyages in World History and Ways of the World.  To order sample copies, see the link to these and other texts at my APWH site.  

I use Stearns, 4th AP ed.  I think it is well written and organized and it has excellent sections that tie together key themes in APWH. 

Some teachers have praise for texts other than the above.  For example, one teacher likes World History, by Upshur, for several reasons:
"It's shorter than most texts...it reads like a story...good materials...truly global coverage...." There's the similarly titled The World's History, by Spodek,
that gets high marks for having a narrative that comes from one voice, unlike many of the other texts written by several people. 

Regardless, as you know, it's the teacher who makes the course what it is, not the textbook. 

8. What about supplemental readers?

See the links at my site for sample copies of these, too.  Andrea and Overfield's The Human Record and
Wiesner-Hank's Discovering the Global Past are two of the most popular.  Merry Wiesner-Hanks is currently the Chief Reader at the annual APWH essay grading.
There are other excellent choices.  I use Andrea and Overfield.  It comes in two volumes. Each set of documents come with excellent questions for the student to consider.

9. What are some popular APWH reading assignments?

The Big Daddy of "New World History" books is the classic The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492
by Dr. Alfred Crosby.

Other popular titles include:
Guns, Germs and Steel 
King Leopold's Ghost 
Nectar in a Sieve
Salt
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World 
A History of the World in Six Glasses
Tastes of Paradise
Things Fall Apart and
The World That Trade Created
You can look these up at Amazon.com & BN.com. 

PS: If you look up The Columbian Exchange at Amazon.com, you'll see a sidebar with a helpful list put together by Tom Martin.

10. How many students took the APWH exam in 2010?

168,000.  In 2002, the first year of the exam, the number was 22,000.  In 2009, the number was 145,000. 
World History is the fastest-growing AP exam in the College Board's history. 

11. Should I become an APWH essay reader?
YES.

12. Why? 

You will have the greatest experience of your professional career.  (That's not just me talking; former Chief Reader Ken Curtis of the University of California, Long Beach, agrees.) 
You will spend a week learning from and hanging out with some of the best world history teachers and professors on the planet. 
Currently, he reading is at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.   You will learn more about teaching APWH in that week than you would on your own in years. 
We have a blast!  You get paid for reading and your travel, room and food is paid for by the CB.
They're looking for readers, so why not fill out an application?  You need experience teaching APWH or its college equivalent to apply.
 Info Here

13. Is the APWH exam different from APEH or APUS?

15. Is APWH "anti-Western Civ"?

All of the APWH people I've run into are "pro-global" rather than "anti" anything.  It was explained to me this way: 
Look at history as if you were viewing the world from space.  What common themes run through all humanity over time? 

Another way of looking at it is: When you studied US History, did you study the history of the 50 individual states?
No, you studied American history.  Same with this "new" World History.  Although educated primarily in Western Civ, I am intrigued by this approach.
I will confess that I first taught APWH in my 20th year of teaching, after many years' experience with APUS and APEH, and that first year was very, very challenging.
Wrapping your mind around global, not national, themes can take some time if you're not used to it.

16. What about popular APWH movies to show in class?

 No way!  The number of APEH exams continues to grow at a healthy pace.

19. How do I incorporate block scheduling into APWH?

One idea that has benefitted many 4x4 Block APWH teachers is to cooperate with the AP English Lit teacher to form an  "AP Humanities" class. 
That way, students have the great advantage of taking both AP courses through the entire year.  College Board studies show that students who take an
AP course for only one semester earn significantly lower scores. 
Many of the teachers on the APWH listserv teach The Block, so sign up and ask.

Many more questions can be answered by linking to the College Board's APWH web site at AP Central.  
Go back to my web page for these links. Return to Jay's APWH Page