Research Briefs
Learning to Think Historically: A Classic Study
What does a curriculum designed to foster historical understanding and thinking look like? This research brief discusses a groundbreaking curricular innovation in the UK that left an indelible mark on history instruction in that country and throughout the English speaking world.
The curriculum favored depth over breadth, engaging students in research projects and thrusting them into focused inquiries. As a lasting contribution, the program modeled how adolescents "get better at history."
Learning to Think Historically: Columbus, Exploration, and the Idea of the Flat Earth
How do students learn to think historically? Robert Bain, a history teacher with 26 years experience, used a unit on Columbus, exploration, and the idea of the flat earth to show how principles of learning are put into practice.
First, Bain asked students what they knew about the voyages of Columbus. Then he asked them how they knew what they supposedly knew. What was the evidence for their Columbus stories? This question forced students to confront the uncertain status of historical accounts.
Special Topic Analysis
How can we assess our students' historical understanding? What do research, theory and practice tell us about effective professional development for history teachers? What do we know about the achievement gap in history and how can we close it? Each year, the Clearinghouse will prepare an in-depth study of one topic of special interest to history teachers. In 2008, we will focus on the assessment of student understanding. We will examine current models and practices for assessing students' historical understanding. Our partners in preparing this report will be scholars from the National History Center. Look for the coming report in Fall, 2008.
