The tests definitely involve knowing big ideas more than knowing specific details. You won't need to know specific dates but you should know generally when things happen and their order.

Study around a week in advance for his tests. He gives his students extensive study guides with anywhere from 75 to 100 questions that cover what was learned in the unit. I recommend using these study guides and answering all the questions on the study guides in detail. It's also good to go back and reread all documents and remember who's who because he sometimes quotes primary sources and asks you to identify the person who said it or the document it came from. When you pick a topic for your term paper, make sure your topic has at least 6-8 secondary sources and at least 1-2 primary sources. Do your research before making your topic official so that you're not stuck without any sources.