Historical Thinking Skills

INTRODUCCIÓN. Este estudio analiza las narraciones resultantes de un ejercicio propuesto al alumnado de 5.o de educación primaria de cuatro centros escolares de la Región de Murcia con el objetivo de examinar sus habilidades de pensamiento en términos de perspectiva histórica. MÉTODO. Para ello, se les solicitó a las personas participantes que elaboraran una hoja de diario en la que describieran el momento del desembarco de Colón en San Salvador desde el punto de vista de la población nativa. Se le facilitó al alumnado un guion y algunas fuentes históricas que pudieran contextualizar el ejercicio. RESULTADOS. Las 98 narraciones resultantes no solo muestran el conocimiento que posee el alumnado participante en relación con el hecho en cuestión, escaso y muy asociado a un discurso narrativo de corte tradicional, sino que también nos permite analizar su capacidad de introducir cierta perspectiva histórica en sus escritos. DISCUSIÓN. Respecto a este punto, se observa cierto desarrollo de esta habilidad, aunque de forma incipiente, lo que lleva a pensar que la puesta en práctica de este tipo de destrezas en la enseñanza reglada puede consolidar esa importante habilidad asociada al pensamiento histórico contextualizado.

Historical strategy games ostensibly enable the player to reconstruct history within the context of the game. The scenarios of the games are based on actual historical events. Starting the game at a certain point in history, the player aims to gain victory by advancing the civilization or state following a chronological order. This allows the player to be exposed to a wide range of historical elements and have an idea about historical processes. Civilization VI emerges as one of those games which provide possibilities as such. This research is conducted utilizing action research, a qualitative research model. The study included twenty participants, ages ranging from fifteen to eighteen, observed at random times throughout August 2019. During the application process the participants' behaviours were observed and they were asked to complete study sheets to acquire data regarding their learning process. At the end of the application process, data regarding behaviours of the participants playing the game, their motivations, and historical information Civilization VI provided for the participants were acquired. Data acquisition processes were conducted pertaining to historical thinking skills. The data were analysed using descriptive and content analyses. It has been detected that Civilization VI provides learning tools that support historical thinking skills of chronological thinking, historical comprehension, and historical analysis-commentary. It has also been noted that Civilization VI supports the skill of historical analysis and commentary more than the other two in comparison.

It has been a matter of discussion whether history lessons can be held with young age groups. In general terms, although Piaget has alleged that this was not possible, names such as Vygotsky and Bruner have claimed otherwise. History education for young age groups is possible with the help of methods and approaches that are intently related to their pedagogical development. Thus, the Reggio Emilia approach, which is oriented toward young age groups, is utilised in history education for early childhood. The research was structured with respect to the action research model in qualitative research. The participants of the research were selected in accordance with purposive sampling, and the research took place in the 2019 Spring semester, throughout April and May. The study group involved 18 students enrolled in a private school that practices the Reggio Emilia education approach, ages ranging from 78 to 89 months. Through four activities done with the children, chronological thinking, historical comprehension, historical analysis and commentary, and the way children acquire historical thinking skills within a context of historical imagination were investigated. These events are built on a process that deals with the home and neighbourhood life of historical Istanbul. In the activities, first hand historical resources that were adapted to the age groups of the students were used extensively. Data was collected through unstructured interviews and observations throughout the research. Data obtained from activity results were also evaluated. The collection of data was analysed by means of descriptive and content analyses. The findings have been evaluated within the scope of chronological thinking, historical concept, historical analysis and interpretation, historical imagination and interpreted separately under each heading. As a result of the study, it is understood that history education can be provided with appropriate techniques and methods with the help of Reggio Emilia approach for children in young age groups.

This research aims at studying the understanding of trainee teachers enrolled in the History Education program at a local university in Malaysia. The Historical Thinking Skill studied involves five distinguished aspects including chronological, synthesis, imagination, interpretation, and rationalization skills. The study encompasses gender and year of study. This research utilizes a set of questionnaires in order to gain information regarding the the researched components from the trainee teachers. The sample for this research includes 200 second and third year undergraduate from the History Education program enrolment in 2014/2015. The questionnaires were developed around the Historical Thinking Skill, in addition to other related studies which were previously administered by other researchers.The findings from the pilot study validity test revealed that the overall construct –  measured using the Cronbach Alpha analysis – scored 0.912. The min descriptive analysis and MANOVA inference analysis were utilized using the SPSS 19 software. This research found that, overall, the Historical Thinking Skill related to the chronological, synthesis, interpretation and rationalization skills are at the middle level, while the imagination skill is at the high level.Therefore, the finding from this research showed that the trainee teachers have yet to fully grasp and understand the Historical Thinking Skill. Not only that, the MANOVA analysis showed a significant difference in the Historical Thinking Skills construct between gender and year of study. The impact of this research suggests that the History Thinking Skill elements are instrumental to further enhance the knowledge and experience among the History trainee teachers.

Esta investigación se centra en la presentación y análisis de diferentes propuestas educativas basadas en la introducción del objeto como recurso en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la historia y las habilidades a ella asociadas. Y es que, a pesar de la larga tradición pedagógica de la denominada Didáctica del Objeto, en nuestro país las experiencias son aún muy puntuales y limitadas, especialmente si hablamos de los niveles de Educación Infantil y Primaria. Los resultados arrojados por esta investigación confirman este punto, al mostrarnos cómo la presencia de fuentes objetuales en las aulas es prácticamente inexistente. Además, la literatura científica sobre el tema carece de propuestas de análisis empírico y/o investigaciones que evalúen experiencias concretas que nos permitan confirmar su validez como recurso de aprendizaje. Esto nos animó a desarrollar el proyecto que aquí presentamos. Se trata de una investigación de tipo descriptivo y cuasi experimental de corte cuantitativo y cualitativo, que procura subsanar este vacío en la investigación. A través de este proyecto, se analizan de manera global las ventajas concretas del uso de fuentes primarias, especialmente de objetos o réplicas, en las aulas de Educación Infantil y Primaria. Para ello, y tras realizar una evaluación diagnóstica a docentes de estos niveles en torno al uso de fuentes materiales en sus aulas, se diseñaron distintas estrategias educativas que tenían como hilo conductor el uso de réplicas arqueológicas. Tras su implementación, se han obtenido resultados muy satisfactorios que han posibilitado
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comprobar con datos los beneficios que el uso de estos recursos conlleva para el aprendizaje de la historia o para el desarrollo del pensamiento histórico y el aprendizaje cooperativo en Educación Infantil y Primaria. Se concluye valorando la necesidad de ampliar las evidencias empíricas que aboguen por la incorporación de este tipo de recursos en las primeras etapas educativas que permitan sobrepasar una Historia de tipo descriptivo, conceptual y cerrado, y aumentar el grado de comprensión y valoración del alumnado sobre la disciplina.//
This research focuses its attention on the presentation and analysis of different educational proposals based on the introduction of artefacts and objects as educational resource in the History teaching and learning process and in the development of the so called historical thinking skills. Despite the long pedagogical tradition that the introduction of artefacts and objects has in the teaching-learning process, the experiences in Spain are still very scarce, especially when we speak about Preschool and Elementary Education. The first results of this research show the virtual absence of those elements in the classroom practices. Also, there is a considerable scarcity of empirical proposals and/or evaluative research of specific experiences that allows us to confirm the effectiveness of such as resources in the teaching and learning process. This lack of information encouraged us to develop the project we present here, based on a descriptive and quasi experimental research design using a quantitative and qualitative methodology. This project aims to analyse the specific advantages and benefits that the introduction and use of primary sources (especially artefacts, objects or replicas) has in the educational process in Preschool and Elementary classrooms. To do that, it was firstly describe the place given to primary sources and artefacts by the teachers in the classroom practices. Thereafter, we designed various strategies based on the use of archaeological replicas as main resource. The evaluation and analysis of the mention educational proposals show us very positive results and allow us to confirm some of the benefits that this educational tools have for the learning of history and the development of the historical thinking skills or the cooperative learning. This paper concludes that it is necessary to follow with this line of research to be able to get more empiric evidences about the benefits of such strategy. Only that way, we will be able to surpass the idea that present us History like a fix, descriptive and conceptual discipline and to improve the appreciation and understanding of History among our students.

Esta comunicación analiza el estudio piloto y primeros resultados de una prueba de historia que ha sido concebida y diseñada como posible modelo para evaluar las competencias de pensamiento histórico del alumnado de secundaria obligatoria. El estudio piloto se ha realizado en dos fases en las que han participado en torno a 800 alumnos al acabar la ESO. Los resultados de la primera fase, con las respuestas de 316 estudiantes analizadas estadísticamente siguiendo la Teoría de Respuesta al Ítem (TRI), nos hacen confiar en que la prueba sea un instrumento adecuado para evaluar dicho pensamiento histórico y para distinguir escalas de niveles de logro en las distintas competencias históricas. //
This paper analyzes the pilot study and first results of a test of history that has been conceived and designed as a possible model to assess historical thinking skills of students in compulsory secondary education. The pilot study was conducted in two phases which have involved around 800 students in their last year of compulsory education. The results of the first phase, with 316 students’ answers that have been analyzed statistically according to the Item Response Theory (IRT), allow us to expect that the test can be an appropriate tool to assess students’ historical thinking and to distinguish scales of levels of achievement in the different historical competences.

La inclusión de la arqueología en las aulas es un proceso cuyas consecuencias positivas alcanzan tanto al plano conceptual como al procedimental y al actitudinal. Pero sus múltiples beneficios no van acompañados de una similar repercusión en la práctica educativa. Es por ello necesario realizar un diagnóstico sobre las posibilidades y limitaciones que presentan los diversos elementos que intervienen en la educación, y cuyo análisis nos permite explicar la escasa incidencia que poseen el patrimonio arqueológico -como recurso didáctico- y la arqueología -como metodología ligada al aprendizaje activo-. Por ello se realiza recorrido por los tres pilares que vertebran la práctica docente: el currículo educativo, que regula las enseñanzas a impartir, los libros de texto, que sirve como nexo entre la legislación educativa y la práctica docente, y el propio docente, cuya percepción marcará las metodologías de enseñanza a aplicar en el aula.

[EN] This study aims to analyze the historical relevance given by Basic Education students to historical events and in what ways they do it. For that, standards of historical thinking held by those future teachers are analyzed. Focus is on the so called historical significance. Through short account, we analyzed the abilities of the future teacher in relation to this basic concept of the historical thinking, which brings interesting signs about how students understand history and the underlying assumptions to narrate it. For that purpose, we processed 107 short narratives written by 520 individuals, all of them college students of Basic Education working in groups. The texts were collected during three academic courses and were analyzed with qualitative methodology based on the categorization of their contents. The results show that these future teachers have minimum historical knowledge, most of it limited to events that are the landmarks of changes in a historical period. These events of transition between historical periods are, for them, the most significant in the history of humankind to the detriment of others. Some of the implications for their future work as teachers include a great limitation of the contents to be taught or an excessive dependence on the textbook. This leads to the development of a teaching based on memorization and the lack of reflection of the historical narration itself to the detriment of the analysis of the importance of some historical events.

[ESP] El objetivo es conocer a qué acontecimientos históricos atribuyen relevancia los estudiantes del Grado de Educación Primaria y en qué términos lo hacen. Para ello se analizan los patrones de pensamiento histórico que poseen los futuros docentes. Se centra la atención en el estudio de la denominada relevancia histórica. A través de pequeñas narrativas se han analizado cuáles son las capacidades del futuro docente en relación a este concepto básico del pensamiento histórico, lo cual aporta interesantes indicios acerca de cómo el alumnado entiende la historia y bajo qué premisas la narra. Para ello se han procesado 107 pequeñas narrativas construidas grupalmente por 520 individuos, todos ellos estudiantes universitarios del grado de Educación Primaria. Los textos se recopilaron durante tres cursos académicos y se analizaron siguiendo una metodología cualitativa a partir de la categorización de sus contenidos. Los resultados demuestran que los futuros docentes cuentan con unos conocimientos históricos mínimos, la mayoría de ellos limitados a los episodios que marcan los cambios de etapa histórica. Estos acontecimientos de transición entre etapas son para ellos los más relevantes de la historia de la humanidad obviando otros. Algunas de las implicaciones para su futura labor como docentes son una gran
limitación de los contenidos a enseñar o una excesiva dependencia del libro de texto,
entre otras. Esto lleva al desarrollo de enseñanzas basadas en la memorización y en la
ausencia de reflexión sobre la propia narración histórica obviando por tanto el análisis de la relevancia de algunos eventos históricos.

When teachers align their curriculum goals with authentic teaching of history, their instruction moves beyond the use of textbooks. In this chapter, the authors lay out how historical thinking constitutes an authentic social studies curriculum. Historical thinking requires the use of critical analysis skills while constructing a deep understanding of the past. The authors present the findings from a mixed methods action research study they conducted in which seventh grade students in self-contained special education classes were taught to "think like historians." Like historians, students interrogate primary and secondary sources's believability and look for corroboration of evidence before making a narrative interpretation of the past. The authors embedded formative assessment as an instructional approach to the teaching of historical thinking. Furthermore, the authors measured the master of skills using on-demand writing task that saved as an authentic assessment.

Objetivos de la comunicación:
1. Analizar la contribución de las fuentes materiales, la cultura material, para el conocimiento histórico del pasado
2. Valorar el uso de las fuentes primarias como recurso para el desarrollo del pensamiento histórico.

Resumen:
Con la presente contribución queremos presentar el inicio de una línea de investigación que tiene por objeto analizar la presencia de las fuentes primarias en el ámbito educativo formal y no formal y valorar su contribución a la hora de abordar el conocimiento histórico y arqueológico del pasado así como el uso de éstas como recurso para el desarrollo del pensamiento histórico. Para ello, se rastrean en la historiografía las diferentes aportaciones que sobre este campo encontramos, se revisan las propuestas más significativas y se plantean finalmente nuestras propias propuestas adaptadas a los diferentes niveles educativos.

This research is based on a qualitative descriptive study of students’ responses to an educational and archaeological project developed in a secondary school in Cartagena, Spain, from 2012 to the present. It aims to analyse instructional experiences that include secondary school students as active agents in the history teaching and learning process. To achieve that aim, an archaeological site was recreated in the schoolyard and a series of activities were designed to introduce teenagers to the interdisciplinary processes of archaeological methodology. The analysis of this experience showed that working with archaeological evidence promotes the construction of historical thinking and reasoning through the analysis of artefacts. Similarly, the development of an archaeological methodology leads students to launch inquiries and construct hypotheses based on them. This lets students gain knowledge about history and historical processes, as well as take part in its construction in an active and reflective way. Students also learn the importance of preserving archaeological heritage as they assess its value as a source of knowledge. The outcomes of the project are presented here, and compared with results from similar initiatives at different educational levels and contexts. It is argued that the introduction of archaeological methodology in educational settings proves to be a valuable and effective resource.

Researchers of teaching of history have long assumed the need to conjugate substantive contents with conceptual ones, for both are necessary for developing the thinking skills of the students and to gain a more complete knowledge of the past. Knowing history (names, dates, places, processes...) is no guarantee for fostering historical thinking, which supposes, among other things, strengthening the idea of causality (the explanatory complexity of a fact), which is, perforce,
linked to the idea of historical relevance, i.e. who and what deserves to be studied and what implications they have had for events. This paper aims to look more deeply at the historical knowledge of students (specifically, here, their knowledge of the Middle Ages) and the level of their thinking skills by analyzing historical explanations. It therefore focuses on the causes and consequences that the student develops for a supposed and fictitious given by analyzing the students’
own narratives.
We carried out a qualitative study of a phenomenological design. The participants were 66 primary school children from 5 and 6 at two state schools in Murcia (SE Spain). The data collection protocol was evaluated by peer experts. These narratives were analyzed following an deductive-inductive procedure backed up with the software ATLAS.ti (version 6.2.28). While the research is subject to important limitations, such as the small sample size, the lack of sincerity or the risks inherent to qualitative methodologies, we do believe that the findings reveal a simple identification of the causeconsequence relationship regardless of the historical context as an explanatory element of the actions. Fostering the learning of history through narratives may help to offset these deficiencies.