The CaseThe CaseWhy do introductory level students struggle devising substantive answers to questions about the past? Furthermore, how do we teach students that history is interpretative?

Challenges:

•Introductory level students are often confused when told there is no one “truth” about the past—that multiple competing arguments addressing the same historical question may be valid

•Often students employ intuition or previous knowledge when addressing questions of historical significance versus viewing sources and content as the core of historical thinking

•The traditional design of college-level history surveys have prioritized the acquisition of content (“facts”) over thinking critically about questions of historical significance (Sipress & Voelker, 2011; Calder, 2006)

The VerdictThe VerdictWhile the data collected thus far has not been analyzed, preliminary observations suggest that:

•Students in section one will provide more detailed, sophisticated answers in their essays on the impact of industrialization

•At the same time, students in section one may have more difficulty divorcing their opinions about the inequities of wealth that exist in today’s world from their opinions about the impact of industrialization in the 19th century

What does this mean?

By teaching students that history is interpretative, they may wish to interpret it in a way that justifies their own personal values

Initial CluesInitial CluesWhile no data have been analyzed for this project, early observations include:

•Section one had increased student participation in class-wide discussions of major historical questions following in-depth team-based work

•The average score of the quantitative section of the second exam almost precisely the same

• Though this section of the exam does not form part of the overall study, these numbers suggest that the learning of content does not necessarily decrease when one focuses at length on one major historical problems

•Students in section one were able to draw connections from the debates over the effects of industrial capitalism to answer questions regarding their own society and its structures in discussions more easily than students in section two

Collecting EvidenceCollecting EvidenceTwo sections of “Foundations of Western Civilization II” (n=64, n=65) during Spring 2014 are participating in a comparative study of student learning.

•During the second of three units in the course, section one (n=64) centered learning on the problem of industrialization and its effects; section two (n=65) dealt with industrialization more briefly alongside other topics as is traditional in European survey courses (Allardyce, 1982).

•Two data sets have been collected thus far: two essay exams (March and April)

• The final data set will be collected in May

Measures of student learning

•Using a rubric influenced by previous studies (e.g. Sipress, 2007), this study will assess students abilities to:

• Construct a strong argument in an exam essay

• Support that argument with evidence from primary and secondary sources read for the course

Acknowledgements/SponsorshipAcknowledgements/Sponsorship

Special thanks to the Office of Professional and Instructional Development and to UWGB’s Provost’s Office Special thanks to the Office of Professional and Instructional Development and to UWGB’s Provost’s Office

Students as Detectives: Engaging Students in Historical ThinkingStudents as Detectives: Engaging Students in Historical Thinking

The Detective’s ToolsThe Detective’s ToolsDuring the experimental unit of this course:•Section two of my European survey course continued to read from their textbook and their problem-focused sourcebook (Hunt et al, 2010; Wiesner, Ruff, Wheeler, 2008)•Section one read additional sources, including:

• Secondary literature centered on the debate regarding whether or not industrialization improved the living conditions of the English working class (Ashton, 1954; Hobsbawm, 1979)

• A series of primary sources used by historians in these debates (Engels, Marx, Carnegie, Dickens)• Three days of structured, in-depth team-based work following the reading of these sources

• This work was enabled by the hiring of an advanced History major to assist with discussions In both sections, students were encouraged to use sources when answering the following question:

• Would you describe the overall experience of industrialization as a positive development for European peoples? Defend your argument with examples, and consider counter-arguments

Caroline Boswell, Assistant Professor of Humanistic Studies and History

This is an example of one of the in-class worksheets students would read and consider before coming to class to answer questions with their teams. When completing the worksheet, teams had to:•Rotate the responsibility of writing down answers•Include each student’s opinion for major interpretative questions