MOVE

OVER, MEMORIZATIO

N!Getting Your Students To Think Critically About History

Presented by: Kim Todt, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

WEBINAR GOALS

• To assist students to think critically about history

• To demonstrate some of the tools available for History instructors

WEBINAR GOALS

• Why is Critical Thinking so important?

• More and more employers want college graduates who

they employ to have:

• Critical Thinking Skills

• Complex Problem-Solving Skills

• Written and Oral Communication Skills, and

• Applied Knowledge in Real-World Settings

• What is Critical Thinking?

• What is Critical Thinking?

• The mental process of actively and skillfully

conceptualizing, applying, analyzing,

synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach

an answer or conclusion

The Basics

What Tools Are Available in a History Course?

• The History Textbook

• Assignments that Encouraging Student Engagement

• Using Primary Sources

• Technology

The History Textbook

CengageBrain’s MindTap

• A People and a Nation by Norton,

Sheriff, Blight, et al.

• Full and Brief Editions

• e-textbook – students engagement

with technology

• Assists with assessment

• Chapter activities and quizzes

Student Engagement

• The Investigative Student Historian

• Gives students the opportunity to engage with original, contemporary, and historical works

• Students see their role as ―history detectives‖ as fun

• The Introduction of Who, What, Where, When, Why, and

How?

• Instructor-led exercise in class

• Group/Pairs exercise in class

• Group/Pairs exercise outside of class

• Use student’s new investigative skills for assessment

purposes both within CengageBrain’s MindTap activities

and on exams

What’s the Main Point?

• Not always easy to spot

• After addressing the basics (who, what, where, etc.) examine the same document with further questions

What’s the Main Point?

For a document:

Look at the beginning

Look at the end

Look at the middle

Look for words that urge a position

Look for causation or conclusion words

Look for words that express priorities

What’s the Main Point?

‖An evening or two after Robert's burial, I was leaning on the hatchway near the forecastle, full of desponding thoughts, when a

sailor in a kind voice asked me why I was so down-hearted. The tone and manner of the man assured me, and I answered,

because I was a freeman, and had been kidnapped. He remarked. that it was enough to make any one down-hearted, and

continued to interrogate me until he learned the particulars of my whole history. He was evidently much interested in my behalf,

and, in the blunt speech of a sailor, swore he would aid me all he could, if it "split his timbers." I requested him to furnish me

pen, ink and paper, in order that I might write to some of my friends. He promised to obtain them—but how I could use them

undiscovered was a difficulty. If I could only get into the forecastle while his watch was off, and the other sailors asleep, the

thing could be accomplished. The small boat instantly occurred to me. He thought we were not far from the Balize, at the mouth

of the Mississippi, and it was necessary that the letter be written soon, or the opportunity would be lost. Accordingly, by

arrangement, I managed the next night to secret myself again under the long-boat. His watch was off at twelve. I saw him pass

into the forecastle, and in about an hour followed him. He was nodding over a table, half asleep, on which a sickly light was

flickering, and on which also was a pen and sheet of paper. As I entered he aroused, beckoned me to a seat beside him, and

pointed to the paper. I directed the letter to Henry B. Northup, of Sandy Hill—stating that I had been kidnapped, was then on

board the brig Orleans, bound for New-Orleans; that it was then impossible for me to conjecture my ultimate destination, and

requesting he would take measures to rescue me. The letter was sealed and directed, and Manning, having read it, promised

to deposit it in the New-Orleans post-office. I hastened back to my place under the long-boat, and in the morning, as the slaves

came up and were walking round, crept out unnoticed and mingled with them.‖

From Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup

What’s the Main Point?

‖An evening or two after Robert's burial, I was leaning on the hatchway near the forecastle, full of desponding thoughts, when a

sailor in a kind voice asked me why I was so down-hearted. The tone and manner of the man assured me, and I answered,

because I was a freeman, and had been kidnapped. He remarked. that it was enough to make any one down-hearted, and

continued to interrogate me until he learned the particulars of my whole history. He was evidently much interested in my behalf,

and, in the blunt speech of a sailor, swore he would aid me all he could, if it "split his timbers." I requested him to furnish me

pen, ink and paper, in order that I might write to some of my friends. He promised to obtain them—but how I could use them

undiscovered was a difficulty. If I could only get into the forecastle while his watch was off, and the other sailors asleep, the

thing could be accomplished. The small boat instantly occurred to me. He thought we were not far from the Balize, at the mouth

of the Mississippi, and it was necessary that the letter be written soon, or the opportunity would be lost. Accordingly, by

arrangement, I managed the next night to secret myself again under the long-boat. His watch was off at twelve. I saw him pass

into the forecastle, and in about an hour followed him. He was nodding over a table, half asleep, on which a sickly light was

flickering, and on which also was a pen and sheet of paper. As I entered he aroused, beckoned me to a seat beside him, and

pointed to the paper. I directed the letter to Henry B. Northup, of Sandy Hill—stating that I had been kidnapped, was then on

board the brig Orleans, bound for New-Orleans; that it was then impossible for me to conjecture my ultimate destination, and

requesting he would take measures to rescue me. The letter was sealed and directed, and Manning, having read it, promised

to deposit it in the New-Orleans post-office. I hastened back to my place under the long-boat, and in the morning, as the slaves

came up and were walking round, crept out unnoticed and mingled with them.‖

From Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup

What’s the Main Point?

For an image

What’s the largest object in the

image?

What did the creator put in the

center?

What is on the periphery or in the

background?

Where does your eye wander?

Do you have a reaction to any

objects or persons in the image?

What’s the Main Point?

To conclude the exercise, ask students

The main thing the author or artist is trying to say is….

Two less important points are….

Identifying Underlying

Assumptions

• Main Points

• Audience

• Values

• Standards

• Biases

• Omissions

Identifying Underlying

Assumptions

• To conclude the exercise, ask students

• The author’s most important values seem to be…

• The author might be biased about…

Identifying Point of View

• What is the author’s conceptual framework, or point of view?

• Allows you to put the document or image in context

• Go back and look at identified audience and purpose of the document or image. Look at the main points and assumptions from Steps 2 and 3. What do they have in common?

Identifying Point of View

• Is there any jargon or key vocabulary?

• What authorities does the author appeal to?

• Pairs of issues identification:

• Freedom vs. Authority

• Local/Regional vs. National

• Personal Liberty vs. Public Order

Identifying Point of View

• Can students label an author’s point of view using labels appropriate for the time period?

• For example:

• Reactionary

• Progressive

• Patriot

• Feminist

• Conservative

• Etc.

Reasoning

• Most documents or images try to make a point or reach a conclusion by offering reasons

Reasoning

• Questions to Consider:

• What is the author’s most important point, central

proposition, or main conclusion – what prompted the

author to create the text or image?

What reasons does the author give to persuade you that

you should agree with it?

Reasoning

• Examining the clarity of the author’s argument

• Definition of terms

• Precision

• Logical consistency

• Relevance

Evaluating Evidence

• The evidence offered to the reader should answer the question, ―How do you know?‖

• Types of Evidence:

• Personal Experiences

• Appeal to the Experiences of Others

Assessing Completeness

• Most important issues have more than two sides

• A matter of judgment about what an author includes in a document and what he/she leaves out

• Depth and breadth of argument

Assessing Completeness

• To assess completeness ask yourself the following questions:

• Are there any omissions?

• Is the issue simplified or does the author address the

complexities?

• Are other points of view taken into account?

Critical Thinking in the

Classroom

Here is some of what I do in my classrooms:

• Have students play roles, e.g., Facebook

• Use charts and graphics, e.g., digitizing history

• Assign questions for students to answer about their reading

• Have students paraphrase a document’s argument in their own words

• Have students write dialogues about an issue, e.g., Privateer and a ―Golden Age‖ pirate

• Let students see primary sources from my own work

Critical Thinking in the

Classroom

• During discussions….

Ask General Clarification Questions

Ask Main Point Questions

Ask Reason-Seeking Questions

Ask Questions Seeking Relevance Between Reasons

and Conclusions

Ask Questions Seeking Clarification of Meaning

Critical Thinking in the

Classroom

• Structuring Assignments

• Explain how…?

• How do you know that…?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of…

• What does…mean?

• What would be the opposite point of view of…?

• Why do you think that…?

• Why is…important?

Move Over, Memorization!

This concludes my presentation…..

Thank you for attending this Webinar.