Armstrong Atlantic State University, Department of History. History Standards September 2001. A Quality in Undergraduate Education (QUE) project.

CORE CURRICULUM STANDARDS

UPPER DIVISION STANDARDS
Standards for Foundations of Historical Studies (HIST 3500)
General Standards for Intermediate Courses
Standards for Research Seminar in Historical Methods
Standards for American or European Historiography
Standards for Seminar in History
Standards for Secondary Social Science Curriculum and Methods

The undergraduate program in History at Armstrong Atlantic State University is designed to achieve a number of learning outcomes. Upon graduation, the successful degree candidate will have demonstrated mastery of the learning outcomes outlined below.

CORE CURRICULUM STANDARDS

All undergraduate students at AASU take introductory history courses as part of the core curriculum ... These are the only courses that most students will take and serve to introduce majors to the discipline. ... Instructors introduce students to primary and secondary sources and a variety of media including texts and audio/visual materials. The courses present vocabulary and arguments that introduce students to the interconnections between culture, society, economics, and politics.

Standard One: Command of Historical Content

Standard Two: Historical Analysis

Students will demonstrate historical mindedness through appreciation of the political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of human experience, comprehension of causal relationships and patterns of change and continuity over time, and awareness of the social significance of ethnicity, gender, race, and class in historical events and study.

Standard Three: Critical Reading, Thinking, and Writing

Students will demonstrate familiarity with the uses and problems of interpretation associated with primary and secondary sources by writing essays and engaging in group discussions of issues pertaining to historical narratives and sources.

UPPER DIVISION STANDARDS

Standards for Foundations of Historical Studies (HIST 3500)

The Foundations course is a prerequisite or corequisite for upper division history courses required of the major. Instructors select topics, themes, or historical eras within their own expertise and introduce students to the knowledge and skills appropriate to the professional study of history, including research techniques through the use of libraries, the internet, and archives, the use of primary and secondary materials relevant to historical analysis and knowledge, and the application of historical theory. Students are evaluated on the quality of their research, validity of their arguments, and persuasiveness of their written and oral presentations.

Standard One: Demonstrate ability to access historical data and information through libraries, archives, the internet, or oral interviews.
Standard Two: Demonstrate computer and technology skills appropriate to the discipline.
Standard Three: Demonstrate ability to evaluate textual, oral, quantitative, and multimedia evidence.
Standard Four: Demonstrate ability to exchange information and ideas and deliver arguments persuasively through oral and written presentations.
Standard Five: Demonstrate ability to construct historical narratives based on primary and secondary sources.
Standard Six: Adhere strictly to high ethical standards while creating oral and written presentations, including full citation of sources.

General Standards for Intermediate Courses

A substantial part of the program for history majors consists of intermediate-level courses. These courses combine lecture and discussion in presenting in-depth analysis of specific topics and historical themes. Because the nature of research material and intellectual approaches to these courses will vary, instructors are allowed wide latitude regarding their pedagogical approaches and selection of source materials.

Standard One: Demonstrate mastery of subject matter in each course, including specified topics, themes, and other historical data.
Standard Two: Demonstrate familiarity with the problems of interpretation associated with the use of primary and secondary sources.
Standard Three: Participate actively in group discussions dealing with topics and issues in specified historical fields.
Standard Four: Create, organize, and support in written form historical theses or arguments as relevant to the subject matter specified in each course.
Standard Five: Identify and document all evidence used in the construction of written narratives and oral presentations.
Standard Six: Use effectively resources such as the library, the internet, archives, and oral interviews, and demonstrate computer skills appropriate to the discipline.
Standard Seven: Demonstrate interdisciplinary awareness by critiquing and using material from other fields such as geography, economics, political science, art history, literature, psychology, and anthropology, as appropriate to area of specialization.
Standard Eight: Demonstrate commitment to the professional values of the discipline by free and open inquiry into ethics and values in all fields of historical study, strict adherence to high standards of fidelity to evidence, and tolerance for alternative points of view and approaches to historical knowledge.

Standards for Research Seminar in Historical Methods

Research Seminar in Historical Methods is a capstone course required of the major that builds upon the skills and knowledge that students acquire in the Foundations course and at the intermediate level. Instructors or students select topics, themes, or historical eras within their own expertise. Students write a major research paper in which they demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills appropriate to the professional study of history, including research techniques through the use of libraries, the internet, and archives, analysis of primary and secondary materials in support of a well-developed thesis, and application of relevant historical theory. Students are evaluated on the quality of their research, validity of their arguments, and persuasiveness of their written and oral presentations.

Standard One: Develop an original project with a clear thesis.
Standard Two: Access data and information in libraries, archives, oral interviews, or other repositories of primary and secondary sources including the internet.
Standard Three: Write and professionally document an extended historical narrative that combines data, information, previous narrative, and theoretical constructions.
Standard Four: Deliver an oral presentation that summarizes the results of the research project.

Standards for American or European Historiography

Standard One: Demonstrate familiarity with the ways that individual historians and schools of historians during different periods of history have viewed the writing of history.
Standard Two: Write historical narratives that explicate select historiographical themes and issues.
Standard Three: Deliver an oral presentation related to a select historiographical theme, school of history, or major historian.

Standards for Seminar in History

Standard One: Conduct a detailed analysis of a specific problem, theme, or topic in history.
Standard Two:

Standards for Secondary Social Science Curriculum and Methods

Standard One: Identify current issues in Secondary Social Science education and American public education.
Standard Two: Demonstrate teaching methods, strategies, and techniques suitable for Social Studies instruction.
Standard Three: Evidence command of mandated standards of knowledge and performance by successful completion of the Praxis II Test in Social Studies prior to Student Teaching internship. Standard Four: Display appropriate professional demeanor toward students and subject matter.
Standard Five: Achieve familiarity with routines and practices of the Secondary Social Studies classroom through field visitations.

Last modified March 9, 2007
by Boris Teske, Prescott Memorial Library,
Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272