AAE - Historical Thinking and Reasoning Skills (Lesson)

Historical Thinking and Reasoning Skills.

The AP exam will test your knowledge of European History, but it will also test your application of a variety of Historical Thinking Skills and Reasoning Processes. Learn about each below.

 

Historical Thinking Skills.

  • Development and Processes - Identify and explain historical developments and processes.
  • Sourcing and Situation - Analyze sourcing and situation of primary and secondary sources.
  • Claims and Evidence in Sources - Analyze arguments in primary and secondary sources.
  • Contextualization - Analyze the context of historical events, developments, or processes.
  • Making Connections - Using historical reasoning processes (comparison, causation, continuity and change), analyze patterns and connections between and among historical developments and processes.
  • Argumentation - Develop an argument.

 

Lets take a closer look at these skills...

Development and Processes Sourcing and Situation Claims and Evidence in Sources Contextualization Making Connections Argumentation

Identify a historical concept, development, or process.

Explain a historical concept, development, or process.

Identify a source’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience.

Explain the point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience of a source.

Explain the significance of a source’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience, including how these might limit the use(s) of a sources.

Identify and describe a claim and/or argument in a textbased or non-text-based source.

Identify the evidence used in a source to support an argument.

Compare the arguments or main ideas of two sources. 

Explain how claims or evidence support, modify, or refute a source’s argument.

Identify and describe
a historical context for a specific historical development
or process.

Explain how a specific
historical development or
process is situated within a broader historical context.

Identify patterns among or connections between historical
developments and processes.

Explain how a historical development or process relates to another historical
development or process.

Make a historically
defensible claim.

Support an argument using specific and relevant evidence.

  • Describe specific examples of
    historically relevant evidence.
  • Explain how specific examples of historically relevant evidence
    support an argument.

Use historical reasoning to explain relationships among
pieces of historical evidence.

Corroborate, qualify, or modify an argument using
diverse and alternative evidence
in order to develop a complex argument. This argument might:

  • Explain nuance of an issue by analyzing multiple variables.
  • Explain relevant and insightful connections within and across periods.
  • Explain the relative historical significance of a source’s credibility and limitations.
  • Explain how or why a
    historical claim or argument is or is not effective.

 

Reasoning Processes.

Reasoning Process 1 - Comparison

  • Describe similarities and/or differences between different historical developments or processes.
  • Explain relevant similarities and/or differences between specific historical developments and processes.
  • Explain the relative historical significance of similarities and/or differences between different historical developments or processes.

Reasoning Process 2 -  Causation

  • Describe causes and/or effects of a specific historical development or process.
  • Explain the relationship between causes and effects of a specific historical development or process.
  • Explain the difference between primary and secondary causes and between short- and long-term effects.
  • Explain how a relevant context influenced a specific historical development or process.
  • Explain the relative historical significance of different causes and/or effects.
  • Describe patterns of continuity and/or change over time.
  • Explain patterns of continuity and/or change over time.
  • Explain the relative historical significance of specific historical developments in relation to a larger pattern of continuity and/or change.

Reasoning Process 3 - Continuity and Change

  • Describe patterns of continuity and/or change over time.
  • Explain patterns of continuity and/or change over time.
  • Explain the relative historical significance of specific historical developments in relation to a larger pattern of continuity and/or change.

 

 

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.