A professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who sat on the commission that revised the controversial Advanced Placement U.S. History (APUSH) course, says the goal was to make it more like a college course.

Professor Fred Anderson said he had no idea the changes would spark such a controversy and outcry from conservatives. 

"We were really just trying to do a simple thing, and the vehemence and the anger of the critics did, in fact, take me by surprise," said Anderson, about the new framework introduced this year. "You see, AP is supposed to be the equivalent of a college course."

Anderson said the goal of the revisions was to encourage contextualizing and analytical thinking over memorizing facts and dates -- more like a college class.

The new framework hones in on a half-dozen themes, rather than a dozen, including power and politics and ideas, beliefs and cultures...