Digital History Projects in the AP U.S. History Classroom

Digital APUSH is the product of Advanced Placement United States History students at Sunapee High School in Sunapee, New Hampshire. Completed each May following the AP Exam, these digital history projects introduce students to alternative methods of historical research, concentrating on text analysis, data collection, and the creation of data visualizations.

With each annual project it is hoped that students make a small but original contribution to historical scholarship. However, the projects are primarily about getting students to "do history" in a modern way. Instead of requiring simple reading and writing about the past, students are asked to work with large amounts of data, find meaning in the data, use digital tools to display insights visually, and then share everything online. In short, Digital APUSH students are asked to act like 21st-century apprentice historians, examining the past quantitatively and taking research beyond textbooks, library books, periodicals, and traditional primary sources.

For each of these projects, all students participated in data analysis, writing, and the creation of other content such as data visualizations. Through a collaborative decision-making process, students also helped shape the direction and development of each year's study. In addition to these shared responsibilities, some students served as project managers or took on roles as content and copy editors. Final editing of each project’s language was completed by the teacher to ensure clarity, consistency of voice, and uniformity across all studies.