As a professor at Pennsylvania State University, Spielvogel has been of a great influence to the study of World History. Many of Spielvogel's contributions include the development of the Western civilization courses and a very popular course on Nazi Germany, at Penn State. Articles and reviews written by Spielvogel have appeared in journals such as the, Morena, Journal of General Education, Catholic Historical Review, Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, and the American Historical Review. He has also been the contributor of various chapters or articles to The Social History of the Reformation, A Dictionary Handbook, the Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual of Holocaust Studies, and Utopian Studies. Much of his work has been the result of funding and fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation and the Foundation for Reformation Research.

Throughout his career as a professor, Spielvogel has been the recipient of many honors, including five major university-wide awards in teaching. Most notably in 1988-89, Spielvogel held the Penn State Teaching Fellowship, the most prestigious teaching award given by the university. Also, Spielvogel received the Dean Arthur Ray Warnock Award for Outstanding Faculty Member in 1996, and the Schreyer Honors College Excellence in Teaching Award, in 2000.

• Schreyer Honors College Excellence in Teaching Award (2000)
• Dean Arthur Ray Warnock Award (1996)
• Penn State Teaching Fellowship (1988-89)

Including a career in teaching, Spielvogel is also the author of many textbooks that most commonly appear in high schools for instruction in the AP European History course, the equivalent of the Freshmen year of college, Western Civilization course. His book Hitler and Nazi Germany was first published in 1987, with the fourth edition published in 2001. Spielvogel is also the coauthor of World History, first published in 1998 with the third edition in 2001, and the The Essential World History, first edition in 2002, with William Duiker.

• The Essential World History (2nd Edition...2001) ISBN 0-534-62712-9
• Hitler and Nazi Germany (4th Edition...2001) ISBN 0-13-975996-4
• Since 1300 (5th Edition...2003) ISBN 0-534-60008-5