World History
Teaching Historical Thinking. Students don't come to class ready to think about history. This paper examines ways that a teacher can teach historical thinking.
From the site:
Over the past decade, cognitive studies researcher Samuel Wineburg has conducted empirical studies to compare the way historians think about primary and secondary sources with the thinking processes of high school students and teachers. Wineburg discusses his research in a recently published (2001) book about historical thinking, which is the main source for this Digest. Wineburg's research demonstrates the importance of domain-based or subject-specific thinking in the teaching and learning of history. This Digest addresses Wineburg's conception of historical thinking and its application to the teaching and learning of history in schools. The Digest discusses (1) Wineburg's "sourcing heuristic" and "corroboration heuristic" in historical thinking, (2) Wineburg's findings on historical thinking and domain-specific knowledge, (3) applications of historical thinking to reading and interpreting documents, and (4) Internet-resources for teachers of historical thinking.
THE "SOURCING HEURISTIC" AND "CORROBORATION HEURISTIC."
Wineburg uses two key concepts -- the "sourcing heuristic" and the "corroboration heuristic" -- to explain how historians think as they read documents. When historians examine primary sources, they engage in the sourcing heuristic by asking questions about an author's credentials, motivations, and participation in events at the time a document was written and the audience for whom the document was intended. Historians contextualize the content of a document, which enables them to appreciate ways of perceiving and thinking that are quite different from conventional ways of perceiving and thinking today. When teachers and students use the sourcing heuristic, they can create a distance between their own views and those of the people of earlier eras.
Historians also use the corroboration heuristic to compare information learned from several documents. Historians make inter-text links while reading documents, noting corroboration among primary sources as well as among historians' interpretations.
- Historical Thinking Matters
Historical Thinking Matters - This site focuses on key topics in U.S. history in order to teach students how to read primary sources critically. It also stresses to students how to critique and construct historical narratives. It is a project of the Center...
- Teaching Needham’s Puzzle - Fostering Historical Thinking
Teaching Needham?s Puzzle - Fostering Historical Thinking. In this article, the author shares his teaching experience with regard to Needham's Puzzle and introduces online resources and teaching materials. He points out two difficulties he encounters...
- Wikinfo - Primary Source
Primary source. This is an encyclopedia article from Wikinfo which explains what a primary source is. From the site: A primary historical source is any piece of information that was created by someone who witnessed first hand or was part of the...
- Using Primary Sources On The Internet To Teach And Learn History.
Using Primary Sources on the Internet To Teach and Learn History. Primary sources are a good way to teach history. This paper gives some ideas for how to use the Internet to do this. From the site: The Internet enables teachers to enhance the teaching...
- Reading Like A Historian: Stanford University
This Stanford University site has some great resources on teaching history with primary resources. Here is a description of a new part of the site that I coped directly: Reading Like a Historian, a project developed in tandem with the San Francisco Unified...
World History
Teaching Historical Thinking.
Teaching Historical Thinking. Students don't come to class ready to think about history. This paper examines ways that a teacher can teach historical thinking.
From the site:
Over the past decade, cognitive studies researcher Samuel Wineburg has conducted empirical studies to compare the way historians think about primary and secondary sources with the thinking processes of high school students and teachers. Wineburg discusses his research in a recently published (2001) book about historical thinking, which is the main source for this Digest. Wineburg's research demonstrates the importance of domain-based or subject-specific thinking in the teaching and learning of history. This Digest addresses Wineburg's conception of historical thinking and its application to the teaching and learning of history in schools. The Digest discusses (1) Wineburg's "sourcing heuristic" and "corroboration heuristic" in historical thinking, (2) Wineburg's findings on historical thinking and domain-specific knowledge, (3) applications of historical thinking to reading and interpreting documents, and (4) Internet-resources for teachers of historical thinking.
THE "SOURCING HEURISTIC" AND "CORROBORATION HEURISTIC."
Wineburg uses two key concepts -- the "sourcing heuristic" and the "corroboration heuristic" -- to explain how historians think as they read documents. When historians examine primary sources, they engage in the sourcing heuristic by asking questions about an author's credentials, motivations, and participation in events at the time a document was written and the audience for whom the document was intended. Historians contextualize the content of a document, which enables them to appreciate ways of perceiving and thinking that are quite different from conventional ways of perceiving and thinking today. When teachers and students use the sourcing heuristic, they can create a distance between their own views and those of the people of earlier eras.
Historians also use the corroboration heuristic to compare information learned from several documents. Historians make inter-text links while reading documents, noting corroboration among primary sources as well as among historians' interpretations.
- Historical Thinking Matters
Historical Thinking Matters - This site focuses on key topics in U.S. history in order to teach students how to read primary sources critically. It also stresses to students how to critique and construct historical narratives. It is a project of the Center...
- Teaching Needham’s Puzzle - Fostering Historical Thinking
Teaching Needham?s Puzzle - Fostering Historical Thinking. In this article, the author shares his teaching experience with regard to Needham's Puzzle and introduces online resources and teaching materials. He points out two difficulties he encounters...
- Wikinfo - Primary Source
Primary source. This is an encyclopedia article from Wikinfo which explains what a primary source is. From the site: A primary historical source is any piece of information that was created by someone who witnessed first hand or was part of the...
- Using Primary Sources On The Internet To Teach And Learn History.
Using Primary Sources on the Internet To Teach and Learn History. Primary sources are a good way to teach history. This paper gives some ideas for how to use the Internet to do this. From the site: The Internet enables teachers to enhance the teaching...
- Reading Like A Historian: Stanford University
This Stanford University site has some great resources on teaching history with primary resources. Here is a description of a new part of the site that I coped directly: Reading Like a Historian, a project developed in tandem with the San Francisco Unified...