Skill Acquisition

World historians are often less shy than other historians about trumpeting the skills that students can develop in their courses. Such ‘skills’ are often, though, re-phrasings of the information content of courses: students will learn how to place historical decisions in context. We will outline in chapter 1 some key skills that our particular approach to world history fosters:

• • · How to organize a mass of information for purposes of retrieval and analysis. This skill is of immense importance in an age of “information overload.”

  • · How to transcend differences of opinion. Integrative skills are much valued by potential employers.

  • · How to make comparisons across cases. It is common to bemoan the fact that students will describe different elements of the cases they are supposedly comparing. A text that is explicit in its own comparisons regarding the themes or interactions or evolutionary processes being compared thus models good comparative practice for the students. Questions at the end of chapters can then develop this skill.

  • · How to place oneself in another’s position. The reader will often be invited to place themselves within the historical narrative. This should, in particular, enhance the skills associated with cultural sensitivity.

• More specifically, the use of flowchart diagrams throughout will enhance what is often termed visual literacy.

  • More generally, critical thinking skills are enhanced because the organizing devices each encourage a set of questions: What themes are interacting?; What challenges are being addressed and how?; and What are the mutations, selection environment, and transmission mechanisms?