J. van Drie

Teaching towards historical expertise. Developing a pedagogy for fostering causal reasoning in history

The present study seeks to develop a pedagogy aimed at fostering a student’s ability to reason causally about history. The Model of Domain Learning was used as a framework to align domain-specific content with pedagogical principles. Developing causal historical reasoning was conceptualized as a multidimensional process, in which knowledge of first- and second-order concepts, strategies, epistemological beliefs and interest play a role. Five pedagogical principles (inquiry tasks, social interaction, situational interest, explicit teaching of domain-specific strategies and concepts, and epistemological reflection) were established and operationalized for causal historical reasoning. The effectiveness of the principles was explored in a lesson-unit concerning the outbreak of the First World War. A quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test study was conducted with two conditions in three 11th grade pre-university classrooms. Students in the implicit condition worked in triads on the inquiry task. Students in the explicit condition worked on the same task, but with explicit attention given to strategies, concepts and epistemological underpinnings. The results showed that first-order knowledge increased in both conditions, but students in the explicit condition acquired significantly more knowledge of second-order concepts and causal strategies. However, no differences were found in students’ written explanations. Several possible reasons for this are discussed.

Supporting Historical Reasoning in CSCL

In this paper we focus on how features of a CSCL environment can elicit and support domain-specific reasoning and more specifically historical reasoning. The CSCL environment we use, enables students to collaborate on a historical inquiry task and in writing an argumentative text. In order to support historical reasoning we compared two representational tools: a graphical representation (argumentative diagram) and a linear representation (argument list). As it is assumed that an argumentative diagram can support both cognitive and interaction processes, we expected that using this tool would result in more qualitative historical reasoning, in the chat as well as in the text. However, the results of this study did not show a significant difference in the amount and type of historical reasoning between the two conditions. A possible explanation can be found in the way the students make use of the tool while executing the task.

Improving writing in social studies through professional development : Effects on teachers’ beliefs, classroom practice and students’ writing

Abstract Although academic literacy is an important goal in secondary education, many students struggle with it, particularly with disciplinary writing. There is a need for a closer integration of writing with instruction in subject areas. We designed and implemented a practice-based professional development program aimed at improving teachers’ ability to teach writing within social studies. We distilled five design principles from meta-analyses of effective writing instruction, which teachers (twelve subject- and Dutch Language teachers) used to design lessons in their own classes. Effects of the program on teachers’ beliefs about writing instruction were measured with a questionnaire. Although no changes in beliefs were found, teachers indicated in a learner report that they had learned a lot about integrating writing in their lessons. After six months teachers reported that they felt more able to use the design principles and still used them in their lessons. Three interventions are described in more detail in this paper. Effects on students’ writing and knowledge of writing were measured using pre- and post-writing-tasks. Results showed a significant positive effect for the writing-instruction groups. We conclude that the professional development program enabled teachers to teach disciplinary writing within social studies and to improve students’ writing as well.