[iamzack]

Nnnngghh, DBQ assigned in APUSH today. My last one was 11 pages long and took approximately 48 hours to write. I hate DBQs. I hate DBQs. I hate DBQs.

[Bob-san]

Nnnngghh, DBQ assigned in APUSH today. My last one was 11 pages long and took approximately 48 hours to write. I hate DBQs. I hate DBQs. I hate DBQs.

48 hours.... ??? Do you not know how to do a DBQ? Part 1 is always answer a question about the text, and part 2 is usually an essay using the texts as sources. And the best thing is that colleges never use DBQs!

[iamzack]

Uhm. No. It's an essay question which you answer at least in part by using your analysis of the 10 documents. And that question was on the war of 1812 and the development of the US market economy. I included research time.

I'm eating popcorn. For dinner. :3

[Bob-san]

Uhm. No. It's an essay question which you answer at least in part by using your analysis of the 10 documents. And that question was on the war of 1812 and the development of the US market economy. I included research time.

I'm eating popcorn. For dinner. :3

Research, at least in NYS, is supposed to be just the documents and any off-hand outside information.

[iamzack]

If it's on the AP exam or an in-class DBQ, it is.

My teacher uses DBQs as a way of us learning some of the material outside of class.

[Bob-san]

Well that's BS. You're supposed to learn from a textbook and discussion, not researching **** on Wikipedia.

[GTSVA]

I'm in AP World at high school.  I love DBQ's.

Oh..and I was on Facebook. I was goin through that group (Hardy Light boys) and I saw Turambar, Aardwolf, Kalfireth, thesizzler and Turey on Facebook too! :3 XDDDDD

[Rian]

Well that's BS. You're supposed to learn from a textbook and discussion, not researching **** on Wikipedia.

Er, how do you think actual historians study history? They don’t just read a textbook or Wikipedia, they look at actual documents and primary sources. The point of the document based questions is to demonstrate how to work with real sources, which is a useful skill for all kinds of contexts. It sounds like this teacher is just asking for an expanded version of the standard DBQ, which seems like it could be a much more meaningful experience than just regurgitating reprocessed narratives from the textbook.

It is perhaps a bit demanding to ask this much effort of a high school class, and I can certainly sympathize with the amount of work it puts on the students, but it's also a pretty good approximation of what college history classes might be like.

[General Battuta]

Well that's BS. You're supposed to learn from a textbook and discussion, not researching **** on Wikipedia.

Er, how do you think actual historians study history? They don’t just read a textbook or Wikipedia, they look at actual documents and primary sources. The point of the document based questions is to demonstrate how to work with real sources, which is a useful skill for all kinds of contexts. It sounds like this teacher is just asking for an expanded version of the standard DBQ, which seems like it could be a much more meaningful experience than just regurgitating reprocessed narratives from the textbook.

It is perhaps a bit demanding to ask this much effort of a high school class, and I can certainly sympathize with the amount of work it puts on the students, but it's also a pretty good approximation of what college history classes might be like.

Yeah, it is -- most of the more rigorous history classes I've taken have involved really deep analysis of documents.

[iamzack]

It's supposed to be more difficult than a high school class; that's what we signed up for.

The problem is that we're trying to take the equivalent of a college history class in 45 minutes a day. So, yeah, outside research is necessary.

And don't knock wikipedia.

Dinnertime.

[Retsof]

Drinking a Pepsi.  Killing time.  Waiting for 6:45 to come around when I'll go to town to watch a movie.

[Bob-san]

Going to get something to eat shortly. Then I have to work on an economics thing and then a powerpoint.

[iamzack]

A dude on the internets is asking me to brutalize him. >:3

[GTSVA]

It's supposed to be more difficult than a high school class; that's what we signed up for.

The problem is that we're trying to take the equivalent of a college history class in 45 minutes a day. So, yeah, outside research is necessary.

And don't knock wikipedia.

Dinnertime.

Agreed,

[iamzack]

I'm watching a WifeSwap marathon. It's great. I love stupid reality tv shows.

[IceFire]

I think I need a vacation.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I didn't come online yesterday because I was busy making some videos.

[Nuke]

i just got up and now im trying to decide how to screw up for the evening

[Bob-san]

I procrastinated a lot. I played Left 4 Dead instead of doing my marketing presentation. I got until 4:00PM tomorrow or so to do my economics as well.

[Ace]

It's supposed to be more difficult than a high school class; that's what we signed up for.

The problem is that we're trying to take the equivalent of a college history class in 45 minutes a day. So, yeah, outside research is necessary.

And don't knock wikipedia.

Dinnertime.

Considering that a college history class is going to be 50 minutes for five days a week (assuming 5 credits and a quarter system) it's a case where let's face it high school academics are... well a joke.

Sure, outside research is necessary in college but you also don't have the load of busy work that High School (even Honors or AP classes) have.

Of course part of the issue is the whole parents being convinced "are our childrens learning" doesn't happen unless they're constantly busy. Half of the time even the low-work load of some lower division college courses could be cut down. (an actual research paper or two per quarter or a research project instead of drowning in smaller assignments)

In the end, most education needs a leaner 'smarter, not harder' approach. Instead of long assignment regurgitating the text, giving people actual skills to look up original sources and know how to use them is more valuable for college prep. (instead of having to teach it to every single intro course over and over again when they're already supposed to know this...)