The term hypothesis is not one that you typically think of when you are teaching a History class. It reminds me of an old Science lab classroom filled with test tubes, beakers, and an old, sleepy teacher wearing a pocket protector. Despite this being the memory that I associate with the term, I actually enjoyed Science classes and learned a great deal in them. One of the reasons for this is because of the hands-on activities, and the projects. Constructionism, according to Dr. Michael Orey, is the idea that "people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others” (Laureate Education Inc., 2010). The Science Fair is a perfect example of this. Students create an artifact (their display, demonstration, data, etc...) and share it with others. Applying this idea to other subjects only makes sense. Not only will it allow students to make a connection to the content and keep them engaged, but it forces them to think critically about the subject matter.
Historical investigation, as mentioned in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenowski, is one of the six tasks teachers can use to help students generate and test hypothesis (2007). History teachers, and others, may not use the term hypothesis in their classes, but generating and testing their ideas are something that History students have been doing for some time now. In fact, there is even a National History Day competition which is similar to a Science Fair. Students are required to come up with a topic that fits the theme for the year and then research primary and secondary sources to support their thesis. Students in our district participate in the contest at the 8th grade level. I am a high school teacher, so I have not had students participate in the contest, but have been a judge for the middle schools. I’ve always been impressed with the students and can tell that they clearly learn a great deal from this project.
I found a few examples of student projects on YouTube. Take a look. There is also a link for the National History Day website.
http://www.nationalhistoryday.org/
Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Program Number 7: Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories [Webcast]. Baltimore: Author
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E.R., Kuhn, M., & Malenowski, K. . (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kawCcWyNv6o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRo-lz53_w8
Impressive videos! I know that if I had been using these tools to learn history, I might have been more vested in the learning! I never liked history, since we were always "talked at" and did not have any interaction - until my senior year, in which we were grouped and assigned a decade to research and create a "summary skit" outlining the highlights of the decade. We were assigned the 1960s and created a video including scenes from "Vietnam" the peace protests, and an evening news broadcast.
ReplyDeleteHaving to learn and present all of the information we learned made us focus and really put everything we had into creating our presentation. We learned so much and enjoyed doing so! We need to remember what we loved doing as students and think about how to bring that to our own classrooms - and how to use the technologies available!
I love the idea of having a History Day contest to engage students in learning about the past.
Great post!
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteYour example of National History Day definitely ties in with the constructionist learning theory. The task is certainly student driven where the student has to take responsibility for his or her own learning to present the final artifact for the fair. I am always amazed at what students can create when they are given basic guidelines and have to go off on their own to finish something. I agree with you that students will gain more knowledge if they are engaged in some way while learning content material.
Donna Fortunato