Okra Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 DD is interested in self-studying for the AP art history test. Does anyone know what kind of text book to buy for this? Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in SA Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Collegeboard lists a few on their web site (https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-art-history/course?course=ap-art-history). You can also look for 2-semester sequence college texts. I'd suggest getting some AP study guides if self-study is planned. Any AP can be self-studied for, but being ready requires a little insight into what is likely to appear on the test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I think Khan Academy has the images that are required to be known for the test in their AP Art History section. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 The AP History exam has been revised very recently so make sure she uses current review books etc. It now requires 250 images which are available through links via College Board and places like quizlet for review. Make sure you take a look at the sample syllabus (3) that are on CB for this one too. They looked really useful when I planned this one.....dd didn't do it because of a time issue. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathrynlyn Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Following... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann.without.an.e Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 We used one from a sample syllabus. This way we could submit a sample rather than making one from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 I wrote our syllabus just before the revised guidelines, however much remains the same. We used Gardner's Art Through the Ages, lectures from the Great Courses, and SmArt History (Khan Academy) as primary materials. Be sure to check out these two sites, one is a list of text books that are commonly approved and the other is the Course and Exam Description. I believe the description includes an image of all 250 required works. http://www.collegeboard.com/html/apcourseaudit/courses/art_history_textbook_list.html https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-art-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf?course=ap-art-history As a side note-writing about art is a bit different than writing for other subjects so your student will want to review some samples or practice before the exam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann.without.an.e Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 I wrote our syllabus just before the revised guidelines, however much remains the same. We used Gardner's Art Through the Ages, lectures from the Great Courses, and SmArt History (Khan Academy) as primary materials. Be sure to check out these two sites, one is a list of text books that are commonly approved and the other is the Course and Exam Description. I believe the description includes an image of all 250 required works. http://www.collegeboard.com/html/apcourseaudit/courses/art_history_textbook_list.html https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-art-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf?course=ap-art-history As a side note-writing about art is a bit different than writing for other subjects so your student will want to review some samples or practice before the exam. DD did it just before the change too and we were so jealous that the new description narrows it all down to 250 images. What dd wouldn't have given to have been able to narrow the images down to 250! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Is this a hard AP? I ask because for us it's not worth taking an AP test unless he scores a 5 (because we have decent DE options) but we have some major long term travel coming and it might be fun to see how many of those works we can visit in person... hmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Is this a hard AP? I ask because for us it's not worth taking an AP test unless he scores a 5 (because we have decent DE options) but we have some major long term travel coming and it might be fun to see how many of those works we can visit in person... hmm. According to the AP coordinator when my daughter took the exam, yes. In reality if the subject clicks with you then I don't think so, especially now that they have narrowed the list to 250 works. Are you trying to use AP solely to gain college credit? If not, I think art history is a wonderful topic to study both as an academic discipline and as a course that gives you a life long appreciation of art and architecture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 According to the AP coordinator when my daughter took the exam, yes. In reality if the subject clicks with you then I don't think so, especially now that they have narrowed the list to 250 works. Are you trying to use AP solely to gain college credit? If not, I think art history is a wonderful topic to study both as an academic discipline and as a course that gives you a life long appreciation of art and architecture. Nope, no credit. We would study art history anyway. We would take the AP *test* only if he's reasonably sure he can get a 5 on it. We already do much "art appreciation" stuff as just part of life and have since he was tiny. He took the subway to the Met with just a friend the other day "just because"🙄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamato4 Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 DD used Art Through the Ages, 13th edition. We also supplemented with "How to Look and Understand Great Art" by Prof Sharon Hirsch. DD decided not to take the test as the college that accepted her would not have given her credit for it. We're done using the book so if you're interested in a cheap used art textbook that weighs a ton, pm me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 Is this a hard AP? I ask because for us it's not worth taking an AP test unless he scores a 5 (because we have decent DE options) but we have some major long term travel coming and it might be fun to see how many of those works we can visit in person... hmm. Take a look at the distribution and comments https://www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/2017-AP-Exam-Score-Distributions.php. With 11% receiving a 5 I would be tempted because the preparation might even add to your adventures. You can't guarantee a 5 but he certainly will have some great study opportunities! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 Take a look at the distribution and comments https://www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/2017-AP-Exam-Score-Distributions.php. With 11% receiving a 5 I would be tempted because the preparation might even add to your adventures. You can't guarantee a 5 but he certainly will have some great study opportunities! :)Exactly my thinking. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiaTia Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 DD used Art Through the Ages, 13th edition. We also supplemented with "How to Look and Understand Great Art" by Prof Sharon Hirsch. DD decided not to take the test as the college that accepted her would not have given her credit for it. We're done using the book so if you're interested in a cheap used art textbook that weighs a ton, pm me. We used both of those, too! Along with Susan Benford's Masterpiece Cards and museum visits. Good stuff. I'd love to visit a museum with Sharon Latchaw Hirsh someday. To OP, ditto on other comments. For your self-study student, even if you don't work up your own syllabus, be sure to read the newest College Board course description seriously, focus on the 250 works, and figure out the essays well ahead of time. See especially the bit starting at p. 192. Third-party prep books are not always well-synched with the actual exam, so believe CB when in doubt. This exam isn't so much about knowing a lot of art history and being able to analyze and write about it, as knowing what to expect on the exam and being ready to ace that. Along the way, you'll get plenty of great art, of course. My view is that if you love art anyway, live an an art-rich environment and this isn't your only trip to the rodeo, you might as well "teach to the test" in this case. Here's my advice on the long and short essays, called "free-response questions." They take 2 of the 3 hours and are worth 50% of the exam. Be sure to read the CB's released free-response prompts, the scoring guidelines for them, the sample student responses, and how they were scored. Also read the comments about how the overall population of students did on each question. (You will soon notice some VERY similar points. For example, answering the question actually asked eludes many!) If your student can read an APAH prompt, read one of those posted student samples, and then assign it a score very close to what the readers did, with a logical explanation of how the points were earned, then he probably "gets" exactly what they want. Kudos. Next step: practice answering prompts in the long and short formats. It's not heavy-duty writing, but the responses are scored in very particular ways. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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