Beyond Sorting Teaching Cognitive Skills in the History Survey

7/30/2019 Beyond Sorting Teaching Cognitive Skills in the History Survey

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/beyond-sorting-teaching-cognitive-skills-in-the-history-survey 1/11

Society for History Education

Beyond "Sorting": Teaching Cognitive Skills in the History SurveyAuthor(s): David PaceReviewed work(s):Source: The History Teacher, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Feb., 1993), pp. 211-220Published by: Society for History Education

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/494817 .

Accessed: 12/02/2013 23:03

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Society for History Education is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The

History Teacher.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:03:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=history

http://www.jstor.org/stable/494817?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp





http://www.jstor.org/stable/494817?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=history



Beyond "Sorting":TeachingCognitiveSkills in the

History Survey

DavidPaceIndianaUniversity

FACULTYMEMBERSaneasilyfindthemselvesn thepositionofMarkTwain's amousAmericanourists,whowereconvinced hat heycouldmake hemselves nderstoodnGerman,f they ust spoke ouder.Wetell ourstudentso"analyze,"o"comparendcontrast,"o"defend"theirargumentswithouteverrealizinghatthese "obvious"ermsmayhave no operationalmeaning or them. When hey don'trespond,we

repeathe samesetof instructions,nd,whenonceagainwegetthe same

uncomprehendingtares,we areapt o dismiss he students sunworthy

of our time. At this pointteachingcan be replacedby a processof"sorting,"o use the terminology f my colleagueandmentorCraigNelson.A seriesof ordealss administeredcross he courseof a semes-terwhichseparateshosestudentswhoalready nderstand hatwe wantthem odo from hosewhodo not.Ifanyonenthe atter roupearns he

"language" ehavebeenspeaking tthem, t is largelyaccidental,incethe coursework has consistentlyassumed,rather hantaught,such

knowledge.Thesubstitutionf "sorting"orteachingends o ratifyanddeepen

racialstereotypes,conomic nequality, egativegender dentities,anddifferencesnself-esteem,whichalreadyxistinthe student opulation,and whichhave a devastatingffect,notonlyuponour students hem-

The HistoryTeacher Volume 26 Number 2 February1993

This content downloaded on Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:03:47 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions






212 DavidPace

selves,butalsoupon he arger ociety,whichneeds onurturehetalentsandunderstandingf all tsyoungpeople.Moreover,nstructorshemselves

are vulnerableo a greatsenseof inadequacy s they experiencehesullenresentmentf generationsf students,whoarebeing udgedonthebasisof a system heyneitherunderstandorrespect.

Thequestionof teachingvs. sortings a particularlyeriousone forthose teachingcollege historytoday.A generation go mosthistorycoursesocusedprimarilyn apolitical nddiplomatichronology hichwasrelativelyasyforstudentsoassimilateo theirpreexistingntellec-tual andcognitivecategories. uchcoursesmayhavedemanded greatdealof work,andin thehandsof skillful nstructorshey undoubtedly

generatedmanybasicchangesnthethinking rocessesof students.Butmoststudents ouldunderstandhesequence f eventswhich ormed hecoreof suchcourseswith hemental pparatusheybroughtwith hem o

college.Suchintellectualools are not sufficient,however, o grapplewiththeextraordinarilyomplexweb of cultures,ocialclasses,gender,andmentalitg,whicharethe subjectof many,perhapsmost, collegehistory ourses oday.Thesinglethread f political uccessionhasbeen

replaced yatapestry f diverseexperiencesnwhicheachgrouphas its

perspectives,alues,and nterpretationf what s goingon.

Dealingwith suchissuesin a historycourse s notjust a matterofaddingnew subjectmatter o old courses.The new formsof historyrequire ifferent ognitiveabilities.Tooperatewithin he worldof con-

temporaryistoriographytudentsmustbeable oenter heexperiencefdifferent roupsnthepastand orecognizehateachof theparticipantsin ahistoricalituationwasoperating ithinacomplexbut imitedworldview. Theymustgive up the securityof a history n which datesandeventsprovidea clearand"objective"rameworknd earn o grapplewithamoreambiguous ast nwhichhistorians re nbasicdisagreement

about heverysubjectswhich houldbestudied. uchoperationsequiresubtle andcomplexcognitiveprocesses-processeswhichhave oftenbecomesomuchapartof an nstructor's ind etthatheorshedoesnoteven recognizetheirnecessity.Yet, there is abundantvidence that

despite hegreat ffortsofmanydedicatednd alentedecondarychoolteachers,most students nteringollegetodaystill do not havethebasic

cognitive killsrequiredo dealwithsuchchallenges.Thisdisparity etween he taskbeingpresentedo studentsandthe

tools available o thempresentsa dilemma o the instructor.Wecould

ignore heproblem r reverto theoldpoliticalhistory.A better hoice,however,s to seekto createanenvironmentn which argenumbers fstudents angain as smoothlyandas quicklyas possible hekinds ofabilitiesneeded o dealwithourprofession sitexiststodayandwith he








Beyond "Sorting":Teaching Cognitive Skills in the HistorySurvey 213

worldwhichhasshapedt.Thischallenge learlyranscendshescopeofa singlecourseor even a single discipline.A semesters a rather rief

period o bringabout uch a transformation.oreover,he introductionof studentso new cognitivemodesis a crucialconcern or the entirestructuref higher ducation. heskillsneeded or success n a contem-poraryhistoryclassroom renot so verydifferent rom hoseneeded nsuchfieldsasliterature rscienceor, even,business,nwhich heabilityto view a situationrommultipleperspectivesnd o dealwithambigu-ous evidenceandconflictingnterpretationss ascrucial sit is inhistory.Therefore,what s ultimately eeded s a newnotionof curriculum,nwhichthedevelopmentf certain rucialabilities s systematicallyn-

couraged crossa student's areer.But,untilsuchglobalchangeshavebeenimplemented,t willbenecessaryorindividual istorynstructorsto strive o structurepecificcoursesnsuchawaythatasmanystudentsas possiblecan gainthe cognitiveabilitiesassumedby contemporaryhistoriography.

I decided o addresshesegeneralpedagogical roblemsn the fresh-man surveyof European istorysince 1815 at IndianaUniversity,acoursewhich hadbeen eachingor wentyyears.While tis ofteneasierto respondothischallengensmallupperevelcourses han nalecture

course of morethan 150 students, t is generally n the introductorycourses hat hedevelopmentf cognitive kills is mostneeded.More-over, since the studentswould also be meetingin small discussionsections with two excellentteachingassistants,John Cox and ChrisMendoza,herewouldbeanopportunityoprovideupportndguidanceon a morepersonal asis.

In redesigninghis courseI chose to focus on two crucialabilitieswhichstudentswouldneed o succeednthecourse.First, tudentswouldhave obeable ounderstandhat he ivingconditions ndexperiencesf

eachgroupwe studied reated uniqueperspectivewith tsown internalintegrity.Secondly,whenfacedwith anexamquestion, tudentshad toknow how to choose a particularnterpretationromthemanypossiblewaysofviewing he ssueand osupporthat nterpretationithevidenceand ogical arguments. s manywill recognize,mychoiceand ormula-tion of theseissues was greatly nfluencedby WilliamPerry'sclassicForms of Intellectual and EthicalDevelopment n the College Years.

Such skills are such secondnature o us that it is worthtryingto

imaginehowtheelements f acontemporaryistory oursemightappearto someonewho lackstheseabilities. nthehistory urvey presentheexperience, alues,andperspectivesf different ocialgroupsanddis-cuss howtheyinteracted.f a students notaccustomedo thinkingnterms of perspectives,the crucial issue remainswhat"really"happened.








214 David Pace

All the discussionof the differencesn theexperiences f thesegroupscanbe taken ntothestudent's ognitive ystemas eithernoiseproduced

by anineptor maliciousprofessor r asa challengeo findoutwhichofthe groups if any]was reallyright.Thenotion, or example, hatthe

politicsof a particularlass emerge rom its life patterns as no real

meaningn sucha system,exceptasa memorizedquation f "workingclass"and"supportedocialism" ecauset is impossibleo understandthataparticular orldviewis "true"oronegroupandnotanother.

The same problemsemergewhen studentsarefaced with exams.Whenaskinga class to "support n interpretationith evidence"or

"comparendcontrast"r"analyze,"istorians remost ikely o have n

mindsomethingike this:1)thereareanumber f possibleanswerso aquestionike this;2) noneof these answersare so absolutely ight hat

theycanbepresentedwiththefinalityof aproof nEuclideaneometry;3) nonetheless,omeof thepossibleanswersare moreconvincing; )well-intentionednd nformedndividualsancometo someagreementon the relativemeritsof the different nswersby comparingvidence,examining ssumptions,ndconsideringhelogical consistency f thevariouspositions.Noneof thisis evenremotelyntelligibleo a studentwhois notyetcapable f imagininghat he same ssue canappear ery

differentlyromdifferent erspectives.f there s a final,ultimate, ightanswer,henthecrucialpoint s getting here,notdefendinghe relativemerits of variousapproaches. ven a word as seeminglyobviousas

"support"asverydifferentmeaningsnthesetwo mentaluniverses.Thedifficulty n escaping hissituation, owever, s thatthe task at

hand s not simplya matter f addinga few new terms o anexistingvocabulary,utrather f introducingnentirely ewlanguagetructure.To use the terminology f Wittgenstein,here s a complex anguagegameat workhere.A teachermay,of course,discusstheproblemof

learningaboutperspectives.Thismaybe interestingo thosestudentswho havealreadymasteredheseskills,and t maybe absolutelyrucialto those studentswhoare ottering n theedgeof acognitive hift ntoamorecomplexwayof organizingheworld.Butthosestudentswhohavenotseriouslybegun o undergohisprocesswill"decode" urwords ntermsof the languagegamestheyarealreadyplaying,since,unfortu-

nately,a discussion f theproblem f perspectivessumes priorabilityto think ntermsof perspectives.

Toescape rom hisviciouscircle, t wasnecessaryocreate complex

structure f learning,an extendedexperiencewithinwhich studentscouldmoreeasilypassthrough difficultandoftenthreateningrocessof self-transformation.ince we cannot imply"tell"our studentspre-ciselywhatwewant hem odo,wemustshowthem,andwemustcreate








Beyond "Sorting":TeachingCognitiveSkills in the HistorySurvey 215

situationsn whichtheywill naturallyearn hese skillsby themselves.Moreover, sPerryhasargued,t is not sufficiento teacha student hat

issuescanbe viewed rommore hanoneperspective.nisolation ucharealization an leave students n a positionof nihilisticrelativism,nwhich"Well, hat'smy opinion" ecomes he finalanswer o anyques-tion.Inaddition o seeingmultipleperspectives,t is alsonecessaryorstudents o learnthat t is worthwhile o find basesfor discrimination

amongpossible nterpretations,ven whennoneof them s groundednabsolute ruth.This esson s adifficult ne whichcannotbeconveyedbyasimple xplanation,ut,rather,equirescomplexpedagogicaltructurewithinwhich he student an earna newset of basicskills.

Facing hese issuesin thecontextof the modemEuropeanurvey,realized hatI alreadyhadathanda tool,whichcouldbe of enormousassistancenpreparingtudentso viewhistoryperspectively. uringhelate 1970smy colleagueJamesDiehl andI hadcreatedan extensivesimulationor this coursewithgenerous ssistance romProfessorTomSchwenandIndianaUniversity'sDivisionof DevelopmentndSpecialProjects.At thebeginning f the semester ach studentwasassignedaroleas amember f oneof sixsocialclasses.Theyreceived descriptionof theircharacter'situationn 1790and hreeor fourpossibleresponsesto thechallenges acing heir ocialclass at thatmomentntime. At theendof thefirstweektheyturnednessays, ustifyinghe choiceof oneofthesealternativesntermsof the valuesandconditions f theperiodandreceived n return sheetindicatinghe impactof theirchoice on thesocial and economicpositionof theircharacter.The next week thestudentsmoved orwardortyyearsntime,as theiroriginal haracterrone of his or herdescendantsaceda newhistoricalituation nda newset of problems.Throughtructuringheproblems,hoices,andconse-quences,we wereable oreproduce uropeanocialhistoryrom1790 o

1912withcharacterseingbuffeted ytheIndustrialevolution,movingto cities,andtakingpart n the new mass cultureof the latenineteenthcentury.

Thesimulation adoriginally eencreatednresponseo thedifficul-ties we hadexperiencedn gettingourstudents o grasp he notionofsocialclass,and heresultshadbeenverygratifying. resolved o use it

againas one element n my planto teachthinkingperspectively.Theabstract resentationsf theexperience f different ocialgroups n thelecturesandreadingswouldthusbe reinforced ndmade realby the

students'ownencounterwiththesedifferenceshroughhe simulation.We hadmade hecharactersnd heir ituations s concrete spossible,andwe reinforcedhesystembyhaving tudents it with heir ocialclass(aristocratsn front,peasantsn theback),so thatthey experiencedhe








216 David Pace

classsystemateachmoment f classtime.Moreover,he scenarioswerefilledwithpotential onflictswhichcouldbeused n discussionections

tomakestudents ealizewhyafactory wnerandaworker,orexample,wouldappealoverydifferent rincipleswhen acedwitha strike.

Thesimulationutomaticallymposed kindof binocularisionuponthestudents.Notonlydidthedivisionof theclass ntosocialgroupsorcethem orecognizehat heexperiencef eachcharacternevitably hapedhis orherinterpretationf events,but he studentswerealso confrontedwith he differences etweenheirownpoint-of-viewndevelopmentsnthenineteenthentury ndthoseof thepeoplealive at thattime. All ofthisdiscouragedhem romseeking o reducea complex ituationothe

search or a singlerightanswer t thesame ime hat t encouragedhemtobegin o playwithviewing hesameevents rommanyperspectives.

Inreviewinghesimulationxercise,however, sawthat wouldneedto incorporatet withnewcourseelements o emphasizeheexperienceof thinkingperspectively nd to guidestudentshroughhe swampofnihilism n whichall answerswereequal.I also realized hat o nurturethe earning rocessdesignedo achievemynewobjectives wouldneedto establisha supportive nvironment. tudentscan experiencegreatanxietyas they leave their old mentaluniverse n which there were

always rightanswersand entera new one in whichtheymustdecidewhichpositions mostconvincing nd, hen, ystematicallyefend heirchoice.Suchanxietysnotonlyunpleasantorthestudent, ut t canalsoretard r even stopthe learningprocess.To encouragehe students omovethroughhisprocess,despite hepotential egativeaffect,I soughtto give them,on theonehand,a motivationortakingpartand,on theother,a sense hat he taskwasfeasibleand hat heywouldhavesupportand clearguide ines throughoutheprocess.Inthefirst lectureof thesemester explainedhat hecoursewasdesignedo helpthemdevelop

certain kills whichwouldbe crucial o their successnot only on theexamsbut alsoin futureife, andI gavea few examples f thekindsofsituationsnwhich he abilities hoped ohelpthemgainmightbe usefulto them.I assured hem thatI and the teachingassistantswouldbeavailable o helpthem andthatwe would ryto makewhatwe wantedthemto do as clearaspossible.All of thesethemeswerereiteratedn a"User'sGuide"whichwasdistributedo them. trepeatedherationalefthe courseand listed the kinds of short-andlong-termbenefitsthestudentsmightexpect o gainfromthesemester.Thus,evenif some of

the studentsdid not understandreciselywhatI wasasking hem o do,theycouldgrasphat f theysucceededndoing hismysteriousask, heymightgainsome substantial enefits,and thatI was veryinterestedn

helping them achieve this goal.








Beyond "Sorting":Teaching Cognitive Skills in theHistory Survey 217

Next,I set outto makegoodon thesepromises y seeking omodelas

preciselyaspossible he tasksI wished hem odo.I nolongerassumed

that he traditionalnstructions,uch as "read hetext,""takenotes,"or"study or theexams,"wouldhave the samemeaningandproducehesamebehaviornthemindsof students, stheydid nmyown.Ihad obemoreprecise, o breakdown argetasks ntooperationsndsub-opera-tions,whichmade t clearerxactlywhat uchvague,global nstructions

reallyentailed.Therefore,n lecturesandin a sectionof the "User'sGuide"entitled"How o Do Well in this Course" provided oncrete

examplesof thewayonemightgo about eadinghe textortakingnoteson a lecture,andI encouragedmyteachingassistantso do thesamein

theirdiscussion ections.Inalloftheseareas flearning,tried oencouragetudents ot otreat

thematerialheyweregivenas a homogenouseriesof truestatementswhichshouldallbe swallowedwhole.Igavethema three-levelmodelofreadingand notetaking n whichtheywere to activelydistinguish e-tweenbroadgeneralizations,ualifyingtatements,ndsupportingvi-dence.Tryingto memorizeeverythingn the text and the lectures,Iwarned hem,wouldprobablyead to disaster.Drawinguponanother

image,I suggestedhat heythinkof themselves s trial awyersprepar-ing generalpositions,supportinghem with appropriatevidence andargumentation,nddiscardingrrelevantvidencewhichwouldconfusethejury.

Thus,from heverybeginning f thesemester tudentswereencour-

agedto organizeheir earningn termsof interpretationsndevidence.To understandheseinstructions,t was still necessaryor students omakealeapfrom heworldof rightanswers o thatof differing utlooksandinterpretations.o maketheleapa little shorter nd to give themmoreconfidence hat herewasactuallyirmground n the other ide,I

brokeuptheir asks ntosmallerdiscrete ndwell-defined perations. oreinforce his processand to be certain hat it continuedacross thesemester t was importanto tie this learning o what most students

understandablyee as a central"practical" ay-off in a course-the

grade.The ntense xperiencef thesimulationrtheprocessoflearningtodefendanargumentmightreallyappealomanymembers f theclass,but,if thestudentsdidnot see somerelationshipetween heseopera-tions andthose coursemechanismswhichgenerated rades, heywere

apt o becomedisaffected reven feelbetrayed.This connectionwas establishedmplicitlyn a sectionof the"User's

Guide"nwhichIwent hroughhemechanics fpreparingortheexam.I toldthem obe certain bout hemeaning f thequestions;oassemblerelevantmaterialrom ectures, eadings, nddiscussion;o forma basic








218 David Pace

position,subsidiary rguments,ndqualifications;o confirm he rel-evanceof supportingvidence; o outline; o distance hemselves rom

theiranswer; tc.Sincethestudentswere obegiven nadvance listofquestionsromwhich hecoreoftheexamwouldbeselected,heywouldbeable ogo throughhesestepswith he actualquestions, lthoughheydidnot know which wouldactuallyappear n theexam. Someof the

suggestionswerepurelyprocedural,ut mostof themimplicitlyrein-forcedhemodelofsupportingn nterpretation.ocompleteheprocess,as the coursegotunderwayheteaching ssistants roke he discussionsectionsup into smallgroupsandpresentedhem all withthe same

hypotheticalxamquestion.Aftereachgrouphaddevelopedtsapproach

to thequestionndependently,he students ll cametogether gainandcomparedheirapproaches.

Finally,it seemednecessary o reconsiderhe formof the essayquestions hemselves. n the pastI hadtendedto relyuponstandard

phrases uchas "comparendcontrast"r"discuss,"whichcontributedlittleto the earning rocess wastryingonurture.herefore,beganbyrestructuringheliteraryormof thequestions,o that heyweremorecongruentwith thecognitivepatterns wastrying o teach.Ina typicalquestion wouldbeginbygiving he students verystrong ndgenerallyunbalanceduotationndaskthem oqualifyt,oftenfrom heperspec-tive of severaldifferent ocialgroups.Forexample, neof thepotentialquestionsorthe firstexamreadas follows:

"The ndustrialevolutionreated nprecedentedmprovementsn thewellbeing fEuropeans.ever efore ad omanyived owell."

While heressome ruthnthisquotation,osthistoriansould greethattreflectsnoversimplifiediewofEuropeanocial istoryntheate18thandearly19th entury.ocusingntheexperiencef three f the

groups elow, omposenessaynwhich oupresent fuller ndmorebalancedicturef the mpactf theIndustrialevolutionndifferentsegmentsfEuropeanociety.

a)Peasantsb)Artisansc)Aristocratsd)TheUpperMiddleClass

Thestructure f the questiontselfwasdesigned o reinforce hebasiclearning atternsf thecourse.Theissueof perspective ppearedwice:

first nthecontrastf different istorians'nterpretationsf thepastand,again,nthedifferentxperiencesf the socialclasses. twasmadequiteclear hatwhatwas atstakewasnotwhetherhequotation asabsolutelytrue or absolutely false. Students were encouragedto think about the








Beyond "Sorting":TeachingCognitiveSkills in the History Survey 219

mannern whicha statement anbothcontain ruthandbe oversimpli-fied.Finally, heverystructure f thequestionorced hem o assemble

evidence,ratherhansimplystatewhathappened.Thereremained,owever,one lastpiece-the linkingof thesecogni-

tiveprocesses o situations utside he classroom. t wasvery importantforstudents o master heseskillsforsuccess nthis andsimilar lasses,but the ultimatepurposeof suchlearningwas to expand he optionsavailable o students n othercontexts.Therefore, added an extraexercisetoward he endof the class in whichstudentsanalyzed omeeventassociatedwithEurope uringhe semesterntermsof thehistori-cal material overed n the course.Onceagain,studentswereasked o

compareheperspectivef contemporaryournalistsndhistorical ctorswithwhat heythemselveshadgained romstudyingEuropean istory,and heywere asked o supportheirpositionwithconcrete vidence.

In all these aspectsof the course-the simulation,he lectures, he"User'sGuide,"heexams,and hefinalpaper-theissuesofperspectiveandevidenceweredealtwith namyriad f different orms.This redun-

dancyhad threefunctions. n the firstplace, repetitionwas absolutelynecessaryordeep earning, utrepeatinghe samepatternsn the samemannerwouldhavebeenmoreapt oproduce leep hanbasicchangesn

cognitive organization. he presentationf these patterns n severaldifferent"channels" llowedthemto sinkin without nducinguncon-sciousness.Secondly, he presenceof the samemessagein differentforms ncreasedhe ikelihood hatalargenumber f studentswould ake

partin the process.Thatmagical"click"which allows someone to

organize xperiencen a differentmanners triggered yquitedifferentstimulindifferentndividuals.Onestudentmight"see t" n the"User'sGuide," nothermight"heart" nthe ectures,whilea thirdwould"feelit"in thesimulation, nda fourthwouldmakea cognitive hiftthroughsomecombinationf theseexperiences. inally,hepresentationf thesepatternsn manydifferentwaysmade t easier o establish motivationforstayingwiththeprocess.Sincetheywerepresentn everyaspectofthe course, ncluding he examsthemselves,t was easierto convincestudents hat t wasimportanto consider different pproacho readingor totakepart nthesimulation nddiscussions ections.

Atthe endof the semester ll indicationswere hat heexperimentadbeen a success.Whileno "objective"estingwas conducted, andmyteachingassistantswereconvinced hatthe learningprocesshadpro-ceededquitewell. Moralewas quite high,and students eemedto bemuchmoreactively nvolved nthe course. tappearedo be somethingthat heyweredoing,notsomethinghatwashappeningo them.Thereweremanyindications hat,havinga clearer deaof whatwas expectedof








220 David Pace

them,they weremotivated o studyharder han theirpredecessorsn

previousemesters, nd hat heirexampreparationasmoresystematic

and efficient. The effortsto explainto studentspreciselywhat wasexpectedof themservedto breakdown someof the barriers nd themistrust,whichoftenimpede tudents' ommunication ithprofessorsandteachingassistants.But,it wasthechange n the qualityof examswhichprovidedhemoststrikingndicationhat omethingnthisprocesswas succeeding.The usualproblemsof irrelevantacts, insufficient

support or arguments, nd the failure o articulate thesis were all

considerablyess serious hannpreviousemesters,nd tudents howedmore mprovementcross he semester han nthepast.

Anunintended enefitof thisprojectwasthat t facilitatedommuni-cationwithmy teaching ssistants. he articulationf specificcognitivegoals gaveus a common anguagewith whichto approachhe course.Moreover,whileCox andMendozaweregifted eacherswhowouldhavedone well in any teaching ituation, have reason o believe that thedivisionof the general asksexpectedof students nto small concrete

operationsmade t easier orbothof them ooperatewithin heirdiscus-sionsections.

It was anexhilaratingxperienceosense amajor hangen a course

whichI hadtaughtortwo decades.Thequality f myinteractions ithmystudents,my ability o communicate ithmyteaching ssistants,ndtheperformancef the students n theirexams,all convincedme that

something ignificanthadimprovedn the course.This is enoughto

encourageme to continuen this direction.By consciously ocusingonthe effort to help my studentsacquire he cognitiveskills whichare

necessaryo understand hat want oteach, mayhavebegun olearn,atlast,how tomovebeyond ortingand owardsrue eaching.

Beyond Sorting Teaching Cognitive Skills in the History Survey

Documents

Transcript of Beyond Sorting Teaching Cognitive Skills in the History Survey