To Think on Paper: Using Writing Assignments in the World History Survey

In this article, the author relates her experiences teaching a history course titled "Introduction to the Modern World." She relates how some of her colleagues immediately began providing her with unsolicited warnings regarding the difficulty of engaging students in world history and the impossibility of covering "500 years of the whole world" in sixteen weeks. However, she mustered up her courage and took on the task. One challenge that particularly concerned her the most was that of "connecting" her students to the world. She later found that practice results in substantial improvement in students' writing, and that requiring students to think on paper through a variety of assignments kept them engaged in the class and connected to the world. The four major assignments that she has found most valuable in helping them become connected to the world are: (1) A Primary Source Essay and Presentation; (2) A Book Review; (3) A Website Review; and (4) A Periodical Articles Essay.