Explores how social-studies student teachers think about and write about history through an examination of their historical thinking, use of sources, and writing. Focuses on constructing historical accounts from multiple sources. Discusses common patterns in thinking and writing. Suggests way to improve student teachers' engagement with historical…

Presents an exercise in which three accounts of an episode that supposedly occurred between John Muir and Gifford Pinchot in the lobby of Seattle's Rainier Grand Hotel are read aloud during class. Provides the three accounts, excerpts from primary documentation including diary entries and newspaper articles, and discussion questions. (CMK)

Clarifies the problem of perception in history. Offers an invented conversation based on personal experience and other sources as a means to presenting an interpretation of modern war and demonstrating how different generations interpret events. Considers the "war" between empiricists and postmodernists and its effect on history teachers. (CMK)

Explores the comparative 'history of history teaching' in England and Wales in the twentieth century, focusing on the final reports of the National Curriculum History Working Group in England and the National Curriculum History Committee for Wales. Provides a historical explanation of how the Wales history curriculum emerged. (CMK)

Every year, historians in the United States attend the American Historical Association (AHA), a conference that has met annually since 1884. The AHA draws scholars from all specializations, and it is the primary organization through which the profession is represented. In 1969, the conference met at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. At…

This occasional paper discusses and advances the teaching of history in U.S. schools by noted historians. James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, explains the resources available through the Library of Congress' National Digital Library Program designed to bring five million items into digitized format and make them available throughout the…

This occasional paper discusses and examines how well or how poorly history is faring in U.S. schools by noted historians. D. Stephen Elliott of Colonial Williamsburg, describes how focus group discussions improved the delivery of history at Williamsburg. Claudia Hoone, fourth-grade teacher at Public School 58 in Indianapolis, advocates using…

This occasional paper discusses and examines the teaching of history in U.S. schools by noted historians. Byron Hollinshead, vice chair of the National Center for History Education, was moderator for the panel. William H. McNeill, University of Chicago, discussed the problem of pigeonholing or simplifying history into simple equations and how…

Prior to their first curriculum unit (on history and the work of historians) in an American history course, three classes of fifth graders stated what they knew (or thought was true) about history and what they wanted to learn about it. After the unit, they reported what they had learned. In addition, a stratified sample of 10 students was…

The author examines how historical research among junior college teachers will have definite, identifiable, salutary effects upon improving teaching quality in the junior college. Local history is suggested as an appropriate research field for junior college teachers. (DE)

African history is a relatively new discipline and its sources, methodology, and content may be unfamiliar to those trained in European or U.S. history. Through presentations by African scholars, this document offers new strategies for integrating Africa into world history courses. Each presentation is followed by commentaries from experienced…

This paper examines the historian's method of handling evidence and explores some approaches to the improvement of college students' reasoning skills through the analysis of historical documents. The starting point in the development of the reasoning skills should be an exploration of the historian's task and the nature of the evidence, preferably…

The research director of the University of Iowa's Bicentennial "Old Capitol" restoration project discusses restoration rationale and employment possibilities for home economists, stressing that the most important training for students is in aesthetic responsibility and historical accuracy. She reviews step-by-step the restoration work…

Community college history instructors can overcome their reliance upon secondary sources as instructional materials and can provide students with an introducation to historical method and primary research by adding a course in local history to the curriculum. Such a course would enhance the regional focus of the college and provide a context for…

This syllabus describes a course in the philosophy and methodology of history, focusing students' work on creating strategies for data handling rather than on data collection, storage, or manipulation. The first section of the syllabus is divided into eleven parts related to the methods and purposes of historical inquiry: general orientation to…