Historical simulations are often criticized for being superficial, reinforcing negative stereotypes, and skewing students' view of history. Simulation critics argue if inexperienced teachers implement simulations, they may adversely influence students' psychological development, especially if students take roles as perpetrators or victims.…

Understanding how to engage history teachers in effective professional development, rooted in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), is critical with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. In this study, we utilized Grant and Gradwell's (2010) notion of ambitious teachers, which built upon Shulman's (1986) concept of PCK, to…

Helen Murray, Rachel Burney and Andrew Stacey-Chapman show how they strengthened three goals of their practice--secure knowledge, narrative shapes and conceptual analysis--by securing strong connection between them. The curricular focus that drew all this together was "historical continuity", a property crucial to narrative, but often…

Most history teachers will, at some point, recognise the tension between teaching an engaging history course while at the same time meeting the requirements of an exam specification. Mark Fowle and Ben Egelnick reflect here on how they approached teaching a formal requirement of an exam specification. Rather than see "controlled…

In this paper we explore the value of theoretical triangulation as a methodological approach for the analysis of classroom interaction. We analyze an excerpt of a whole-class discussion in history from three theoretical perspectives: interactivity of the discourse, conceptual level raising and historical reasoning. We conclude that using…

Purpose: Black history as represented in social studies textbooks often lacks depth demanded by historians and authenticity required for cultural relevance to African American students. However, important Black historical narratives sometimes contain difficult prose and refer to times or circumstances that are far removed from students' life…

Howard Gardner, a Harvard professor of education who is best known for his multiple intelligences theory, published his "Unschooled Mind" in 1991. In his chapter dealing with the social sciences and humanities, he paraphrases the work of Gaea Leinhardt, who described the complex "moves" that good history teachers typically make. Her depiction of…

Reaching beyond textbooks, this is a guide to teaching "historical reading" with middle and high school students. This practical resource shows you how to apply Sam Wineburg's highly acclaimed approach to teaching, "Reading Like a Historian", in your classroom to increase academic literacy and spark students' curiosity. Each chapter begins with an…

Every major measure of students' historical understanding since 1917 has demonstrated that students do not retain, understand, or enjoy their school experiences with history. Bruce Lesh believes that this is due to the way we teach history--lecture and memorization. Over the last fifteen years, Bruce has refined a method of teaching history that…

The main objectives of teaching history and government are: First, to demonstrate an understanding of how people and events of the past has influenced the ways in which people live and behave; Second, to appreciate the need for an importance of mutual responsibility; and Third, to develop a sense of patriotism and national pride. The paper seeks…

The aim of this study is to ascertain the problems social studies teachers face in the teaching of topics covered in 8th grade TRHRK Course. The study was conducted in line with explanatory sequential mixed method design, which is one of the mixed research method, was used. The study involves three phases. In the first step, exploratory process…

The aim of this study is to assess the use of MinecraftEdu in classroom practice analyzing the outcomes and attitudes of all members of the educational community through a quasi-experimental approach. The research presents three dimensions oriented to assessing the use of this application in a didactic unit "History and Architecture"…

Recent studies of graphic novels (book-length fiction or non-fiction narratives that employ the conventions of comic books to convey meaning) and multimodality have hinted that graphic novels (GNs) might offer a great deal of meaning-making potential to readers. Some studies have argued that graphic novels could be useful for English Language…

Museums have great potential to help secondary students develop a deep understanding of the past; however, we know little about what history teachers actually do or want to accomplish when they utilize museums. In this study, the authors draw on questionnaire and interview data from 94 secondary history teachers in Connecticut in an effort to…

This research investigates the use of Weblog in Cooperative Learning to enhance students' learning of History. The main issues of this study were the lack of interest and low achievement scores in History learning. The objectives of this study are to explore the incorporation of Weblog in Cooperative Learning within the teaching and learning…