Pre-course Survey

WHAT IS HISTORY?

Please answer the following questions by circling the number that best indicates your response.

1. History is a record of facts from the past: dates, places, events, persons, and so on.

1	2	3	4	5
strongly disagree	disagree	unsure	agree	strongly agree

2. History isn’t like math or chemistry because exact and certain historical “facts” are hard to come by. History is whatever one wants to say about the past.

1	2	3	4	5
strongly disagree	disagree	unsure	agree	strongly agree

3. It bothers me when historians disagree. I see little point in studying something that even the experts can’t agree on.

1	2	3	4	5
strongly disagree	disagree	unsure	agree	strongly agree

4. History is the arguments historians make and the process of making those arguments.

1	2	3	4	5
strongly disagree	disagree	unsure	agree	strongly agree

5. Which of the above statements—#1, #3, or #5—comes the closest to defining what you think history is?

6. In my experience, history is a very interesting subject.

1	2	3	4	5
strongly disagree	disagree	unsure	agree	strongly agree

In the space below, write a brief paragraph explaining in your own words what history means to you. If it helps, start your paragraph this way: “To me, history is . . . “

 

 

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Name:

Campus phone:

Classification:

Current GPA:

Are you a history major? Yes No

Please list other college-level history courses you’ve taken:

In terms of U.S. History since 1945, I feel I know (check one)

___ Next to nothing (It’s all Greek to me!)

___ A little (I can name the presidents, maybe; and the wars, etc.)

___ Some things pretty well (I know a fair amount about some topics, like the women’s movement, for example)

___ A lot (I have studied this period before, on my own or in another class)