abstract: ABSTRACT Learning world history has the potential to develop adolescents into thoughtful, active citizens. This is especially true when students are taught in ways that engage them with complex issues and help them make connections between what they learn and their personal goals and experiences. However, instructional time in social studies is limited because of the current emphasis on standardized achievement testing in other content areas. Furthermore, in the specific field of world history, the scope of material covered, coupled with debate over what should be taught, has made it difficult to present a curriculum that is meaningful and relevant to students. As a result, the study of world history may be seen as tangential or incoherent. The purpose of this action research study was to introduce an innovation aimed at helping students think deeply and find personal relevance in the study of world history. Specifically, visual imagery and reflective journaling were used to help students to become proficient in historical thinking and to fully engage in the study of world history. The study was developed according to a mixed-methods design: the quantitative data collection tools were pre- and posttests and a student survey, and the qualitative data collection tools included discussion transcripts, reflective journals, student-created presentations, and observations. Results showed that the use of images and reflective journaling enabled students to develop some critical thinking skills, such as making claims, supporting claims with evidence, and considering divergent perspectives. Furthermore, students' awareness of their connections to the world around them increased, as did student performance on tests about historical events and concepts. Unfortunately, students did not reach proficiency in factual knowledge on post-tests in the class, despite these increases. However, this study highlights the benefits of explicitly connecting students to historical thinking through the use of images and journaling that allow students to explore their own thoughts and deductions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2015

Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka hur elevernas progression ser ut gällande begreppskunskap i historieundervisningen, samt ifall deras tolkningar skiljer sig åt av begreppen mellan olika årskurser. För att genomföra denna undersökning har jag använt mig av kvalitativ metod, då med hjälp av en enkätundersökning. Enkäten genomfördes med hjälp av elever i årskurs 7 och årskurs 9. Elevernas tolkningar av begrepp i ämnet historia skiljer sig åt mellan årskurserna 7 och 9, framförallt gällande förstahandsbegrepp. Eleverna i årskurs 9 har en genomgående bredare begreppsförståelse och kan använda sin historiska referensram på ett mer allomfattande sätt än eleverna i årskurs 7 för att tolka begrepp i historieundervisningen. Det är viktigt att läraren arbetar aktivt med begrepp i sin undervisning för att elevernas kunskapsinhämtning ska bli så stor som möjligt och för att de ska kunna tänka historiskt ur ett mer vetenskapligt perspektiv. / The purpose of this study was to examine how student’s progression about conceptual knowledge is in history teaching, and if their interpretation differs about concepts between the grade 7 to 9. To carry out this study I used qualitative method, using a survey. The poll was made by students in the seventh grade and the ninth grade. The student’s interpretations of the concepts in history teaching differ between the grades, especially first order concepts. The students in the ninth grade have a wider conceptual knowledge and can use their historical frame of reference in a more inclusive way than the students in the seventh grade to interpret concepts in history teaching. It is important that the teacher works actively with concept in teaching in order to the student’s knowledge acquisition should be as wide as possible and for them to think historic from one more scientifically perspective.

In this episode, we take a deeper look at the definitions and five standards for historical thinking in the elementary social studies classroom. What does it mean for young learners and teachers to think like a historian? / https://dc.etsu.edu/social-studies-education-oer/1004/thumbnail.jpg

Creative thinking is a popular and ambiguous ability but so far we have limited knowledge about how creativity work within history education. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate how individual creativity and a historical thinking with a focus on continuity and change relate to each other within history education. Data was collected with the help of an authentic history assignment and analyzed with qualitative content analysis and statistical correlations. A constructivist framework with a specific focus on the The Geneplore Model of Creativity and Historical thinking was chosen to guide the analysis. Results point to several similarities between creativity and historical thinking on continuity and change, with both concepts focusing on constructing new and meaningful knowledge. Here, the strongest correlation was found between creative thinking and reflections about change through history. The analysis also pointed to cognitive processes with a particularly promising potential to develop both creative and historical thinking, namely divergent thinking with the purpose to generate several alternative answers, and janusian thinking with the purpose to generate contradictory perspectives. Further, the analysis also revealed some differences between creativity and historical thinking on continuity and change. Here, thinking creatively with help of distant analogical thinking was particularly difficult since those conclusions seldom were rooted in historical facts. In fact, many of the creative conclusion identified in this study showed a potential to develop students understanding of the past, but were still in an undeveloped stage. These results indicate a need for a continued critical exploration of creative answers after initially being generated. In sum, the identified similarities and differences between creative and historical thinking on continuity and change demonstrate that creativity could play a role in the development of students historical understanding and points to a promising direction for future research interested in creative comparisons over time.

The primary purpose of this research overview is to look into previous research on how teachers use physical or virtual visits to museums in order to stimulate learners’ historical thinking skills. In this paper we use Peter Seixas and Tom Morton’s (2013) definition of the framework historical thinking. The paper is based on the research question: What does previous research say about how history teachers can stimulate learners in historical thinking in a physical or virtual museum environment? In order to find the research for this overview several databases were used, such as ERC, ERIC, Swepub and the search engine Libsearch. To meet the requirements there were several inclusion and exclusion criteria applied in the search for relevant articles. The researchers agree that there is potential to stimulate learner’s historical thinking skills during physical or virtual museum visits, and they also call for the need of preparation and cooperation between schools and museums. The results of this paper may be used by teachers to assess whether a trip to a museum or exploring a virtual reality museum is worth all the relevant preparations.

This study aims to investigate how history teachers talk about the historical thinking concepts change and continuity. In this study, four teachers from three different secondary schools in Sweden were interviewed. The theoretical perspectives are Seixas and Morton’s guidelines for teaching change and continuity, and these have been used as a tool to categorize and analyze the teachers’ responses and reflections. From this, five categories or topics that the teachers’ discussions covered were formulated. The most common method that the teachers talked about was to use a timeline or some other form of chronological illustration to provide a solid foundation for the students. The teachers could then use this to consolidate higher levels of understanding of the concepts. The chronological understanding enabled the teachers to address the process of change in terms of variation in paces, patterns and turning points, which the teachers emphasized had a relation to where we look and who it affects. Concerning the discussion of how teachers instruct students about historical progress and decline, it became clear that this is strongly related to language comprehension. It was also evident that students view history as a constant process of improvement. When it comes to historical periodization, all teachers agreed that critical reflection on why and on what premises these divisions has been made is important to consider. However, this was primarily applied to the concept of change, and continuity was most commonly referred to when the historical content was discussed in relation to the history of attitudes or mentalities. The teachers explained different didactical methods while discussing these topics, and they also used different ways to exemplify these with historical content and metaphors. What also became clear was the relationship between the teachers’ educational background and their variation of teaching.

Zu bewundern ist an diesem Buch der detailreiche Überblick, die synthetische Kraft der Nacherzählung einer wichtigen Episode deutscher Geistesgeschichte. Die Aufbruchstimmung während und nach der Napoleonischen Besatzung wird plastisch an einigen Protagonisten verdeutlicht, die in Philosophie, Theologie und Historie wirkmächtig gelehrt und geschrieben haben. Wer für Hegel, Schleiermacher und Niebuhr einen gemeinsamen zeitgenössischen Kontext sucht, kann keine bessere Auskunft erhalten als in dieser spannend erzählten Studie über das romantische Denken in Deutschland.

Disciplinary literacy is an approach to literacy in the content areas that helps students develop thinking and literacy skills that mimic experts in the field. The goal of this study was to explore the instructional practices of history teachers who have been nominated as exemplary and the role of disciplinary literacy in their instructional practices. Exemplary teachers were defined as those with strong content knowledge, experience teaching, and recognition for their teaching. This study used a qualitative multiple-case study research design. Data collection included interviews and classroom observations with nine participants across four school districts. Thematic data analysis was used as the method of analyzing data. In the cross-case synthesis portion of analysis, one of the strongest beliefs expressed by the participants was that teachers need to work to make history relevant for students. The observed teaching practices of exemplary teachers showed that exemplary teachers create strong classroom communities that focus on inquiry, discussion, and student-led learning opportunities. The findings from this study suggest that teachers need to have strong content knowledge (an in-depth knowledge of historical events) and discipline knowledge (understanding of how historians read, write, think, and discuss in their field) in order to build the pedagogical content knowledge (understanding of how to facilitate student growth in both content knowledge and discipline knowledge) needed to be able to facilitate a student-led classroom that engages in inquiry and disciplinary literacy skills.

The demographic imperative drives a fundamental tenet of multicultural education: We must more thoroughly acknowledge US diversity by incorporating authentic ethnic heritage in social studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate recommendations, from three levels of educators, on content form and medium for preservice social studies teachers in using resources for an ethnic minority relevant to the state of Illinois and US history, the Illinois Indians. I also explored how varied participant perspectives informed those recommendations and gave meaning to multicultural education via such content. Research questions involved perceptions, attributes, and needs of preservice social studies teachers. Data sources encompassed: (1) interviews and focus groups from curriculum specialists, experienced teachers, and preservice teachers; (2) demographic data and critiques of eight mediums, to position participants relative to multicultural concepts and medium usage in social studies. The mediums were: professors, textbooks, children’s literature, news outlets, museums, popular and documentary film, and digital resources. Findings included participant recommendations for: pedagogical content knowledge form; (mediums) digital resources and museum discovery kits, children’s literature (elementary grades). Constant comparison analysis yielded educational perspectives reflecting multicultural education challenges as addressed by emergent participant themes and identified educator dispositions. These findings have implications for: (1) utilizing authentic ethnic minority content in social studies methods classes; (2) designing prepackaged pedagogical content knowledge; (3) examining multicultural education approach vs. historical thinking approach; (4) informing the rift between academic historians and social studies adherents. (5) Findings also led to development of the Tree of Growth Model reflecting educator dispositions.

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