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Authentic Learning in History & Social Sciences: Enhancing the Classroom Experience

Discover how to incorporate real-world experiences into history and social science education. Explore partnerships with cultural institutions, use new digital tools for visualization, and engage students in peer-reviewed scholarship.

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Authentic Learning in History & Social Sciences: Enhancing the Classroom Experience

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  1. Authentic Learning in History & Social Sciences: How ‘Real’ Can We Make the Classroom Experience? Scot A. French, Ph.D.Associate Professor / DirectorVirginia Center for Digital History University of Virginia EDUCAUSE 2008 Learning Initiative Spring Focus Session Wednesday, March 19, 2008

  2. Virginia Center for Digital Historywww.vcdh.virginia.edu

  3. Our Mission An academic unit of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia, housed in Alderman Library (right), VCDH is committed to: • advancing knowledge through the application of digital technologies to history and related fields of scholarly inquiry • designing and developing innovative applications of technology in consultation with historians and other project partners, and • facilitating exchanges among educators with a shared commitment to transforming how history is taught, learned and accessed in the Digital Age.

  4. Bill Ferster, Ph.D.Senior Scientist, Virginia Center for Digital History /Curry School of Education’s Center for Technology & Teacher Education

  5. The Old Digital History Seminar • Students research subject, with guidance from instructor, and build a project website

  6. Example: Race & Place: An African American Community in the Jim Crow South

  7. AAS 405(ca. 1998)Follow link to Student Projects

  8. AAS 405 ClassProjects

  9. Assessment of “First Generation” Digital History Seminars Upside • Introduction to rich archival holdings and reference tools of University • Collaboration and peer review • Basic training in HTML, scanning • Results of research “published” on web • Knowledge of subject is advanced Downside • Access & Preservation: Student websites often “lost in space.” If class projects, they may remain on university servers, but these websites are rarely upgraded after class is completed; bad links, etc. • Pedagogy: Little, if any, student interaction with “real world” practitioners beyond the University library and archives.

  10. The New Digital History Seminar • Partner with non-profit cultural institutions outside the University who value students’ training in history and digital technologies and welcome their contributions • Train students to think like real world partners “doing history” (K-12 teachers, museum curators, editors of scholarly papers, archivists, etc.) • Encourage students to use new tools for historical visualization (PrimaryAccess, VCDH’s HistoryBrowser) in producing scholarship for peer review and, ultimately, “publication” on the web.

  11. School-University Collaboration Through Shared Social Media G. Bull, B. Ferster, S. French, Spring 2007

  12. Spring 2007 “Real World” Partner ISmithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

  13. Spring 2007 “Real World” Partner IIPrimary Source Learning, Arlington, Va.

  14. The Spring 2007Seminar

  15. Class Visit: Rhonda Clevenson, Director of Primary Source Learning in Arlington, Va., introduced the students to some of the exercises she uses with classroom teachers to get students “thinking like teachers.”

  16. Class Visit: Patrick Martin, an Education Specialist, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., introduced students to SAAM's digital collection and presented a tutorial on searching the website. Alexandre Hogue, Dust Bowl (1933)

  17. Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (mural study, U.S. Capitol) 1861
 Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze Class Visit: Elizabeth K. Eder, Ph.D., Historian and National Education Program Manager for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, offered students a tutorial on how to “read” a work of art, using the example above from the collection.

  18. HIUS 401-E Class Product: PrimaryAccess Documentaries

  19. Sample Student Videos TJ Ensele - Immigration and The Dust Bowl Missy Jenkins - Great Migration: Writing America in Black and White Ashley Mosier - America in Motion Kathleen Kiernan - O'Keeffe's Declaration of Independence

  20. Dust Bowl Video • Addressed two cross-cutting historical themes Dust Bowl & European Immigration (Volga Germans living in affected region)

  21. The Fall 2007 Digital History Seminar: Jefferson’s Travels

  22. Fall 2007 “Real World” PartnerMonticello’s International Center for Jefferson Studies

  23. Students, like the general public, could look up info on the Th. Jefferson Wiki * *Trustworthy information on Thomas Jefferson and his world by Monticello researchers and respected Jefferson scholars. Only Jefferson Wiki community scholars can write and edit articles; however, public users are encouraged to submit comments on the discussion pages.

  24. They were given special access to images on the Monticello Helios Digital Archive

  25. Helios Digital Archive Search Screenshot

  26. Class Visits: Monticello webmaster Chad Wollerton give students a tour of Monticello Helios Digital Archive and the Jefferson Travels database that he designed and students would be helping to build.

  27. Class Visits: Lucia "Cinder" Stanton, Shannon Senior Research Historian at Monticello, discussed her role in co-editing Jefferson's Memorandum Books, a critical source of detailed information on Jefferson's travels in Europe.

  28. Students also made a field trip to the Jefferson Library at Monticello's International Center for Jefferson Studies, where Librarian Jack Robertson gave them a select bibliography of scholarly resources.

  29. Class Assignments For the seminar, each student was asked to produce: • A traditional 10-page research paper, based on archival research and relevant secondary sources • A 2 1/2 to 3-minute PrimaryAccess video, summarizing key points of their research • An historical visualization, to be carried out in consultation with Bill Ferster.

  30. Example of Student Project: Jefferson’s Mail http://primaryaccess.org/hub/browser.php?base=jt

  31. Informal Assessment Upside • More sustained engagement between students and real-world partners • Higher expectations of students in terms of what they could produce for the class • Demos made big impact on all who saw them; generated interest in further development, expanded partnerships Downside • Mixed results from students • Partners still reluctant to use student-generated materials on their “official” sites • No formal mechanism for partner participation in student evaluations

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