Teaching History Blog

What we don’t know about George Washington

2011-12-11T08:14:00.000-08:00

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss as a class what the group knows about George Washington.
2. Brainstorm and build a list of facts from the prior knowledge of the group.
3. Research individually to find three unique facts different from the list the class created.
4. Share discovered information and sources with class.
5. Explore concepts of information literacy such as source evaluation and information accuracy.

Formative assignment

Outcome: Students will access their prior knowledge on a topic, create a list with classmates of commonly known facts about that topic, and research the topic for new information to share with the class.

Assignment Description: There are a couple of goals with this assignment. The first is for students to recognize and access their prior knowledge about a subject. The second is to evaluate whether what they think they know is actually accurate about a topic. The third is to explore concepts of information literacy including source evaluation and fact substantiation. Students often have a broad understanding of a topic or prior knowledge they have collected over their life time in education and social media. The class will discuss this knowledge and then find new information on the topic to share with each other. Cognitively, this allows students to build connections with what they knew to what they learn from each other. This assignment could be done with any person, event, or significant historical place.

Steps and Instructor Notes:
1. As a class, students will initially brainstorm all the facts they know about George Washington. In an online forum this could be done with many different types of technology such as a google doc or discussion board.
2. Class will review the list and divide it between ideas they agree to be true or accurate and ideas that might be questionable.
3. Explore information literacy with class. Discuss effective source evaluation techniques and techniques for determining the accuracy of information in a source. For instance, do at least three sources have the same fact? Here is one resource to help instructors get started: http://novemberlearning.com/resources/information-literacy-resources/
4. Students will then research the topic searching for a minimum of three facts either not on the lists or one that proves the questionable list as accurate or not.
5. Students will share the facts they discovered in their research, the sources they used to find that information, and how they evaluated those sources and their accuracy.
6. Students will compose a grammatically sound and well organized document with all the information listed in step 5 and include proper citation for each source.

Rubric is based on 100 points total but it is likely this assignment would take several days and is very dependent on participation which could be evaluated many different ways.
10 points-Student actively brainstormed prior knowledge with classmates.
10 points-Student actively participated in discussion to divide prior knowledge into two lists.
30 points-Student found and shared with class mates three new facts, the resources used, and how they evaluated those.
50 points- Student composed a grammatically sound and well organized document with the facts they discovered in their research, the sources they used to find that information, and how they evaluated those sources and their accuracy. Student also properly cited each source.

Correlation to Hippocampus:
There are several useful pages on Hippocampus about Washington and using the search feature is a quick way to find those lessons, but here are two one from the history course and one from political science.
US History Lesson 17: Federalists vs Antifederalists
AP US Government and Politics: Lesson 25 The Cabinet Topic 1

John Brown: Hero or Terrorist

2011-11-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

Learning Objectives:
1. Define the qualities of a heroic action and/or person.
2. Discuss modern terrorism and the impact on our lives.
3. Define the terms terrorist/terrorist action.
4. Research the events at Harper’s Ferry and John Brown.
5. Explore newspaper articles from the period and other primary sources about Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry.
6. Debate as a class whether Brown’s actions were heroic or terrorism.
7. Compose a persuasive newspaper report that could have been written in Brown’s life time supporting either the statement that Brown was a hero or a terrorist.

Formative assignment

Outcome: Students will critically analyze primary sources and the actions of John Brown at Harper’s Ferry.

Assignment Description: Sometimes the actions of a person are viewed very differently depending on which side of an argument you support. Billy the Kid was a murderer and still considered a hero by many. During the abolitionist struggle to free slaves before the Civil War, John Brown conducted a violent raid on Harper’s Ferry with the idea that slaves he freed would join him in rebellion and inspire slave rebellion across the South. Was he a hero for taking up the slaves’ cause or a terrorist attempting to strike fear in the minds of citizens?

Steps and Instructor Notes:
1. As a class, students will define the qualities of a heroic action and/or person. Students should come prepared with examples and at least two criteria they want to have the class consider. (The instructor’s role is to facilitate the selection of the final criteria.)
2. During the following class period, the students will discuss modern terrorism and the impact on their lives and define the terms terrorist and terrorist action. Again students should come prepared with examples and two criteria and the instructor should facilitate the defining of terrorism.
3. Each student will then research John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry.
4. The instructor should provide sources or encourage students to share with the class primary web sources such as newspaper articles from the period and other primary sources about Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry. For example, what did Frederick Douglas say about the event?
5. Debate as a class whether Brown’s actions were heroic or terrorism. Students could be divided by the instructor to argue one side or the other, or the instructor might require students to come prepared with a one minute or brief argument.
6. After participating in the class debate, each student will compose a persuasive newspaper report that could have been written in Brown’s life time supporting either the statement that Brown was a hero for the abolitionist cause or a terrorist striking fear in the hearts of innocent citizens. The instructor should review expectations for citation, grammar, format, and length.

Rubric is based on 100 points total but it is likely this assignment would take several days and could be broken down into more graded parts.
10 points-Student came prepared for both criteria based discussions with sources and examples.
10 points-Student actively participated in discussion to develop criteria.
30 points-Student participated in debate and offered brief argument to support view of Brown’s actions.
50 points- Student composed a grammatically sound newspaper article as if it was written at the time of John Brown’s life either describing Brown as a hero or a terrorist. The article should include very specific details of the event as well as arguments supporting his actions or condemning them.

Correlation to Hippocampus: Hippocampus Lesson 34-The Approaching War-Topic 4-John Brown's Raid

Is it a Massacre or a Battle?

2011-10-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

Learning Objectives:
1. Explore the documentation of historical events by historians, the public, and politicians.
2. Develop criteria as a historian for the use of the labels “massacre” and “battle” for historical events.
3. Evaluate historical events and determine whether they are correctly labeled based on criteria.
4. Examine the name changes over time associated with some battles or massacres.

This is a formative assignment and students will critically analyze the labels associated with historic battles or massacres and the reporting of those events.

Assignment Description: The struggle between tribes and pioneers while the United States government expanded westward is depicted in social media as a one-sided event. However, the interactions between the two cultures were more complicated than a western tale of good versus evil. Students will explore this period of westward expansion by analyzing encounters between the groups. Students will be empowered to make their own decisions regarding the correct labels for the events and encouraged to analyze those labels of the past and present.

Steps and Instructor Notes:
1. As a class, students will develop a set of criteria to label a historical event as either a battle or a massacre. Participation in this discussion is required and students should come prepared with research about what each term means, sources and examples of use, and at least two criteria they want to have the class consider. Student will submit document to instructor with research and proposed criteria. (The instructor’s role is to encourage discussion and debate, but then facilitate the selection of the final criteria the entire class will use in their analysis of events. Here is a link in the Chicago Tribune on this very topic. Instructors may have students read this article before starting the assignment to set the tone for the upcoming work. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-08-18/news/0908170600_1_native-american-history-chicago-park-district )
2. Provide a list of battles and massacres for students to research individually or in pairs. After selecting one event, students should write a three page, double spaced summary of the event including who was involved, what happened, motivation for the attack, and outcome. The report should include research about how the event was reported at the time using primary source documents and describe whether the label for the event has evolved or changed over time. Additionally, the student or pair of students will determine, based on the criteria, whether the event is correctly labeled by modern historians. Proper citation is required on an additional page. (This assignment could be applied to a wider range of battles and massacres, but for the purpose of this post the limit will be encounters between tribes and pioneers after 1830. This assignment directly correlates with the Sand Creek Massacre in 1863 in Kiowa, Colorado, see Hippocampus.org link below.)
3. Students will share their research on one of the battles and massacres with the class. Classmates will evaluate at least two classmates’ conclusions about the labels applied to historical events, and openly share whether they agree or disagree and why.

Rubric is based on 100 points total but it is likely this assignment would take several days and could be broken down into more graded parts.
10 points-Student came prepared for criteria discussion with sources and examples.
10 points-Student actively participated in discussion to develop criteria.
60 points-Student individually or in a pair composed a well organized, grammatically sound document summarizing in 3 double spaced pages the event including who was involved, what happened, motivation for the attack, and outcome. The report included research about how the event was reported at the time using primary source documents and explained whether the label for the event has evolved or changed over time. Finally, the paper concluded and explained whether the label meets the class’s criteria for a massacre or battle. On the fourth page of the document, correct citation is included.
20 points-Student thoughtfully responded in writing or verbally (this may depend on your classroom format and level) to two classmates conclusions about other events.

Correlation to Hippocampus:
Hippocampus Lesson 43-Topic 2-Indian Resistance

Student Generated Learning -- Let Students Lead the Way

2011-05-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Most instructors require some sort of text book or reading materials that are quite thorough and provide a good overall understanding for students on the people, places and events of history. Then instructors plan a series of lectures and assignments that compliment and expand on the readings to meet the competencies of the course. We also want our students to be life-long learners who find content relevant. However, our format of read the text and then listen to my lecture sometimes falls short with students. The lecture we have perfected over the last 5 years may be quite interesting and demonstrate the best of story-telling, but not relate content to our students’ lives and ultimately is a passive experience. What if we let students direct the content of the lectures and discussions rather than having a preset agenda when the term starts?

Title: Student Generated Topical Discussions
Objective/s: At the beginning of the course, learners will review the topics to be covered in the course and select their top 10 that they would like to discuss in depth during the term and share those in an open discussion.
Assignment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Student will review reading material and course outlines. (Bonus: This provides a great overview of the course content and get’s students familiar with their resources.)
2. Student will compile their top ten list of topics they would like to discuss and explore in more depth during the term.
3. Student will submit this list to an opening discussion with classmates and the instructor.
4. Students will also comment on classmates top ten lists and they may discover other topics they would really like to discuss.

The instructor will participate in the opening discussion and compile the top ten lists from the students and pick a diverse set of topics to be covered in more depth by lectures, discussions, and assignments. Instructors can give the text reading purpose by highlighting content that explores the concepts students find most relevant. This will take more planning time and energy by the instructor each semester. However, instead of blank faces staring back during a lecture or online discussions falling flat, students will be more actively engaged by knowing the classroom interactions with the topics originated with them.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence Assignment

2011-05-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

Title: Signers of the Declaration of Independence Assignment

Objective/s: Learner will research an assigned Signer of the Declaration and come to class as that person with clues about who they are for their classmates to guess who they are.

Assignment type: Formative

Assignment Details
1. Student will be assigned the name of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
2. The student will research that signer’s life before and after signing the historic document.
3. Student will write a one page biography of the signer’s life.
4. In a face-to-face class, the student may come wearing clues or dressed as the signer. Each person should bring a document with the facts to submit to the instructor. In an online classroom, the student will start a thread of their own asking “Who am I?”
5. In either the face-to-face setting or online, the student will give one clue at a time to classmates providing a certain amount of time for guesses by classmates. (Students should be prepared with 10-20 clues about the person they were assigned.)
6. Class will use their own knowledge of signers to guess who their classmate is.

Rubric
Researched and found a minimum number of facts about their Declaration Signer-10 points
Composed a one page concise biography of signer-40 points
Participated in discussion and/or dressed in costume with clues on who they are-40 points
Cited Biography used for assignment in proper APA or MLA format-10 points

Correlation to Hippocampus
This assignment can be correlated to US History Lesson 12, The Declaration of Independence, found on Hippocampus.org.

Augmented Reality Assignments

2011-04-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended the ELCC Conference and presented with Mary Cash, Save the Trees!, on open content courses including my use of NROC content in CCCOnline history courses. One of my favorite presentations at the conference was by Chris Luchs and Kae Novak on Augmented Reality Assignments.

Scenario based learning, Authentic Assessments, and Augmented Reality Assignments in many ways are the same concept with different names. As seen in the previous link, Augmented Reality Assignments can be an assignment conducted in a virtual space including Second Life, but I want to imagine this concept more like a Murder Mystery Dinner party in your online or face to face classroom.

Our students and instructors become players in a carefully constructed game created by Instructional Designers, Teachers, and Librarians. Students become the content experts and may be assigned various job titles like Curator, Archives Specialist, National Historian for a Federal Agency, Research Librarian, History Journalist, and Professor. A “client” contracts the historians for a project that involves research, writing, presenting, communicating, and meeting deadlines with their “client.” The instructor, librarian, and designer engage the students as professionals, but have some pre-made clues and guidance tools in place to provide at opportune moments to help students be most successful. Like a Murder Mystery party, the hosts (teacher, designer, and librarian) will release information as the party progresses to guide the guests to the clues and the solution. Instructors have a variety of tools to provide obvious and subtle hints to their students such as twitter, websites, discussion, and resources at the library.

I admit, this sounds like a daunting task for an instructor to create and conduct by themselves. My suggestion is experiment with an augmented reality assignment on a small scale first. For example, in collaboration with an English Instructor, your students become writers for a historical journal like the Journal of American History. The English class becomes the editors of the Journal and using the articles written by the historians selects the best for publication or provides editing comments for consideration and future approval on the rejected articles. What an opportunity for cross-curriculum collaboration and providing a simple real world scenario!

To make the scenario most believable, students in the history class should believe they have submitted their writing to a real historical journal (in fact, they could submit directly to a journal of their choice) and the English students should believe they are truly evaluating professionally written articles for publication. You may even want to have a “visitor” to the class from the Historical Journal that explains why they are excited about the opportunity to work with the class. If not a real visitor, maybe a "letter" to the class from the Journal describing the scope of what they are trying to do by working with them.

Truthfully, I would only be successful with this kind of assignment in an online environment because my facial expressions would give me away. However, with a real-life purpose, I do suspect that many students would feel more engaged and motivated to produce some of their best work.

If you are ready to create a more complicated augmented reality for your students, the summer is a great time to plan and I look forward to your examples!

Production Groups: History Teamwork

2011-04-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

Teamwork often involves a daunting assignment that is difficult for both the instructor and the students to get excited about. I suggest building a culture in your classroom of collaboration that is not usually tied to a grade so that when a group project is assigned the team experience is not foreign to anyone. For history classrooms, get students thinking about what historians do which is often researching a topic and producing something that communicates that to an audience whether that might be a website, museum display, journal article, or a TV show. Most of the time, historians do not do all the work alone and therefore work with a production group or team. A team is often more effective if each member has a defined role. The roles assigned might depend a bit on the type of project and depending on the size of a group some students might perform more than one role, but here are some of the roles you might consider.

1. Researcher-Not only locates reliable primary and secondary sources, but provides documentation of those sources for the final product.
2. Writer-Composes the text for the final product.
3. Graphics Organizer/Designer-Depending on the project and the level of your students, this person will collect images, maps, and other illustrations of the content or develop their own.
4. Director-Organizes all the text, documentation, and visual aides and develops a story board to be approved and completed by the team.
5. Editor-Edits grammar mistakes in the final product and checks for plagiarism issues.
6. Content Editor-Critically examines reliability of information in product and ensures all the key details are provided accurately.
7. Technician-Depending on the scale and complexity of the technology used in the project, one student may need to be the technical expert who brings a background in computers, AVI equipment, etc. and is responsible for any school equipment utilized and oversees use of technology in the project.
8. Producer-This is the instructor who may remain fairly hands off but should have checkpoints along the way--for instance seeing the story board and approving the production of the team. The instructor might also reject a production group's proposal outlining the specific areas that need improvement to be reconsidered.

Ideally, your students have had a chance in small ways to be these various roles on an ungraded or low stakes assignment. As a class, define the responsibilities of each role, like a job description, and the consequences for not doing the job. Be ready to answer these questions:
-Can the group fire members, and what happens then?
-How will the product be evaluated or is it their performance in their group that is evaluated?
-Do students get to form their own groups or will the instructor assign the groups?
-Will the instructor assign jobs to the students or does the group determine that?

Running production groups in your classroom takes a great deal of planning to truly be effective. However, students, particularly those who are not interested in history, will find the experience rewarding and engaging.

Worst Historical Villain Ever! Multimedia Biography Assignment

2011-03-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

As we see in popular culture and movies, people are fascinated by the lives of the “bad guys.” Our students get excited when they learn about Billy the Kid or Al Capone, so let them explore the lives and history surrounding some of history’s worst villains. In the last assignment students read a biography and composed an essay on what they learned. However, there are many ways to demonstrate learning and in this modern age, students are familiar with flip camera’s, multimedia editing tools on their home computers, and are inspired by TV and the internet to create more dynamic and engaging content than just an essay. In this assignment, individual students will create their own biographical history clip about their favorite "worst" villain and the class will compile these into a "show" about the worst villains in history.

Title: Worst Historical Villain Ever! Assignment
Objective/s: Learner will create a video/audio clip about their favorite historical “bad guy.”
Assignment type: Summative
Assignment Details:
1. Student will select a historical bad guy. The instructor may want to provide a list and include some details that might entice students to choose individuals appropriate to the course or time period you are teaching. No two students should do the same person as the projects will be compiled later into a cohesive class project.
2. Using library and web resources, students will collect biographical information and open source images or even news footage about their "bad guy".
3. The learner will compose a well organized, grammatically sound one page summary based on their research about the individual’s life.
4. The learner will develop a slide show, video, or other multimedia piece that is approximately 5 minutes long and illustrates the villain’s life and why he or she was a “bad guy.”
5. Discuss as a class some qualifiers on what makes the “bad guy” the worst. Is it their ruthlessness? The number of people impacted by their actions? Is it the kind or number of crimes committed?
6. Class will watch/listen to each clip and vote for the “worst” historical villan. Then the class will use the rankings by the votes and compile the clips in order from least to most voted for villain to create a cohesive class project. Schools, students, and instructors may have various tools at their disposal for students to use to create this multimedia project. The instructor may want to take class volunteers to lead the technical aspects of this project and/or make necessary tools available. (A face to face classroom might just have the instructor video a live presentation, but I encourage all instructors to think more creatively and not underestimate students.) Encourage creativity and teamwork among the class. Consider breaking the class into production groups. (Production groups will be discussed in the next blog post.)

This rubric focuses on phase one of this project which is the individual student creating a multimedia project for their research on a historical villain. We will discuss the class project in the upcoming blog:

Composed a one page summary of biographical information about the villain - 20 points
Summary and project contains minimal grammar errors - 20 points
Cited Biography used for assignment in proper APA or MLA format-10 points
Created a detailed, well organized, engaging, and creative multimedia representation of their villain - 50 points

The rubric is purposely vague for the actual multimedia project as what your students have available and what you might expect varies dramatically. I encourage you to consider building an evaluation rubric for the multimedia piece with your class. Once you have some examples, you should share them from term to term to help students think about what they could do. Brainstorm with your class how they might develop their project. Do they have access to video cameras? What tools do they have on their computers at home and at school to build this project? How do TV channels like the history channel convey events and history? Can the students reinact an event? Would small scale replicas work? Can students offer each other assistance? For example, John owns a video camera and Julie has an editing program for video on her computer. How can they help each other get their projects completed?

Most importantly have fun and don’t let yourself or your students get lost in the technology and lose sight of the history. The overall quality of the multimedia product in the end may be poor or vary greatly from student to student but the content and learning will be rich!

Women’s History Month Biography Assignment

2011-03-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

My young daughters can’t imagine a world where they couldn’t play sports, get an education, or have any career they can imagine for themselves. Frankly, I can’t imagine growing up in a society that limited me based on my gender either. However, this was not always the case which is why March is Women’s History Month. To highlight the historical significance of individuals, consider assigning a biography assignment. For this post I will highlight some hippocampus.org materials related to Women’s History Month but this same assignment could be used for any group of individuals like Presidents, Civil Rights leaders, or even outlaws.

Title: Biography Assignment
Objective/s: Learner will read the biography of one woman from United States history. Student will then summarize life of that individual in a 3-5 page paper.
Assignment type: Summative
Assignment Details:
1. Student will select a key historical female figure from US history. The instructor may want to provide a brief list and include some details that might entice students to choose less famous individuals. The instructor may also want to limit the number of students researching the same individual particularly if the papers are to be shared. Another start to this assignment is the instructor might assign some “pre-reading.” For example, Hippocampus.org has some short biographical information on Rosa Parks and Phyllis Wheatley and a interesting photo of Jane Addams that is sure to inspire them to want to learn more.
2. Using library resources, students will locate a biography on that individual and read the biography.
3. The learner will compose a well organized, grammatically sound summary based on that biography about the individual’s life. The 3-5 page summary should include the most important events that lead to that person's historical contribution to society. The student will be sure to relate the historical significance of individual to our present day.
4. The final paragraph should be a brief review of the biography. Would they recommend it to others? Did they find the story inspiring? Was the author biased in any way for or against the individual?

Rubric Based on a 100 Point assignment
Composed a 3-5 page summary of the biography -10 points
Assignment contains minimal grammar errors -10 points
Highlighted the most important events that lead to the historical significance of that individual and described the impact of their lives on our present- 50 points
Cited Biography used for assignment in proper APA or MLA format -10 points
Evaluated overall impression of the biography on the student in final paragraph- 10 points
Assignment is well organized and contains beginning, middle and end- 10 points

There are so many options with how students could present this same information to the class that my paper seems a bit “traditional” considering the online environment that I’m presenting it. However, I will carry this theme to upcoming assignments that will be less traditional.

Historical Documentary and Video Reflection Assignment

2011-02-24T09:12:00.000-08:00

It is said that a picture can be worth a thousand words, and videos can get students thinking about content in a familiar yet powerful way. Reading Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech fails to move students like listening to his voice and watching him deliver the message. In this assignment, students will reflect on videos that the instructor provides and compose a journal exercise about their experience.

Title: Video Reflection
Objective/s: Learner will observe a video/documentary of an historical moment and reflect on their observations, surprises, emotional reaction, and what they learned by watching the video.
Assignment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Students are informed of the topic and back ground information related to the video they will watch. This background information may come from a text, Hippocampus.org materials and in the case of the "I Have a Dream Speech" might include Lesson 72 from Hippocampus on the Consequences of the Civil Rights Movement, instructor lecture, or other outside reading.
2. Ideally, you will have access to video resources, but if you don’t U-tube is one place to start and American Rhetoric has a database of famous speeches including 5 minutes of Martin Luther King’s speech. An internet search can pull a great deal more resources like news footage from events like the Cuban Missile Crisis and the JFK assassination.
3. Before watching the video, students will jot down what they know about the topic.
4. Students will watch video and answer the following additional questions:
- What did you observe about the event or person/people in the video?
- What did you notice in the video that really surprised, stunned, or interested you?
- What emotional reaction did you have to this video and why?
- What did you learn about the topic from this video that you did not know before? (you may want to require a minimum here of 3 facts or ideas)
- Is there anything missing from the video that you think would help you better understand the event?
5. Particularly if the video is not direct footage from an event but rather more a documentary or history channel type movie, ask your students “What message or information did the author intend with this video? Do you think the author had a particular bias?” If the video is a primary source footage, ask your student to analyze properties of the video. “Is there an angle you wish you could see or information that you are missing from this first-hand account of the event?” “Did you see the video without major editing or was this a clip that may be out of context?”
6. Student will compose a one page journal type entry reflecting on the questions you provided in a concise well organized way. The entry should be grammatically correct and include citation as necessary.

Rubric
Compose a one page journal response and reflection to video. 0-25 points
Use proper grammar and citation. 0-25 points
Respond to questions provided by the instructor on the assignment in a thoughtful and substantive way. 0-50 points

The WOW Factor assignment

2011-02-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

The posts so far this year have been very “serious” assignments leading to a big project. However, students need lower stakes assignments to practice and experiment with their writing skills. Also when learning new topics, students need time and encouragement to reflect on what they’ve learned.

The WOW Factor assignment encourages students to share with their class and instructor something that really surprised them in their reading, research or study of the topics for that unit or had them say “I didn’t know that” or “WOW! That’s cool!” The topic may also encourage them to ask questions or say “I would like to know more”.

Title: The WOW Factor
Objective/s: Learner will develop an internal dialogue while reading, studying, and researching history. Learner will build note taking skills. Learner will reflect on the content they are studying.
Assignment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Students are assigned reading from texts and other sources, but many students view this as a passive process and often fall asleep on the book hoping for some sort of learning osmosis to occur. To be more effective readers and efficient students, learners should carry on an internal dialogue while reading. Check out this resource for some great lessons to implement in your courses about talking to the author and building critical thinking skills. If you can not conduct an activity to teach this skill, at least with adult learners share some resources about Question-Answer Relationships while reading. Be sure to share with your adult learners that this skill is expected but often not taught, and that a study skill like this can be more effective and efficient.

2. Now that the students understand what is expected of them while reading, it is time for them to practice the skill. While reading the required text or participating in a content discussion, the student will write down at least 5 WOW “I didn’t know that” or “That’s amazing” facts. Then for each WOW, they are to write at least 3 questions about that topic that come to mind and they would ask the author. Breaking from the traditional note taking techniques, the student is learning to engage with content and if they own the book could write their WOW facts and questions right on the page.
3. Students will then select one WOW fact and questions and build a reflective assignment that they will share in a discussion with their classmates. At the top of the document the student will quote or paraphrase the WOW fact and provide the source of that fact in APA or MLA format. The student will write a brief paragraph about why that information excited them or why they related to that information or found it most interesting. Then below the paragraph they will list each of their internal dialogue questions with an answer for each that may have come from more reading, research, or the answer may be they didn’t find anything definitive but they found out something else interesting related to the fact. Each answer should also include the source in APA or MLA format.
4. Student will post their WOW assignment in a discussion to share with classmates.
5. Student will respond to at least two classmates WOW assignments with 2 additional questions/answers and resources they found to answer their new questions.

Rubric: Based on 100 points

Student selects and posts in a discussion their WOW fact and asks 3 questions. -20 points
Student included a paragraph about why that fact interested them and how they relate to that term. -10 points
Student cites sources for WOW fact and the answers to their 3 questions. -10 points
Student included the answers to their questions in their post or additional information they located about the topic. -30 points (10 points for each question)
Student responded thoughtfully in a supportive and constructive manner to at least 2 classmates’ submissions. The response should include at least 2 more questions, answers, and sources. -30 points (15 points for each response to a classmate)

The WOW moments are now spreading through your class. Students may realize from reading each other’s WOW assignments, they overlooked something interesting in their reading and go back to read it again. Students will encourage each other to think critically about the content they are discussing and find the answers together. History is a broad subject that doesn’t have to bore students to sleep. Instead, they can find the areas that most excite them. For example, they might be fascinated with fashion from a certain age or how a weapon or sport became popular. Instead of sitting passively waiting for all the “facts” of history to somehow be absorbed for a test, they can activate their prior knowledge of a subject, engage with new content, and share their excitement with others.

History Research Paper Series--Presenting and Defending

2011-01-29T17:47:00.000-08:00

It is time to celebrate your students’ hard work and successes! At the end of the semester or school year, this assignment will help recap their writing experiences, highlight all of the content they learned, and encourage self reflection in a positive way.

Title: History Research Paper Series--Presenting and Defending
Objective: Learner will reflect on their content learning and development of writing skills over the course of the term or year. This reflection will encourage their strengths to be continued in upcoming terms, provide a sense of accomplishment, and also review the content topics discussed during your time together. Additionally, the student will learn to evaluate the work of others as well as begin to learn to “defend” their own work.
Assignment type: Summative
Assignment Details:
-Student will select their best historical research assignment of the term or school year. The instructor should emphasize that it might not be the one they got the best grade on as the evaluation of those writing experiences may have changed or had different goals during the year.
-How do they pick? Ask students to reflect on which assignment they are most proud of or that taught them something they didn’t expect or even challenged them the most. Which paper is the most readable for the audience, the class, or would be most relevant to the audience? Which paper is the most interesting to the student?
-After selecting their favorite research and writing assignment of the year, the student is to edit and improve the paper based on comments from the instructor when it was graded and make changes they wish they had done the first time. Does it need more sources, more supporting details, more explanation, a better conclusion? Does it have a catchy title and a first paragraph that intrigues the reader?
-Students will share copies of their perfected paper with their classmates (each student should get a copy of each paper). Students will read papers before “defense day” and make edits, provide a statement of one item that is really great about the paper, and list at least one question to ask during the defense of the paper.
-Student will present the paper to their classmates.
-Class will ask questions regarding the topic and thesis, and the presenter will answer questions and defend their paper. (Instructor is to act as a moderator not as a participant of the audience)
-Student will collect all the copies of his or her paper with comments from their class and have the opportunity to make final improvements before submitting the paper again to the instructor.

Rubric (Based on 100 points but considering the summative aspect could be worth more toward the final grade in the course)
Student selected paper from the term and made edits to that paper for classmates to review.-10 points
Student presented and defended paper and thesis statement to classmates.-20 points
Student responded thoughtfully in a supportive and constructive manner to all the papers of his or her classmates including providing edit marks as well as one item the student did well and one question for the defense. -20 points
Student submitted an improved version of the paper to the instructor.-50 points

This may be a tough assignment for some students because it will certainly push them out of their comfort zone, and in some cases may be done more effectively in a small group. However, as I recall my graduate college years, I remember feeling unprepared for “paper readings” and especially defending my master’s thesis. In “real” life we often get the chance to improve our work and then “defend” or persuade others that it is good and well researched. Students don’t often get the opportunity to show they can apply what they’ve learned to improve their work because they are starting from scratch with each assignment. This assignment focuses on the next step which is taking ideas and building them into something better. With this assignment the entire class is getting a review of historical content by reading the papers and listening to the presentations, and everyone is also working on editing and evaluation skills that they can apply to their own work.

History Research Paper Series--Final Paper

2011-01-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

Finally, you and your students have arrived at the due date of the final version of the 3-5 page historical research paper. After all the preparation, the papers should meet your expectations. If not, consider whether there is a step missing in the process or whether you have provided the most helpful feedback to students. For example, would an audio recording of feedback or a phone call have helped students be more successful? Do you need to be more detailed or explanatory?

Title: History Research Paper Series--Final Paper
Objective: Learner will compose a polished 3-5 page historical research paper with a minimum of 5 primary or secondary sources.
Assignment type: Summative
Assignment Details:
-Assignment will contain the following elements: well-crafted thesis statement,
a works cited or bibliography with a minimum of 5 primary or secondary sources properly cited, carefully selected supporting details and examples that relate to the thesis, a strong beginning, middle and end, and have minimal grammar errors.

Rubric: Based on a total of 100 points
Well-crafted Thesis Statement 0-5 points
Works Cited page or bibliography with a minimum of 5 sources properly cited 0-25 points
Paper is well organized and contains a strong beginning, middle, and end 0-25 points
The paper is 3 to 5 pages in length with minimal grammar errors 0-20 points
Page includes substantial supporting details and examples 0-25 points
Plagiarism will result in a zero.

One helpful exercise is to have students submit a graded rubric for themselves to do some self reflection on their project, and you may want to emphasize areas of noticeable improvement in your feedback. Next week we'll explore an example of how to reuse this assignment.

History Research Paper Series--First Draft

2011-01-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to start thinking again about scaffolding your research papers.

There are several different approaches that you might take with the next step which is composing the rough draft. You might suggest to students that they have peers, friends, and family read and review their rough draft. You might also suggest that they read the document out loud to themselves or a friend to start catching awkward phrases or mistakes.

I like to use an optional discussion where students post their rough draft for classmates to review and provide feedback. The advantage of this is that students get multiple perspectives from other students who understand the parameters of the assignment. I usually give bonus points (5 points) to the student for just taking the time to put their rough draft in the discussion and additional bonus points (up to 5 points) for taking the time to thoughtfully review a classmates’ paper. It is helpful to reviewing students to provide a rubric or other tools when evaluating the papers so they can provide the most useful feedback to their classmates without sounding overly critical or harsh. I announce to students that I will not read the papers in the discussion, so they feel less risk about showing work that might not be polished. However, I also state I will monitor the discussion for questions and positive, thoughtful correspondence.

Most students seem to understand that the rough draft is a first, second, or even third version of their final paper. They also understand that the rough draft should have citation, quotation, and basic grammar and spelling. However, be sure your students know that the rough draft is to have strong organization and is more than a free writing activity to get thoughts on paper.

For the purposes of this blog, the lesson below is for the student to submit the paper to the instructor to continue the feedback loop presented in other assignments. I do not think that this assignment should be graded except possibly some points for turning it in on time. This is the moment to help students struggling with the writing process and a graded assignment might be too penalizing at this step to encourage improvement.

Objective: Learner will compose a rough draft of their final research paper using the steps prior to this assignment. The rough draft should include a strong thesis statement, demonstrate research on the topic including a Works Cited or Bibliography section, and must be well organized with a concluding statement.

Assignment type: Formative

Assignment Details:
Student will compose a rough draft of their final paper. The rough draft must include the following:
1. Thesis Statement
2. Researched details as examples in the body
3. Works Cited or Bibliography and in-text citation
4. Strong organization of thoughts and ideas

Student will submit the assignment to the instructor for feedback and review. (In my courses the assignments can immediately be run through a plagiarism detector and can be marked up using that tool. Students can see the plagiarism report and this can save many students from accidentally plagiarizing on the graded final version. Additionally, this is a good opportunity to require students to submit some questions about their paper or to have a live session with the instructor to discuss areas for improvement.)

There is no rubric included for this assignment because the focus should be on encouraging your student to improve the assignment for the final version.

History Research Paper Series--Outline

2010-12-16T10:28:00.000-08:00

After completing their research, students often struggle with organizing their thoughts and pulling a paper together in a cohesive way. Though many of my adult learners dislike this assignment and "just want to get to the writing," I require an outline as the next step, so that I can quickly scan their upcoming paper to determine if they are on topic and have sufficient supporting details. This is also a good time to provide concrete encouraging statements to help students to progress to their goal of a 3-5 page research paper.

Title: History Research Paper Series--Outline
Objective: Learner will construct a multi-level outline that includes at least the thesis statement, 3 main ideas, 3 supporting details for each main idea, and a concluding statement. (I also require students to use complete sentences for each level as I find that students don’t benefit as much from slapping a few words down in order)
Assignment type: Formative Assessment
Assignment Details:
1. Student will share in a discussion their personal organization techniques besides using an outline for writing a research paper and respond thoughtfully to two classmates ideas.
2. Student will view sample a outline provided by the instructor and ask questions of their instructor or classmates in the discussion about their research assignment to this point. Encourage students to discuss the barriers they are facing with wrting the assignment or other types of questions about how to be successful with constructing the outline and final paper. (This is a good time for the instructor to encourage collaboration and support among students as students often provide very useful tips or sources to each other.)
3. Student will construct an outline that resembles in sturcture the example provided by the instructor.

Rubric-Assignment Based on 100 Points

Student shared at least two organization techniques they use when constructing a research paper in discussion. - 20 points
Student responded thoughtfully in a supportive and constructive manner to at least two classmates in discussion. - 20 points
Student created outline that is in complete sentences. - 10 points
Student submitted a well organized outline with the minimum supporting details, main ideas, thesis statement, and concluding statement. - 50 points

History Research Paper Series--Bibliography

2010-12-02T07:01:00.000-08:00

In the previous blog post your students submitted, and you approved, the thesis statement for our short 3-5 page research paper. The next step is to research the topic more thoroughly as it relates to the thesis. This is a good time for the instructor to coach students to evaluate the types and effectiveness of sources they find and demonstrate how to cite them.

Title: History Research Paper Series--Bibliography
Objective: Students will build a rough draft copy of a bibliography or works cited page.
Assessment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Explain to students that you expect either MLA or APA formatting and citation for the paper.
2. Provide examples of citation for various sources, these may include web resources such as http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
3. Provide some sources to students to help them identify reliable online research sources. http://www.suite101.com/content/online-references-a57651
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy827
4. Student will post one correctly cited source in a discussion for the instructor to evaluate and classmates to see. Students will include in the post why they think that source is reliable for their paper based on the information provided in the previous step. Students will respond to two classmates after visiting the source provided and add their thoughts or questions about its reliability and effectiveness.
5. Student will locate at least 10 sources. Prior to this assignment the instructor should determine how many sources are to be primary and secondary. (You may want to visit other posts in this blog that have assignments on Primary and Secondary sources. We will also revisit this topic later this year, but assume here your students already know the differences.)
5. Student will construct a traditional bibliography or works cited page but will also include a brief explanation following each source with a description on why the student believes the source is reliable.
6.Student will submit rough draft of bibliography to instructor for feedback.

Rubric: Assignment based on 100 points
Student posted a correctly cited source in discussion and described why it is a reliable source, 0-10 points
Student responded to two classmates about reliability of source provided, 0-10 points
Student submitted at least 10 sources for paper, 0-10 points
Student cited each source correctly using MLA or APA formatting, 0-30 points
Student explained why each source was reliable in a couple of concise well written sentences, 0-30 points
Student submitted assignment on time, 0-10 points

As I mentioned in my previous post, timeliness can be vital to the successful feedback loop between instructor and student with this type of graduated assignment. In this rubric, I am deducting ten points to suggest that you may want to reflect on this more.

History Research Paper Series--Thesis Statement

2010-11-18T06:44:00.000-08:00

Following the brainstorming assignment for a 3-5 page history research paper, students will construct a thesis statement. However, even at the college level, I find many students do not know what a thesis statement is, how it differs from the topic they selected in brainstorming, or how to write one. Have you had a student propose a thesis statement that said, “I will write about Thomas Jefferson because he was a famous president.?” I frequently do, and this assignment helps guide students to a well constructed thesis.

Title: History Research Paper Series--Thesis Statement
Objective: Learner will construct an effective thesis statement for a 3 to 5 page historical research paper.
Assessment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Student will visit the following Web sites to learn about writing a thesis statement.
http://www.bowdoin.edu/writing-guides/thesis.htm
http://www.english.upenn.edu/Grad/Teachweb/scthesis.html
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/thesis.html
2. In a discussion, students will reflect on at least three ideas they learned from these web sources about constructing a thesis statement. Students may also ask questions of each other and the instructor regarding the scope of the assignment and expectations that may be unclear.
3. Student will construct a strong thesis statement for their topic.
4. Student will post thesis statement for classmates to review and provide each other thoughtful feedback.
5. Student will submit final version for approval to the instructor.

Rubric: Assignment based on 100 points
Student participated in thesis statement discussion with at least three items, learned and responded to instructor and at least 2 classmates. 0-20 points

Student posted thesis statement in discussion 0-10 points

Respond thoughtfully in a supportive and constructive manner to at least two classmates' proposed thesis statements. 0-20 points

Student submitted a well crafted thesis statement to the instructor. 0-50 points

Though I didn’t include it in this rubric, I would like to pose the question to you about whether your students are graded on timeliness? Sometimes for assignments that are graduated like the ones I am outlining in this blog, I deduct points for not submitting the thesis statement to me on time. I have two reasons for this: 1. Students will be in the workplace and timeliness is an important skill. 2. In order to provide the student the most useful feedback during the ongoing project, the student must follow the expected due dates for the assignments. Imagine a student submitting the thesis statement along with the final essay. How would you handle this situation?
Additionally, I would like to ask how flexible you would be on students changing their thesis after submission. A strong brainstorming session might prevent this, but invariably you will be asked.

History Research Paper Series--Brainstorming

2010-11-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

If you are familiar with this blog from previous posts, we are changing the format a bit this year to be practical lessons that you can implement in your online, hybrid or face to face classrooms.

To begin this new series we will focus on research and writing skills with a series of assignments designed to lead students to the overall outcome of writing a history research or term paper.

Title: History Research Paper Series--Brainstorming
Objective: Students will brainstorm ideas and interests to select a topic for a research paper
Assessment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Instructor will introduce what brainstorming is and Student will read a source on Brainstorming for papers, from Scholastic, and discuss with teacher brainstorming.
2. Students will make a list of no less than 20 possible topics of personal interests about history or of current interest such as topics related to their career path, hobbies, etc.
3. Student will identify and eliminate topics that seem too broad or narrow the in scope for a 3-5 page paper
4. Student will share top five topics with classmates in a peer support group
5. Students will collaborate in the group to narrow each classmate’s topic list to two possibilities
6. Student will search the internet or other library sources for at least 10 potentially reliable sources on the two topics
7. Based on reasonable ease of research and interest student will select one topic for paper and submit that to the instructor for approval.

Rubric: Assignment based on 100 points
Student generated list of 20 possible topics-0-20 points

Student reduced list to top five to share with classmates in group discussion 0-5 points

Student posted five topics in discussion with classmates, collaborated with peers accepting feedback openly, and provided reasonable, constructive suggestions to at least two classmates.-0-25 points

Student narrowed choices to top two and searched internet for a minimum of 10 possible reasonable sources on the internet or other library sources.-0-25 points

Student selected and submitted one topic. 0-25 points

How do you encourage students to brainstorm?
Next week, we explore thesis statements.

Second Life

2010-06-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

This is a reminder for those of you who are planning on attending the Second Life session Thursday, June 24th 3pm - 5pm for the 2nd in our series on using SL for education.

In this session, we will visit and examine existing learning spaces in SL, and we will go through some exercises on how to maneuver your avatar in SL.

Getting Ready:
1. Sign up for an account if you have not already done so by going to http://www.secondlife.com
2. You will be downloading Viewer 2.0 for the rest of the series.
a. You will sign up for an account by providing a valid email address.
b. You will have an opportunity to create a special first name, or you can use your own first name, however, you will have to accept one of their last names which are algorithmically assigned.
c. Once you have your avatar (SL account) set-up you will automatically be directed to SL’s Orientation Island. Avoid this destination! Go to the following two SL URL’s. You can do this by copying the following addresses into your browser, you will be asked if you want to be “teleported to the following region”, say YES. J
d. On your first visit, CCCOnline recommends you begin by visiting Virtual Ability Island: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/129/129/23 (Go to that URL while the Second Life program is running). This SL location will help you learn how to communicate, move around, and use tools common in Second Life. Give yourself an hour or two of practice to graduate from the orientation!
e. Then visit Colorado EduIsland - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Colorado%20EduIsland/132/110/22

Please be ready with your avatar account. If you can get some time in at Virtual Ability Island (address above) that would be great, if not we will be covering all of the movement tools on Thursday afternoon. Contact me if you have any questions. My information is included in my signature below.

Please contact Cheryl Comstock directly with your questions at Cheryl.Comstock@cccs.edu

Can you keep up?

2010-04-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended the annual ELCC conference in Vail, Colorado. The key-note speakers and presentations focused on the future of education, particularly online education, and I left wondering how institutions and content developers could keep up with the advancing technology and measure up to learners’ expectations in the near future.

Presenters predicted that mobile learning particularly on devices like cell phones would be an important tool for students in the very near future if not already. However, learning management systems and content are often difficult to view easily on mobile devices today. Deeply layered links and images slow the loading and effectiveness of content on these devices. Will we need to customize our courses or provide viewing alternatives for our students?

Other presentations focused on creating dynamic, interactive, multi-media in courses to engage students with content in new ways. Some idea were short video intros, podcasts, cartoonish mock interviews, and content mixed with music using tools using tools like Animoto, xtranormal , and dvolver. While these are interesting and entertaining, how can educators try new tools and still meet the ADA laws?

Additionally, a number of presentations discussed the use of tools like Second Life for student social interaction and collaboration. The learning curve with these tools right now is problematic, but I also saw an interesting presentation on the use of Google Wave for collaboration and communication among students which appeared much simpler than virtual worlds. Are educators of the future also responsible for creating social networks for students?

What do you see as the future of online education and digital content, and how will you keep up?

It’s News! Assignments

2010-04-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

This week’s news story on Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell, reinstating Confederate History Month inspired a series of assignment ideas on incorporating news in our history classes. Confederate History Month and the manor that it was proposed by McDonnell would make a great debate/discussion question. Topics for this question might include:

1. Why do we designate months to remember categories of history and is this still necessary in today’s world?
2. What is the controversy around this history month and how should we remember this important war in our nation’s history?
3. What were the causes of the Civil War? Social, Economic, Political?
4. Why is the Civil War romanticized?
5. How are state’s rights important then and now?

A second assignment idea is to have students search for history in the news (any medium would be appropriate) and report to the class about the current news story they found. Additionally students should report how that news relates to history, did the news include all the important historical information, and whether the student’s knowledge of history effects how they understand and view the news report.

Finally, pick a couple of events in the period of study and have the student’s write newspaper articles as if they were reporting the event at the time it occurred. For example, a student might imagine they are reporting for the “Valley Virginian” on the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac in Virginia waters. One resource your don’t want to miss on the Civil War inlcudes primary source newspapers is The Valley of the Shadow Project.

No matter which assignment you try, incorporating current news in our history courses can help students find the study of history relevant and interesting.

Authentic Assessments

2010-03-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

The conflict between multiple choice tests and other traditional forms of assessment and what has popularly been name authentic assessments, also called performance assessment or alternative assessment, continues among faculty at all levels of education. As you decide for yourselves which is the most appropriate method for your class and students, first consider your objectives not only for the course but as an educator in general.

Are you trying to make students productive citizens? Is your goal for students to walk away with certain knowledge? Do you want students to be able to perform certain tasks? Is your purpose to help students be successful in the real world?

Some arguments for Authentic Assessments are:
1. Provide a fair testing environment of diverse students
2. Identifies strengths and weakness of a student
3. Students create their responses rather than selected from a standard set
4. Elicits higher level thinking skills
5. Allows for student self-evaluation
6. Relates easily to a classroom environment and experience
7. Applies to “real” world contexts
8. Must have clear rubrics to ensure equitable grading
9. Often includes writing
10. Subject areas are often blended
11. Can be collaborative
Some arguments for Traditional Assessments are:
1. Less time intensive
2. Able to standardize and compare student performance
3. Answers are either right or wrong
4. Not ambiguously designed so students have a clear understanding of expectations
5. Tests individual knowledge
6. Very practical to deliver

As the battle wages among educators and within our selves, here are a couple of articles to visit so that you may decide for yourselves and your students which method best evaluates student knowledge and skills to prepare them to be successful members of society.

Authentic Assessment Toolbox by Jon Meuller
Funderstanding
Teacher Vision
Assessment Terminology
Tons of great ideas and resources at the University of Wisconsin website
Comparison Article
Qualities of a Good Assessment
Qualities of a Good Online Assessment

Now I must admit. I tend to fall in the authentic assessment group which many of my students seem to appreciate and tell me they learn much more by preparing for these diverse assignments rather than memorizing for a test. Examples from my history classes have been shared in previous blog posts. However, I do find myself still debating internally. Which testing method best evaluates my students? Which method do you prefer and why?

Women's Suffrage

2010-03-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

As a young 8 year old girl, I never thought much about not having the same rights as my younger brother. Like my own daughter, I always thought of myself as equal to anyone and entitled to the same opportunities as anyone else. However, as my daughter discovered this week while doing a project on Susan B. Anthony, this has not always been the case for women in the United States.

Abigail Adams is an early example of women asking for equal rights when she wrote to her husband John Adams to remember the ladies while writing the laws of the new nation. In 1848, the first women’s rights convention occurred in Seneca Falls presided by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton resulting in the document “Declaration of Sentiments” which was modeled after the Declaration of Independence and began “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.” Additionally, they outlined their grievances which were unanimously adopted except for the suffrage resolution which some attendees felt was too radical for the time. Soon members of the women’s rights movement rallied around the right to vote as the ultimate way to guarantee their rights and freedom.

In 1878 Susan B. Anthony wrote the Women’s Suffrage Amendment that read “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” At first known as the Sargent Amendment for Senator Arlen A. Sargent of California who first proposed it to the Senate was introduced in each succeeding congress until 1919 when the Senate passed the Anthony amendment.

This topic easily lends itself to a time-line assignment, but to learn more about the Women’s Suffrage Movement visit some of these web resources
Timeline
Scholastic for Teachers
Suffrage history

Olympic Games

2010-02-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

The history of modern Olympic Games is interval snapshots of world history. While students are inspired by watching the current Olympic stories unfold on TV, we can use the event in our courses to inspire them to learn about the past. The history of the Olympics itself is a study of sports, athletes, people, and the development of sports medicine, science, and technology. The opening and closing ceremonies inform the world about the hosting nation’s history and culture. The Olympic event illustrates the key social, political, and cultural history of the period. Here is a brief timeline of some key modern Summer Olympic history. Visit this website for video, timelines, and other key images of the Olympics.

1896 First Modern Olympics in Athens
1900 Women compete in the Olympics for first time
1908 Moved to London from Rome after a devastating eruption of Mt. Vesuvius
1916 Cancelled for WWI
1924 Winter Olympics begins in Chamonix, France
1936 Jesse Owens wins Gold in Germany where Hitler and the Nazis were gaining power
1940-1944 Cancelled for WWII
1952 Soviet Union participated for the first time
1956 Olympics boycotted for Soviet Union army entering Budapest
1964 Computers used to record times
1968 US medal winning track Athletes pictured on medal stand with Black Power fists raised
1972 Israeli athletes kidnapped and killed in Olympic Village
1980 Boycott of the Moscow Olympics by the United States and 60 other nations protesting the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union.

For more history on the Summer and Winter Olympics visit Olympic.Org for links to photos, video and an Olympic Museum.

Some extension activities for students are:

1. Students create a timeline for themselves
2. Students research the significance of one specific Olympic Games. Encourage students to see beyond the games and athletes to reflect and synthesize the sporting event with world social, political, technological, and cultural history.
3. Create your own History Olympic Games with events that challenge students to answer as many questions as they can correctly in 60 seconds, get the most correct, create the most well written essay on a topic, and get a historical fact the fastest from the internet or in a library. Can't think of more or don't like these, have the students create the events and judge them.

Presidential Trivia Assignment

2010-02-14T13:22:00.000-08:00

For fun, bonus, alternative assignment or web search, create at Trivia quiz for President’s Day. This is a great way to focus on our nation’s leaders, and bring a little fun to an online or face to face classroom. As a web search, I know students will learn more than these basic facts about the Presidents. Here are some questions to get you started.

1. Which President could write both Greek and Latin with either hand at the same time?
2. Which President said “If you expect people to be ignorant and free, then you expect something that never was nor never will be.”?
3. Which President was a prisoner of war and the first to ride on a train?
4. Who made the longest inaugural speech but served the shortest term?
5. Which President said “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”?
6. Which President was married at the White House?
7. Who served as vice-president and president but was not elected to either?
8. Which President received a patent for lifting vessels over shoals by inflating air chambers near the water line?
9. Which President introduced spaghetti and ice cream to this country?
10. Which President was the shortest at 5ft 4inches?

One alternative would be to have students create the trivia questions and see who can stump their classmates. Visit this use web source for more trivia or this site has some fun ones but beware of the extra ads. A great place to start research is Whitehouse.gov or this fact filled site. One other great resource on the web is the National Archives page on Presidents.

So I know your'e wondering if I'll give you the answers... here they are:
1. Garfield, 2. Jefferson, 3. Jackson, 4. Harrison, 5. Lincoln, 6. Cleveland, 7. Ford, 8. Lincoln, 9. Jefferson, 10. Madison

History of Science

2010-01-31T16:41:00.000-08:00

While working with my daughter on her science fair project, I began to reflect on the history of science and inventions in the United States. Too often, we narrow the study of history for students to some key political and social events. In reality, our lives and story are intertwined with economics, science, religion and other disciplines. I also have many students tell me they are not good at history and not looking forward to the upcoming semester. However, these students major in other disciplines that they are interested in and intend to pursue careers in other fields. To make history relevant to the budding scientist or inventor, why not provide the opportunity to study the history of that subject and long term effects these fields had on our past.

In honor of my daughter’s science project, here are a few sites worth checking out on the history of science. The list is specifically broad to Science in general to include web sources that would take you on a research journey…

Internet History of Science Sourcebook Altius Directory
Altius Directory
History of Biology
History of Science
Famous Scientists

"What If" Assignment

2010-01-17T16:18:00.000-08:00

Some events happen so quickly but have a tremendous significance at the time and later. For the “What If” Assignment, students reflect on a quick moment in time like an assassination or even a near miss of a key historical figure. Then based on their knowledge of the event, that person’s role in history prior to the assassination attempt, and the impact of their loss on history, students predict what might be different in history and today had the attempt failed or succeeded.

1. Pose this question to students “What if Booth missed?” or “What if Lincoln had survived the assassination attempt?” Then ask them to brainstorm all the thought that come to mind in 5 minutes.

2. Conduct a discussion in the class around the Lincoln assassination as this is already a popular topic. Even at one medical convention they discussed what if medicine could have saved him.

3. Student picks a key historical figure’s assignation or attempted assassination. Here are a few to suggest for US History: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Robert F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Richard M. Nixon, John F Kennedy, John Lennon (If you conduct the Lincoln Discussion, you probably won’t offer this one to students)

4. Student researches biography of key historical figure, events prior to the assassination, the assassination, the biography of the assassinator, and the outcome and effect of that attempt.

5. Based on their understanding of the person, events surrounding the assassination, and later the outcomes, the student writes a paper or presentation predicting what might have occurred differently then and now had the result of the assassination had been changed.

Be sure to specify length and other expectations to your students. What would be required of a grade school student would be different than that of a college student. Encourage students to not just day dream or include lots of wishful thinking, but base predictions on facts and details.

Save Time and Communicating with your students

2010-01-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we lose focus on the basic teaching skills that we need to be effective online instructors, and sometimes we just need to use tools to help ourselves be more efficient. While you are preparing your courses for the spring semester, consider what areas in the past that students got frustrated, confused, or lost. Here is a little checklist to go through as you prepare for the spring semester.

-Reread and rethink all your instructions for assignments. Could you add resources that would help students get off on the right foot? Do you outline your expectations for the assignment clearly? If you are using a new technology, do you explain how to use it and why it may be a valuable tool?

-Review your assessments, quizzes, and study aides for accuracy and clarity. For essay questions, create a list of facts, terms, ect that should be included for an A to compare to students papers.

-Look over your rubrics to be sure they are clear and seem appropriate. Are the rubrics easy to understand from the student perspective? Would a checklist or other format better suit your students?

-Add spring due dates to your schedule.

-Prepare a welcome announcement or news item that gets students started in the right place in the course. You should also include this as a welcome email. Compose a bank of news items that you use each semester to remind students of upcoming due dates and expectations.

-Compose a welcome discussion post that introduces you to the students. Think ahead and compose a bank of additional questions and summary posts for discussion topics and save them in a file, so that you don’t have to create them on the fly during the semester.

-Outline your expectations for behavior, timeliness, and work load.

-Check all links in the course to be sure they work and take students to web sites and locations in the course that you expect.

-Create an FAQs page or Tips and Tricks to help answer redundant questions you get each semester. You could have them for each assignment, unit, or the course in general.

- Be prepared to point students to the information they need and be prepared to restate information in new ways for your students.

Above all for online classrooms, remember the format can be new to many students and your patience, kindness, and understanding may be especially important the first few weeks of class. Conveying your interest in the students’ success these first couple of weeks can set the tone the rest of the year.

What methods do you use to be more efficient and still communicate with your students regularly and effectively?

Turn your class into a Museum

2009-12-21T14:48:00.000-08:00

As I’ve said before, group projects were my least favorite type of assignment as a student, and therefore, I am reluctant to use them in my own classes. However, I think if you set parameters, provide time and a work space for the groups, and ultimately judge the students on their performance the projects can be a positive learning experience for all.

Turn your classroom, online discussion, blog, or second life space into a museum exhibit on a particular topic related to the course. For this assignment, the class will work as a whole, but be broken into teams to handle different topics of the exhibit. Each member of the teams would be responsible for a part of their section. Have the class brainstorm what should be included in the exhibit and let students sign up for the team that most interests them. For example, an exhibit on Gettysburg might include a sections on clothing, weapons, strategy, generals, soldier life, medicine, the Gettysburg Address ect. The smaller groups or teams would brainstorm and divide up even more detailed topics and develop how they will present that content to a museum audience for an interactive experience.

A face to face class might include small replicas, people dressed in the appropriate attire, posters, ect. An online classroom might have some similar products but might also include technology like blogs, wikis, U-Tube, Web 2.0 tools, ect. Encourage students to be creative and remember they are engaging all ages and knowledge levels. As a class, they organize the material, put it together, and open their exhibit to others in the school or public. One way to help prevent chaos is to assign or vote on a leader for each team that would then form a committee to be the main organizing body of the exhibit.

Before getting started select the main topic for the exhibit, find resources to get the teams started, and consider how each individual and team will be evaluated and provide that rubric to each class member. Ultimately, you maintain the role of master curator and the success or failure of the exhibit lies with you, the instructor.

What experiences have you had with group work in your history courses? Please share with us your successes and failures.

Interacting with Artifacts

2009-12-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Being an historian is more than researching other people’s ideas and regurgitating them in a paper. Students of history and everyone in general can be inspired and excited by history when they handle artifacts of the past. Getting access for our students to artifacts can be challenging. Here are a few ideas to consider while you plan for spring assignments.

1. Students can donate volunteer hours at a museum or archeology site to participate in the preservation of history and how to effectively convey our past to the public. An instructor might pre-arrange this for students with a local museum or historical site.

2. Turn your class into a Landmark Society and have each student research viable historic sites and compose a Landmark sign for that site. The project would include understanding what to include on signs and is a great practice on how to be concise. Content on signs are often limited by cost and space. Additionally, Landmark societies often review and edit each others’ work in groups and as an organization approve the content of signs. This process would not only make students “experts” on a particular topic, but also would inspire collaboration and teamwork among class members. Instructors might even assign committee roles to students or allow the class to vote for a Chairman, Co-Chairman, Secretary, ect. Here is one helpful resource to help students get started http://www.landmarksociety.org/section.html?id=1 One technical expansion of this class project would be to make a geo-mashup of these locations and their signs.

3. Finally, send students looking for antiques, or provide pictures or objects for a class to research. Students can go to an antique store or locate an object that has been passed down in their family. They should look for an object they don’t recognize and take a picture or pictures of it. Research the origin and use of the object, maybe they start with the owner of the object to find out what they know about it and it’s significance. Present to the class information about this object in a presentation or report . The first challenge for the class would be to define the term antique…here is a place to start http://collectibles.about.com/od/collectiblesglossarya/g/antique.htm

Yum! That smells wonderful!

2009-11-22T17:42:00.000-08:00

Walking into Grandma’s house on Thanksgiving day, do you smell turkey in the oven, the warm pumpkin pie, hot bread, and apple cider on the stove? Does your family have other traditions that speak about your own customs and history?

What if we invited our students to make historical meals that would travel them back in time to the customs, traditions, and scents of meals from the past? In a unique way, we would engage a learning style that could be coupled with research on not only finding the recipes but why the people we study used those ingredients. Some possibilities include asking students to research on the web the appropriate recipes for the period the class is studying, how and why those ingredients were chosen, and report about their experience cooking, smelling, and tasting the food. Students might also research their own family’s unique recipes, where they came from, and how they are still important to their family’s customs and experiences.

Below are a few web sites with historical recipes.
http://www.historyforkids.org/crafts/index.htm
http://www.shootingstarhistory.com/kidshistory/crafts.htm
http://www.foodtimeline.org/
http://www.foodbooks.com/recipes.htm
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/historical/
http://www.reciperewards.com/Historical.html

As you celebrate Thanksgiving, take a moment to experience some of your family's unique traditions and customs and consider some shared meal traditions you may have with other families. Students in the future might research these very meals and traditions to learn about you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Get Engaged

2009-11-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

How do we engage students and provide opportunities to actively experience history?

The University of California One outlines a cohesive plan at The History Project Website . Instructors “apprentice students in age-appropriate ways” to “learn to work with sources, consider different perspectives, analyze and interpret information, and marshal evidence in support of their conclusions.” This project includes a lesson plan template, a linear research method, and a sample lesson. Additionally, you’ll find here numerous image and primary source document resources including Our Documents website that houses 100 key US primary sources with images of the originals, transcripts and lessons plans. Hippocampus.org has primary source documents included in its lessons in appropriate places such as the Virginia Charter in the Jamestown Lesson.

But we’ve talked about utilizing primary sources before. I really want students to engage history. Mission Inn Museum in California is getting closer to what I am thinking of with their Hands-On History Lesson Plans and their Family Voices Project. In the Family Voices Project students are “given the task of choosing a family-related object or tradition and conducting research on their chosen subject with their families. Project artists- including a writer, a storyteller/singer, and a photographer- work with the students through numerous workshops to teach the students how to preserve their family heritages through written, oral, and visual techniques.” What a way to make history relevant to the student and a life-long mission!

The Family Voices project could be adapted to any classroom or online learning environment, but the students would become their own artists. As a group project each student could be responsible for creating a piece of the project to illustrate a tradition or historical significance of an object. A history must be able to research a topic but also be able to tell the story in a creative and interesting way so others will listen. This project certainly gets the students involved in research but also how to share their knowledge with others in dynamic ways.

Next time get ready to engage your sense of smell!

Games!

2009-10-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

I freely admit that I have always disliked playing video games; however, in today's world with modern students, instructors can expect that video games will engage and teach their students at all levels of education in ways traditional education does not.

I prefer free games that are easy to access for me and my students. Some games are very simple crossword puzzles and matching games such as those found at one site for Elementary Children and this free resource. Others can be more involved like the ones on this BBC site where role playing and experimenting with different scenarios teaches about the past. One site with a wide variety of game types and topics is History.com.

A resource that I enjoyed included many games from several periods of US history including one two player game where you act as British or Colonials battling it out for control of the Colonies. Another role playing game at pbs.org tests if you can Strike It Rich in the California Gold Rush.

A simple five question game about myself that both my husband and I had fun taking was "Which Founding Father are You?" at http://www.constitutionfacts.com/. Surprisingly, this quick game got a conversation going in my house (He was Hamilton and I was Madison)... this game might be a fun way to engage or "hook" students in a more in-depth discussion about founding fathers.

You may be asking yourself "How can I assess learning from a game?" I know I have debated the use of games. However, I am beginning to realize that the rehearsal of information presented in new, dynamic, and interesting ways and the problem solving in these games has as much value as some other more traditional practice activities. There are, of coarse, games that are much cooler and detailed that are not free. But those are for another day...do you have any free games you like to use with your classes?

Returned from Disney and ready to Go

2009-10-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

I've missed communicating with you in this history blog that was dormant for the summer.

While away, my family took a vacation to Disney World where my two daughters had many dreams realized. This was our first visit, and I have to say that Disney World is more than cartoon characters and good marketing. It was an amazing place where technology, creativity, and learning came together. My oldest daughter left inspired to be an imagineer when she grows up, and really aren't we all hoping that our children will have the opportunity to use their creativity to solve, build, and inspire others.

While visiting Epcot, we traveled in the giant sphere on the old ride that illustrates historical moments in the development of communication and writing. It concludes with a brief look at computers and the internet. My young daughters can't imagine a world without instant communication, yet left the ride understanding that our level of information sharing today was a gradual progression of learning and inventing. What a hands-on, multi-learning style way of teaching history!

I teach US History Online using the Hippocampus.org content and often hear from college level students that this is a more active, engaging learning experience than simply reading a textbook and sitting in class. I believe it is the first step to creating a course that inspires students to learn more.

What's next? Join me in the upcoming months for some ideas on how to engage student's imaginations, communication skills, and all learning styles.

School Projects

2009-06-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

I had a different blog post in mind, but after an arduous weekend that included tears and frustration of helping my first grader do a school project on Giant Pandas, I decided to change my plans. Last weekend I learned that in one week we had to write a paper, do an art project illustrating their animal, and be prepared to present information to the class. I say we, because a 7 year old is not capable of doing the research on their own even if they have strong writing and reading skills, and the supplies for an art project must be acquired and assembled with adult supervision.

What does this have to do with this history blog? Assignment relevancy and instructor leadership! Letting our students pick a topic that interests them most and creating assignment guidelines that students can meet are essential basics to an assignment. In this assignment, the parents became the teacher guiding our seven year old through the process of research, writing, editing, and creating a final project. While we are actively involved in our daughter’s education, I wondered about parents who simply did not have time this week to take that role. Should the teacher really have lead students through this process during the school day? Would this have given the teacher the opportunity to monitor student’s ability and witness their personal growth? Should teachers in high school and early college education assume that students have certain skills rather than leading them to the final quality product? Rather than assuming that it is the student’s responsibility to find help if they need it, should we offer that support in our courses. Doesn’t ignoring this basic need open the door to plagiarism and other academic dishonesty? Shouldn’t instructors provide examples and other support to help students be successful? Some would argue that this is handholding, but I would argue we are leading students to a product they can be proud of and meets our expectations.

As a kid, I remember these assignments and that feeling of dread of loosing play time and other family weekend time when they were assigned. As a teacher, I can guess which objectives might be the goals with an assignment like this, and yet as a parent, I argue that those are not the objectives met. My daughter did not learn research skills though we tried, nor did she learn composition writing or reading skills though we tried. However as a family, we pulled together to support her which emphasized learning and education. She learned about the value of spreading the work out over a week and finishing what she started even when it wasn’t fun anymore. This evening after completing all her hard work, she feels pride in herself and her work and enjoyed spending time with us. By not taking the initiative to provide support to our students in higher education and leaving it up to the student to find support a support system, don’t we leave this feeling of success and learning up to chance?

Memorial Day

2009-05-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day is not just a long weekend for great sales at the stores. More important it is a day to honor soldiers who have fallen serving our nation. Congress declared the last Monday in May a national holiday in 1971. However, the celebration of Memorial Day dates back to Decoration Day, first widely observed on May 30, 1868 by General Orders No. 11 written by John A. Logan. Flowers and decorations were placed on the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers. Today numerous volunteers place small flags at each grave at Arlington National Cemetery and customarily the President delivers a speech at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and places a wreath there.

The political causes of war are often controversial, but remembering and honoring the men and women who fought and paid the ultimate price for our nation should not be. Below are a few sites about modern wars you might visit and incorporate in class discussions about US history.

List of National Memorials

Arlington Cemetery

Vietnam Memorial

Vietnam War Museum

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Korean War Museum

Women in Military Service

World War I Museum

World War II Memorial

World War II Museum

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Geo-mashups

2009-05-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite presentations at the eLCC conference was a about educational use of Mashups. What’s a mashup? Wikipedia defines mash-ups as “a web application that combines data from one or more sources into a single integrated tool. The term Mashup implies easy, fast integration, frequently done by access to open APIs and data sources to produce results that were not the original reason for producing the raw source data.”

One of my favorite ideas during the presentation was the combination of Google Maps, a free web mapping tool, for a Business course that asked students research the location of a business and how this effected the possible success of a business. Real estate agents have already been using this tool to add a little information about properties to maps for home buyers.

Like you, I started brainstorming about how to apply this concept to a history course. An assignment might require students to identify key locations on a map such as various battles of the Civil War and then add brief notes about the significance of each. An assignment such as this would not only help students organize key events but also understand more about the significance of geography to history outcomes.

Regardless of whether you incorporate Web 2.0 technology, geography is too often neglected as we race to cover so many events in a short time. The National Commission on Social Studies in the Schools was formed in 1987 to study the state of social studies in the schools and to make recommendations for curricular change. At this site you will find recommendations and strategies for emphasizing history and geography in grades K-12. Additionally, there are many other useful resources to help us teach the impact of geography on historical events. Also, check out the National Geographic web site that has lessons plans that use geography to learn about history.

Questions to Ponder

2009-05-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

In April, I attended the eLCC conference and presented with Alice Bedard-Voorhees on New Designs for Assessment. Alice is the person I credit most for giving me an opportunity to teach online and for inspiring me to try innovative teaching tools and concepts. At the conference, I am pleased to share that Alice won the eLCC Faculty of the Year award. You might visit Alice’s blog at for inspiration.

I would like to share two questions that Alice asks that always encourage me to think differently. We all have students who are more difficult to manage. Sometimes students have bad attitudes about the course or fellow classmates. Sometimes they are frustrated with us about the type of assignments given or the technology. Sometimes they plagiarize. The question that Alice always asked me as my Chair and later Academic Dean was “How can we get back to the learning?” Alice empowered me to find a way to have a successful outcome for the student and class rather than getting stuck and frustrated by what wasn’t working. Not only did this help me not take the student’s problems personally, but it also helped me brainstorm ways to avoid the same problems in the upcoming semesters. By always thinking about how to best facilitate learning among my current students, I find that each semester I am more effective and patient. The question reminds me that students are there to learn and its my job to help them.

In a CCCOnline training webinar and at our presentation at eLCC, Alice posed this question for students. “What could you do, use, or create to demonstrate your learning for outcome X?” This question opens a dialogue between the instructor and student to select the method of delivery to demonstrate their knowledge. Students might choose to do something in Second Life, use a Web 2.0 tool like audacity, create a slide show, or write a traditional paper. The question allows students to develop their own assignment to achieve an objective or competency. In correspondence and cooperation with the instructor, a rubric for evaluation of the assignment can be developed and gives the student ultimate ownership of their learning. Imagine developing assignments and rubrics through open communication between the students either one to one, instructor to group, or class to instructor. What a way to focus on the individual learning and outcomes in a course!

Progress versus Historical Preservation

2009-04-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

This month we reviewed the history behind environment preservation, and today I conclude this brief look at conservation with a call for communities to preserve their history.

It may not surprise you to know that my family picked its hometown due to the historic and small hometown feel of Mainstreet. Ten years later Mainstreet remains, but it has changed in the name of “beautification” and progress. The town moved or tore down historic buildings significant to the community and approved big chain businesses to build on open land and former farms. Like most of America, I appreciate the convenience of a short drive to a store with everything. I also recognize the economic benefits to a community and reflect on a national outlook that does not put historic preservation first.

In our relatively short national history, the pioneers of this great land had little time or concern about building many permanent structures as they constantly moved toward progress. Today this spirit of growth and change for the better remains in many communities, especially recently as they try to survive economic hard times. The cost for the convenience of big stores, big chain restaurants, and more shopping centers is the loss of open space and historic landmarks.

Recognizing the importance of growth as part of our national heritage and as part of community survival, I urge communities to also plan for preservation of their history. Do not tear down our history, incorporate it and make it part of your town’s unique identity. If buildings must be moved, create history preservation parks like the one in Littleton, Colorado or 4 Mile Historic Park near the heart of Denver.

Finally, this summer make it a priority to take the family on some mini-vacations or day trips and visit national treasures near you. The National Parks Service web site and this map collection by the University of Texas are great resources about parks preserving the environment and history. Additionally, most states including my own, Colorado, have great web resources about historic landmarks and places of interest to visit. An important lesson I learned from my Grandfather Chatnick is that by exploring the past with our children we can make stronger connections to the past while looking to the future.

Topic of the Month: Earth Day- Wednesday April 22, 2009

2009-04-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

After several years of trying to draw attention to the deterioration of the environment, Senator Gaylord Nelson called for grassroots demonstrations and support for the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. The first Earth Day permanently forced the deterioration of the environment and the dissipation of resources to the political arenas. The same year, Richard Nixon created the EPA to consolidate into one agency a variety of research, monitoring, and standard setting groups to ensure environmental protection.

Earth Day gained popularity over the years to become truly a national and international event by the 1990’s. This year’s theme is the Green Generation whose core principles are a carbon-free future, individual commitment to responsible consumption, and the creation of a green economy.

Student and national interest in environment issues seem to ebb and flow depending on other issues that may take precedence like war and the economy. However, a brief study of environmental history demonstrates that really these issues are related and very relevant to our lives today and to the study of history. Keep the grassroots movement going in your online courses. Add a discussion about the history of environmentalism, Earth Day, and where we are today. For younger audiences visit this teacher and parent resource http://earthday.wilderness.org/ and for adult audiences this site might be useful http://earthday.envirolink.org/history.html

Environment

2009-04-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

The environment and different sources of energy were major topics of the election in 2008, and yet recently this important issue has earned less media attention. Maybe this is because the economy has become the focus of President Obama’s first hundred days and maybe this is because he and other politicians are getting less pressure due to lower prices at the gas pump. Either way the environment was not a new political issue, but rather one that has a significant history in the United States.

As the settlers built the US, the environment was usually considered after development and sometimes raping of the land for minerals or deforestation. People settled in an area, and then they considered their impact on the earth as their own health after establishing cities and towns. Early on prominent the environment sometimes called other terms like public health or conservation became political issues. For example, Ben Franklin petitioned the Pennsylvania Assembly to stop waste dumping in the commercial district and later left money in his will for a fresh water pipeline into Philadelphia due to a link between bad drinking water and disease. Today, former Vice President Al Gore’s An Inconvienent Truth on global warming released in 2006 had an important impact on the modern environmental movement and the election of 2008.

Local societies sprang up in the late 1800s like the Audubon Society and Sierra Club. Interest in the environment grew dramatically after World War II possibly due to higher college enrollments and advancements in ecology. In 1970 the first Earth Day was celebrated and the Environment Protection Agency was established.

The US government created organizations that studied US natural resources and other organizations that protected species and focused on conservation. Addionally in the last twenty years, numerous laws have passed.

National Environmental Policy Act : basic national charter for protection of the environment.
The Clean Air Act : regulates air emissions.
The Clean Water Act : limits water pollution.
The Safe Drinking Water Act : protects the quality of drinking water.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act : Inventories hazardous waste sites, assesses liability for these sites, and provides for site cleanups when no responsible party could be identified.
The Endangered Species Act : protects endangered animals and plants and their habitats.
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act : control of pesticides.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 : prevents and responds to catastrophic oil spills.

As you enjoy being outside this spring, reflect on the health of the world around you and our environmental footprint.

Assignment Feedback

2009-04-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

This spring I shared several assignments (timelines, webliography, movie review and more) that encourage student originality, creativity, and allow them to select topics that are most interesting and relevant to them. These flexible assignments still meet the Colorado Common Course Outcomes. When designing a course, I start by creating a course map that aligns resource materials, assignments, discussions, and formative and summative assessments with outcomes. Sometimes, there are outcomes that are vague or difficult to meet in the online classroom. However after brainstorming, some very interesting and engaging assignments for students usually result.

What do the students think about these assignments? Each semester, I ask students for candid feedback regarding the assignments, assessments, materials in the course, discussions, and overall course design. I use this feedback to improve the course and stay current with the mood and needs of the students. The feedback this semester regarding the new assignments is overwhelmingly positive. Students appreciated the break from stagnant essay response assignments. They enjoyed and remained more interested in the course by having a variety of assignments. I had less students request permission to turn in work late. While I don't have specific statistics to explain why, I believe it is in part a result of not getting bored and burned out with similar assignments. Students also reported that they learned more and felt more challenged from assignments like the timeline and the movie review than from writing a typical essay response on the same topic. When asked which assignment was their favorite, some students shockingly said they liked them all. However, I did have a group report that the timeline assignment was their favorite. This is interesting because it broke the most from the traditional mold of essay assignments by requiring strong organization and encouraged the use of Web 2.0 technology.

Was I satisfied with the quality of their work? After semesters of grading responses to essays and being disappointed that students did not seem move beyond the knowledge level to the higher analysis and synthesis levels, these assignments seemed to demonstrate higher levels of Bloom’s and allowed me to better evaluate student learning. The design of these assignments required a strong understanding at the knowledge level but better encouraged analysis and synthesis.

What did I learn? Besides being pleased with the overall quality of the completed assignments, I learned that these assignments are more challenging to grade because of the unique way each student may interpret the instructions. Therefore, the assignments require detailed expectations and elaborate rubrics. I also learned that providing an optional discussion forum for students to ask questions about each assignment of myself and classmates provided some formative feedback and reduced stress and confusion for students. Additionally, even those who never posted to the study hall discussions benefited from the examples, instructions, and questions posted there.

Topic of the Month: Immigration History

2009-03-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

Every March many Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s Day whether they have Irish ancestry or not. This blending of many cultural traditions from the immigration of various groups to this continent is one of the wonderful qualities I appreciate about the United States. March’s special topic of the month is Immigration History. Immigration history is a broad topic that can begin with the migration of native cultures across the Bering Strait or other means and continues today. This article will not cover it all but will focus on immigration through Ellis and Angel Islands. Picture is Landing at Ellis Island from the Lirbrary of Congress.

In 1840’s the great potato blight struck Ireland driving nearly 1 million Irish to travel to America in just a decade. In this period Castle Garden, one of the first state-run immigration depots, was opened in New York City in 1855 to process these new immigrants. The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged greater migration as the new law provided any citizen or intended citizen could lay claim to 160 acres.

In 1892 Ellis Island opened with nearly 700 immigrants passing through its doors or the first day and 450,000 coming in during the next year. Prior to WWI immigration reaches all time highs through Ellis Island, but the war severely curbs immigration and new laws are passed such as one preventing children from coming over without adults. However, post WWI immigration surges through Ellis Island and the first Immigration Quota law passed in 1921 restricting immigration by ethnic percentages. Ellis Island officially closed in 1954, became a monument in 1965, and restored until 1990 when it re-opened to the touring public. Visit this site to see if your ancestors’ records are here.

Angel Island provided a similar service on the Pacific coast. However, the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1905 severely limited immigration from Asia and many were housed on this island waiting for entry for nearly two years. The offices closed in 1940 and moved to San Francisco, while the island served as a POW camp during WWII. The island is currently under restoration for an opening sometime this year. You might use this resource to track your geneology.

We are truly a nation of immigrants whose reasons for traveling to this vast land vary but in many ways share similar experiences. The stories of these two islands is not just immigration history but our national history.

Historical Narrative Assignment

2009-03-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

Students often evaluate historical events and the people who lived ages ago by today’s standards and what we know now about the outcome. Sometimes this hindsight makes it difficult for students to empathize with people in the past. In this historical narrative writing assignment, students imagine what it would have been like to live in another time. Then they will write from a fictional character’s perspective a set of letters, journal entries, or story. Students completing this assignment will understand the impact of time and space on perspective, develop a narrative structure, identify events, people, groups and cultures, and practice research skills.

First, develop a list of events or people that your students can choose to write their first person narratives about. I like to make these lists about non-famous everyday people. I also allow students to select any gender or race that would be appropriate for that character. For example in a WWII unit, students choose from a soldier of any country on the frontlines, a Jewish person in a concentration camp, or a French citizen in occupied France. Another example, is to imagine they are a Civil War soldier writing a letter home about their experience, and then write a return letter from the soldier’s wife about civilian life in the Civil War.

Before writing, students research what every day life was like for the character. I require a bibliography of three sources. You may also want to point students to certain Primary Sources like autobiographies or diaries. Students should note historical references like dates, places, and events. These real facts will add credibility and interest to the assignment. For example, a soldier might mention a battle that actually occurred or a leader that actually lived. Encourage students to use descriptions that really bring their audience to the moment. What sounds or smells would the character sense in the moment their writing about?

These papers are unique for the students to write and the instructor to grade. The opportunity to plagiarize is less likely, though still possible. Students may struggle if they have not had many creative writing experiences before. Therefore, give students some specific parameters in a rubric to help organize this assignment and write an appropriate amount. You may also provide students some examples or articles to help them get started. Grade students on being as accurate as possible describing their character’s experience rather than how entertaining it is to read. For example, the character would not have modern technology available like phones or computers. The use and sounds of cars and planes might be very new and foreign to the character. Some students may really thrive in this assignment and try to use dialect appropriate for the character but grammar may suffer. I am ok with this because students are exploring a new type of historical writing and exploring character writing. I also encourage students to post their assignment for classmates to read in an optional discussion.

Movie Review Assignment

2009-03-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Historians like to discuss and discredit films for their inaccuracies, but the average person learns a great deal about the past from these cinematic representations. I bet each of us can think of at least one scene from a movie that really affected our understanding of an historical event or time. Movies can excite students about history and teach about the past in a way that draws viewers into the experience. Many great history instructors are also great storytellers, and film is simply another way of telling the world’s story. Directors may take creative license with the facts and characters, but they often are careful to represent dress, life-style, and culture in a way that texts and even great storytellers have trouble doing. After students finish the course they may never actively try to learn history again, but they are likely to watch movies that represent the past. This assignment will encourage students to be critical thinkers as they analyze the film for class and later films they enjoy.

First, students select a movie from a list provided by the instructor to watch. The list should provide a variety of new and old movies and cover a variety of subjects. Since new movies come out all the time and there are many films I am not aware of, I allow students to contact me for approval for a movie not on the list. While watching the movie, students are to consider these questions:

1. Were there inaccuracies in the movie compared to the material in our course which covers that time period or person?
2. What did you learn from the movie that you did not already know?
3. Were there any obvious values or opinions being presented by the director in the way they depicted the main theme of the film or the way they portrayed the heroes and villains of the story?
4. How did the depiction of this event or person compare to reading about the same topic in a textbook?
5. Did you have an emotional reaction to the film, why or why not? How do your own history and experiences affect how you perceive the film?
6. Did the film have an impact at the time of release on society’s perspective of the event and people involved? Did the film change your perspective about the people or event?

After watching the film, students write a concise review of the movie that considers the questions above and summarizes the plot. You may also provide the option for students to share their work in a discussion, so that they can learn from each other and review a variety of films.

Timeline Assignment

2009-03-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

Historians use timelines to create a graphical, sequential picture of history. Timelines are linear or comparative. The information in a timeline gives us perspective about the relationships between events and people. Textbooks and Hippocampus.org do this for students regularly to present information in a different and concise format. Below are a couple of timelines on the web you might use in your courses as resources for students.

http://www.historicaltimeline.com/ (This site includes 5 timelines that traces world history, leaders, religion, war, and inventions)

http://www.searchbeat.com/society/History/Timelines/ (This site has a long list of timelines for various topics)

http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmah/timeline.htm (American History Timeline by the Smithsonian Institute)

http://www.mnh.si.edu/Africanvoices/ax/fs/primary_fs.html?history+intro (This is the Smithsonian timeline for African history)

http://www.lkwdpl.org/study/timeline/ (This is a student guide to creating timelines and it also provides links to many useful timelines)

Organizing content and creating a timeline requires students to break information into parts, understand the impact of time and space on perspective, and identify trends. First, create a list of topics related to the unit or course. I provide several topics that have evolved over time and have many key events. For example, students might trace medical advancements in the United States from the Civil War through WWII. Students pick a topic that most interests them, but I am careful to give students specific start and end parameters for the timeline. Students create a time line of at least 15 events using either a word processing program or this really nice web 2.0 tool at http://www.timerime.com/ (you’ll also find some timelines here that you might find useful in your courses.). Each item on the timeline should include a brief description that explains the significance of that date. Students summarize the topic the outline is about in one concise paragraph. Students are encouraged to post their work to an optional Timeline discussion for classmates to use. This student generated bank of timelines can be a useful resource for them as the course progresses.

Primary and Secondary Source Evaluation

2009-03-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Last month I outlined a few different assignments I am using in the Western Civilization class that I am teaching for CCCOnline. In March I will continue to share some assessment and assignment designs, and I encourage you to share your assignments ideas here.

History students should analyze sources that are both Primary and Secondary and compare these documents' roles in history. First, develop a list of primary sources related to a Unit or Course. I started by looking at what was available with the digital text. For US history, Hippocampus.org has a great selection of primary sources associated directly with the content.
Students choose one of these primary sources from the list to study. I request that my students spend a certain amount of time reading the document if it is more than a chapter. Since my courses are lower level college courses, I do try to recognize that some documents in my list are very lengthy and more appropriate for a full read by a master or doctoral level student. To encourage students to still consider these and not be daunted by their length, I suggest putting a page or time limit will encourage them to explore these.

After reading the primary document, students find a secondary source (book, article, essay, etc) which discusses, explains, or comments on the issue or event in the primary source they chose. For example, if the primary source was Darwin’s writing on the origin of the species, students would look for a secondary source which comments on Darwin’s ideas (either positively or negatively). Again the secondary source could be quite lengthy, so for the purposes of this course I request they read a certain number or pages or amount of time.

The students summarize what they learned about the event from both the primary and secondary sources chosen. Then students compare the secondary source’s interpretation of the historical event or topic to the way that event or topic was presented in the primary source. The students must include in their evaluation of the documents the answers to these questions:

Who was the author and who was the audience of each document?
What was the purpose of the document or motive for writing it?
Does the writer have an obvious bias?
When was this document written, and what was the effect of the document on history?
What affect did the document have on the student’s view of this topic or event?

Finally, I encourage students to post their assignment for others to read in an optional study hall discussion. I hope to develop a sense of collaboration there by students sharing their research and having the opportunity to comment and make suggestion on each other's work before submitting it to me.

Topic of the Month: Black History Month

2009-02-22T07:10:00.000-08:00

Black History Month originated in the 1920’s when history books and classes often neglected the significant roles that minorities, particularly African Americans, played in US history. However, the question today is should educators still specifically address Black History Month separately from the rest of the study of US history?

Today’s modern textbook publishers focus a great deal on social history intertwining the contributions of all minorities throughout their texts. The content at Hippocampus.org is a good example of minority contributions incorporated as part of the whole US history story rather than a footnote or separate section. Our modern classrooms are integrated environments where students have quick internet access to information on nearly any topic that interests them.

Yet, an argument can be made that there is simply too much history to study in a survey course and that important contributions by some individuals and groups may never be recognized without specifically addressing them in a format like Black History Month.

I do not expect to resolve the debate in this blog. Below are some resources for teaching Black History Month, but I would argue that these resources might be valuable all year rather than just in February.

History.com

For interactive timeline, games, and more

List of books and teaching resources

Time magazine

More educator resources

Smithsonian Virtual Tour

Webliography

2009-02-15T07:55:00.000-08:00

Very similar to an annotated bibliography, I ask my students to create a short Webliography, on a specific term. There are many ways to do this and one that I would like to explore, but have not tried yet, is for students to research a bigger topic like Black History Month. I would like them to create the Webliography as a team on a wiki. Each semester the class would explore a different topic with access to previous semesters Webliographies for research reference for other assignments. As Learning Management systems offer diverse ways to create and grade wikis and other tools, I believe this format could become a preferred way of student collaboration, and overtake discussions role for building a sense of community.

Since I want to limit access to my students work and keep their work in the course, for now I use this webliography assignment. Learning how to research topics is not only an important skill for history courses but also for future history and college courses students take. Students practice acquiring information, breaking sources of information into parts, using library sources, demonstrating understanding of primary and secondary sources, and using technology. Also since there is a wealth of sources on the internet, some good and some bad, this assignment asks students to go a step further beyond just finding sources to explaining why they chose certain sources to include in their webliography.

Assignment Tasks:
1. Select a term from a list provided by the instructor.
2. Search the internet for web resources on this term.
3. Select the 5 best web sources.
4. Create a bibliography that lists the web sources.
5. Describe each source in a brief paragraph and why choose it as a reliable, informative source on the topic. Does the source include primary and secondary sources?
6. In addition to turning it in to the instructor, students can also post their assignment in an optional Study Hall discussion in the unit so that classmates can see the list of sources and possibly use them in upcoming assignments.

While writing a grammatically correct bibliography is an important skill for college students, I believe it is even more important for them to analyze those sources and be able to explain why they chose to use them.

Savenger Hunt Assignment

2009-02-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

In October, I described the idea of an internet scavenger hunt specifying that students might search a particular website for information. This week my students researched a particular identification term. I designed the assignment to explore several course competencies including acquiring information, breaking multiple sources down into parts, using library resources, recognizing secondary sources, and locating specific primary sources.

First, create a bank of terms for students to select a term that most interests them. Second, encourage students to search their course resources and the internet for the following that relates to that term (I require 10).
a. Map
b. Video Clip
c. Audio Clip
d. Photograph
e. Government document
f. Letter written by someone related to the term
g. Diary written by someone related to the term
h. Newspaper Article
i. History Journal Article
j. Web Article
k. Glossary or Wikipedia type definition of term
l. Picture of artifact
m. Artwork related to term
n. Novel or short story
o. Textbook Reference
p. Museum Exhibit
q. Memorial
r. Modern movie made about term
Then students submit a one-paragraph description of the term describing who, what, where, when, and historical significance of the term, their list of sources with a brief description of what they found at each source and how it relates to the term, and they identify the web source is a primary source or secondary source.

Another option to this assignment is to do a scavenger hunt for a larger topic like Black History Month. Create a list of what to look for and have students search in groups posting their results in discussions. How do you incorporate the concept of Primary/Secondary sources in your assignments?

Survey Assignment

2009-02-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

This semester I am teaching a new Western Civilization Course for CCCOnline that has some new assignments in it. Designed to incorporate course competencies, encourage originality, and be relevant to students by allowing them to focus on topics that most interest them, I believe these assignments are applicable to many courses and topics.

To provide my online students time to become acquainted with the course layout and their digital learning materials, the first assignment in the Introduction Unit asks students to create a survey of ten multiple-choice questions. They write only one question per chapter, because I want them to get an overview of the content in the course. The students then give this survey to ten people who are ten or older and record the results. They report their findings and share what they learned about the general-public’s knowledge of history and the reactions to the survey in a discussion. While giving the survey to people students inadvertently talk about history and the answers to the survey with their friends and family, which accomplishes one of the course competencies which is simply to speak about history. They also consider assessment design and delivery, which is particularly beneficial for my students who often plan to be high school teachers.

Then students post their five best or favorite questions for classmates to see and review. This student-generated content gives me an idea of the topics that most interest the class, and the students learn from each other by reviewing this bank of questions. Later in the semester, I will use my favorite questions for an extra credit quiz. This brings an added sense of relevancy when they are generating questions for their own exam.

First Hundred Days

2009-01-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

There is a great deal of discussion about what Obama’s first hundred days as President will include. I have even seen an article on the web about his first hundred hours. Where did this idea of evaluating the first hundred days originate and why it is it important?

This seemingly arbitrary evaluation by the press and nation of a President’s first hundred days began with Franklin D. Roosevelt. The nation was in a real economic crisis during the Great Depression and people wanted action fast. In 1933 Richard Norton Smith reported on the wave of reform that was designed to improve the nation’s mood and psyche.

In reality the President needs a Congress that will support and pass these changes. Since Roosevelt the expectation of action, particularly campaign promises, has increased. How a new President handles the issues passed down from the former President and how that new President sets out to accomplish his own goals in the first hundred days, often is a first real indicator of his leadership skills and what his four years will be like.

What will Obama accomplish in his first hundred days? Check out one of my favorite web sites WhiteHouse.Gov for weekly messages from Obama and his entire agenda. (I really love the changes I found there this week!) Additionally, many groups are challenging him to accomplish their own agenda like on the energy crisis. Much like when Roosevelt became President, the nation today wants immediate action and has high hopes for Obama to accomplish the “change” he promised. Only time and history will tell.

Inauguration/January 20th

2009-01-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

Inauguation Ticket from LOC.GOV

We all will witness a very historic inauguration on January 20th. While pondering our future, it is a good time to reflect on the history of Presidential inaugurations. This event occurs at the start of my spring semester, but it is of such great importance that it will at least be a discussion topic. Not only is there a peaceful change in party, which frankly does not happen everywhere, but we are also seeing the inauguration that broke the race barrier. What a great way to bring relevancy to our learners!

First, to understand the significance of the 44th President, we should first reflect on the lives of the men who preceded Obama. Who were the Presidents of the United States? The median age of our Presidents is fifty-four. Thirty-one served in a military post, this includes state militias and the National Guard. Six of our Presidents came from Ohio, and six others came from New York making those states tied for the most Presidents. Twenty-six, including Obama, list lawyer on their resume as a former occupation before becoming President. Grouped together these men have been identified as Christian, using a broad definition including diesm, and some did not publicly identify with any church. Eight have died in office. Also, take a moment to reflect on who were the Vice-Presidents as they too take office on inauguration day, and even though these men often take a back seat in history, they are potentially one fatal day away from being President.

From protest marches to inauguration balls, what happens on inauguration day? Most importantly what messages have new President’s delivered in their inauguration speeches?

Want to do more research? Check out some of these sites.
Presidential facts

President Biographical facts

President quiz

Smithsonian Inauguration information

Interesting Inauguration summary

Library of Congress Collection

Teacher Resources

George Washington’s Address

Top 100 Speeches

Audio of FDR’s speech

Inauguration Trivia

When all the celebrations are over, Obama will enter the Oval Office and start his new job. What will Obama’s first hundred days bring? Next week we will consider the significance of the first hundred days.

First Family

2009-01-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

While the nation elects a President, he or she brings with them family to live in the White House. The significance of the First Lady should not be underestimated. Publicly, her role evolved from hostess and manager of the White House kitchen and décor, to ambassador of the President’s policies and leader for charitable causes. Quietly, the first lady might have influence over Presidential decisions and work to preserve a positive image for the President. If a President did not have a living wife, he might bring his mother, daughter, and even sister in-law to help with the “womanly” duties in managing the White House parties and other social occasions. Many of these women were well-educated leaders in their own right. Some truly stand out for their contributions to society and the world. President Bill Clinton even appointed his wife, Hillary, as head of a task force to improve healthcare. Time will tell what Michelle Obama’s interests and leadership roles will be.

The President’s children did not draw much attention in the public in the early days, but today Obama’s children and topics like where they are going to go to private school are apparently news. For more extensive research on the first families visit Doug Wead’s site or purchase his book All the President’s Children where he documents 17 years of research. Obama's daughters are pretty young to make notorious news but as you will find that was not uncommon for other Presidential children.

We look forward to the inauguration of a new President, but the nation gets more than just the man.

Presidents and their Pets

2009-01-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

In honor of the upcoming inauguration of our 44th President, this month I will focus on “all things Presidential.” In December, the new first family was in the news and internet quite a bit about what kind of pet would call the White House home. So on the lighter side this week, what kinds of pets did former Presidents have?

Interestingly, most of our Presidents have had pets ranging from Madison’s parrot to two bear cubs that Lewis and Clark brought Jefferson. Early Presidents had live-stock including their main mode of transportation and some favorite companions, horses. On the more unusual side, John Quincy Adams had an alligator and silk worms and Martin Van Buren had two tigers. A few Presidents didn’t have pets: Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and Chester A. Arthur.

For a list of pets owned by Presidents

Presidential Pet Museum has some pictures of the pets

Funny site but also includes a list of Pets for the Presidents.

Slide show of some Presidents with the pets

What does this all mean about Presidents or our nation? I’m not sure. However, these pets have become part of the public relations plan for modern leaders. Down in the polls, how about a few pictures with a cute four-legged friend? Want to seem more down to earth and relate to the common man, play catch with a dog on the White House lawn…Think I’ve gone too far, maybe, but check out White House Kids.gov. You will find Barney Cam videos.

Medical Miracles

2008-12-21T07:43:00.000-08:00

This weekend my four year old daughter has been very sick with what appears to be a stomach virus. As I tried to sleep next to her last night, I was thankful to know that down the street are two emergency care centers and one hospital. I was thankful for the nausea medicine the doctor gave her that brought her some relief from hours of vomiting, and I was thankful for the medical knowledge I had from school and other cultural sources. While not understanding all the medical science, I do understand what a virus is and how our body fights it. How lonely and frightening it must have been for mothers earlier in our history to know their child was sick but not to have help and medicine close by.

A pioneer child might get injured in numerous ways or become ill with various epidemics like malaria. However, even a simple cold could be serious. A Colorado pioneer mother might have relied on home remedies such as herbs that she grew in her garden. She might also call on a self-proclaimed doctor who stuffed all his equipment into saddlebags. Doctors had little organized medical training, so they resorted to strange treatments like laying the patient bare in the snow and pouring cold water on them until they shook, or they administered large doses of what seem like archaic drugs today. Therefore, calling the doctor was often a last resort and feared by many.

We often take for granted modern medicine, but by comparison it seems quite miraculous at times. Below are some interesting sites for researching this more.

You will want to visit the United States National Library of Medicine as it includes video, images and articles on the history of medicine.

Another interesting site is the Dittrick Medical History Center.

Visit a Large Archive of Articles on Medical History.

From the invention of Bandaides to Artificial Hearts, this sites describes many medical inventions that have changed our lives.

Smithosian information on medical history

Hippocampus article on Progressive reform of medicine.

As we look to a new President in office, this is an interesting site about unknown illnesses of former Presidents.

May your holidays be healthy and all that you hope for!

US Christmas Holiday Traditions

2008-12-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

By now, most of our students and you are taking a very much deserved break from school. My guess is you and I need a break from serious posts as well. The picture I used here came from a public domain site.

In this post, I've collected sites about some of the holiday traditions and commercialism that has become part of our history and culture in the US. Whether you like it or not, the holidays have become big business and are successful for a reason. As a child, I remember looking forward to each season with its unique holiday fun, and now as a parent I look forward to them even more. I also worked in retail in high school and college, and I recognize that among all the bustle and purchase of things, the meaning of the holidays is sometimes lost. However, I believe that no matter how out of control we get with shopping, decorating, and activities, we are united by the holidays as a family, community, and nation. As you might expect, some of these sites contain advertisements and silly fun.

For the history of Christmas and Santa in the USA as well as other countries. After all many our American traditions originated in other countries.

More holiday traditions information and fun

Santa Claus History

All things Christmas

Colonial Williamsburg Christmas

More Colonial Christmas Traditions

History of Eggnog

Antebellum Christmas history

Timeline of Christmas Lights

Here’s a Congressional Record about the role of the Christmas tree industry

Here is a reading list on Christmas from the Smithsonian Institute

History of Shopping

More shopping center history

Finally, your kids will love this one, but it doesn't have much to do with history, Northpole.com
Happy Holidays everyone!

Self-Evaluation

2008-12-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

The fall semester is drawing to a close and students are taking final exams that evaluate their learning. However, what methods do you have to evaluate your success as an instructor?

Your institution may deliver student surveys. This anonymous and direct communication from students is valuable and launches some of my best ideas, but sometimes these results are very skewed by a couple unhappy students. I also consider performance on assignments and the number of questions I may have had regarding some of them. If students really struggled with something, then I need to go back to the drawing board on that concept. I also include a couple checking-in type discussions for feedback. I ask in the middle of the semester “How’s it going,” so that I can hear from students about what is working or not for them and share some ideas of how they could get the most out of the course materials. Another discussion at the end of the semester asks “What did you think”. Here students are encouraged to provide their thoughts about assignments, discussions, workload, and digital content. I thank each of them, positive or negative, and again get some of my best ideas directly from them.

Getting student feedback is important, but you should also consider using some rubrics for course design to evaluate your courses. CCCOnline gives faculty a self-evaluation list to consider. It asks a series of yes/no questions to help faculty carry on their inner-dialogue any time of the year. Other rubrics are more formal such as the Blackboard Greenhouse Project and Quality Matters. For more, you might also check out the De Anza College page for Excellence in Online Teaching and Learning and Best Practices in Online Teaching at Connexions.

We usually get a little extra time between fall and spring semesters, so no matter what, take a break over the holidays and then take time evaluate your course and online teaching.

Topic of the Month: Pearl Harbor

2008-11-30T07:47:00.000-08:00

U.S.S. Shaw exploding during the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941(National Archives, Still Picture Branch, 80-G-16871 )

Next weekend on December 7th our nation remembers the devastating attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941. This attack by a fleet of six Japanese aircraft carriers propelled the United States into World War II. My students enjoy a comparison discussion of this event and the US reaction after 9/11 and the reaction of the nation.

Another assignment to teach research skills and to learn about Pearl Harbor is to have students work together in a Wiki to generate a Webliography of sources about Pearl Harbor. Encourage students to break the sources they find into categories such as Naval History, Eye Witness Accounts, Photographs, Japanese Perspective etc…As they post sources they find, require them to also include a summary of the information at the site and any concerns they may have about the integrity of the content.

To Get students started, this day that would “live in infamy” has many wonderful resources available on the web. Here are a few:

For an eye witness account

Many pictures related to the attack

US Naval History Website including eye witness accounts and key basic logistical information

And another US Naval History Website

U-Tube group of pictures about Pearl Harbor

Cool interactive map from National Geographic and numerous other resources

The National Archives Site also has many primary sources such as audio pieces of the Day of Infamy Speech

For some Critical Thinking you might also check out the Library of Congress “Man on the Street” Interviews

For more Critical Thinking consider the Japanese view of this attack. Check out this site to get started

What assignments and activities do you use to teach about this important event?

Thanksgiving

2008-11-22T06:16:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I like to ask students in a bonus discussion to consider the history behind the holiday that we all enjoy and to share their family traditions. Another option for higher ed is for students to pick an historical figure and explain why they are thankful for that person's actions.

For perspective, I asked my 6 and 4 year olds to blurt out things that they think of with Thanksgiving. Here is the down and dirty list as given by my daughters: Turkey, Pumpkin Pie, Holiday, Mashed Potatoes, Family, Butter Rolls, Green Bean Casserole, Stuffing, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Laughter, Celebration, Hugs, Warmth, Pecan Pie, Thankful, Mayflower, Pilgrims, (These two I contribute to the Peanuts Mayflower episode), Table, Indians, Eat, Kisses, Love, Colorful Leaves, Decorations, Cloth Napkins, Table Cloth. This list certainly gives you an idea of what our holiday entails at the Kaemmerling house at least from two apparently hungry children. By taking time to consider this holiday, the students connect with each other and with instructors, as we have certain commonalities that unite us and connect us to the past.

Here are a few web sources you might also share with your students:
Mayflower myths
History of Thanksgiving
Plymouth Plantation
Fun thanksgiving things
Mayflower Society History
Pilgrim Lore
Mayflower history
Presidential Proclamations
Hippocampus Information

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

New History Hippocampus Page

2008-11-15T06:18:00.000-08:00

The holidays are fast approaching and I wanted to highlight a new Hippocampus History link on the right of this blog page that will make you feel like a kid in a toy store, at least if you love history resources the way I do. At this site you will find some of my articles from this blog, but you will also find highlighted Hippocampus lessons such as today’s Condition of Slaves.

As you know, I’m a big fan of the history lessons that are available at Hippocampus, and whether you are using these in your courses as a text replacement or content supplement, this new web link is sure to help you become more familiar with the history lessons at Hippocampus. In addition, they have included links to other open resources like OER (Open Educational Resources) and the Hewlett Foundation.

On the top right of the page is also a link to customize and create your own hippocampus interface, so as you find lessons that you want students to use, you can create your own page that highlights those lessons and hides those that are not appropriate for your course at this time.

Enjoy playing with the lessons and features at this new Hippocampus page!

To Test or Not to Test with High Stakes Exams

2008-11-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

This week I have been grading all-essay midterms in one course and in another reviewing research paper outlines. I am pondering the value of high stakes exams in a freshmen/sophomore level course. Frankly, I have long been running an internal debate about the value of this kind of assessment, which some universities like the University of California require. I am hoping that you all will join me in this debate and share your ideas, alternatives, and resources.

Some pros for high stakes exams:
1. Prevent online cheating by watching tone of essay assessment versus other assignments.
2. Examine higher levels of thinking with essay exams, particularly the important skill of thinking on your feet, recalling information to make an argument, and then synthesizing all that quickly together in a cohesive way.
3. Students in my courses it seems perform better on the essay exams rather than other formats like multiple-choice and matching. Essentially, they can show off what they know.
4. Gives immediate purpose to students for practice assignments.
5. Gives students practice for exams in upper levels of college that are likely to be all essay, but also exposes students to the real world experience of composing under pressure.

Some cons for high stakes exams:
1. Students are very tempted to plagiarize or cheat to do well on the exam that is a significant portion of their grade.
2. Online courses really are open-book unless students go to a test center, so the exam may not really demonstrate more knowledge than other formative assignments.
3. All-essay exams often test writing ability more than a student’s knowledge of history, which is often reflected with some students not “writing” much and scoring poorly.
4. Online exams can be even more intimidating than face to face exams due to technology concerns, and there is no one to ask a question of once you start.
5. There are many alternatives to one or two big assessments per semester that may evaluate student knowledge of content just as effectively if not better.

With the recent push for exit high school exams and other standardized tests in our nation, many states are reporting negatively about their impact. If you have exams, here is an article with ideas for writing good exams and another about complaints by students about how exams sometimes don't relate to what they study and do in practice.

I want to hear from you! Do you use exams? Are they an effective evaluation of your learning objectives? What alternatives do you use instead of exams?

Election History

2008-11-02T13:39:00.000-08:00

I definitely prefer studying social history over political or economic history, but truly the three are so related you cannot focus on one without considering the others. This semester I am offering a bonus discussion about the role of elections and their sometimes unpredictable or historical outcomes and their effect on our lives.

At Hippocampus.org, there are many wonderful pages regarding historical elections. At the hippocampus, use the search box and type the word election and you will get ten pages of results. Here are some examples you might point out to students.

1. Election of 1892 when the Omaha Platform called for secret ballots.

2. Election of 1824 when Jackson beat Adams in the popular vote but did not win the electoral vote.

3. Election of 1948 when Truman had a surprise win over Dewey.

4. Election of 1932 when Roosevelt defeated Hoover to try to bring the nation out of the Great Depression and was the encumbent for several upcoming elections.

5. Election of 1864 when the nation was divided by Civil War.

6. Election of 1968 when Nixon was elected during theVietnam war.

7. Election of 2000 when George W. Bush was elected.

In addition to using the search feature at the Hippocampus site, you might also consider referring to the American Government course offered at the site. One particularly interesting article is on voting demographics.

Another great resource for you and your students is the History Channel web site that includes campaign speeches, video, ads, and their own list of the top five elections. Check out this .gov site as well for some great election information that includes voting statistics, election history, and current events with the 2008 election. All this should help students see the significance of their vote and the impact of citizens' decisions on history today and in our future.

Happy Voting Day!

Topic of the Month: Jamestown

2008-10-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

I grew up near Richmond, Virginia, and my grandfather loved to take day trips with the family to various local historic locations like Jamestown, the site of the first permanent English colony. Years ago the museum was free, so when I discovered they now charge admission, I was disappointed. However since I have traveled there with my children, I would happily pay that fee. What they created is a hands-on living-history experience for all ages .

At our last visit, the special exhibit was the Jamestown Settlement Artifact Odyssey, which includes images of nature, artifacts, and people John White painted as he visited the Algonquian Indians in North Carolina in 1580. I found these images fascinating, but my 6 and 3 year olds were quite bored. A permanent exhibit in the Galleries demonstrates the English, African, and Powhatan cultures meeting with artifacts, life-size dioramas, and full-scale structures.

My children, however, could not wait to get outside to the hands-on engaging history experience that awaited them. While guided tours are available, my children explored and learned on their own in the Powhatan Indian Village that included houses for sleeping and storage. Children can touch the beds, walls, and items in the houses. They can also grind corn, tan hides, and visit with the museum volunteers in costume. From there, they ran down to the riverfront where they climbed aboard replicas of the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery where they tried the sailor’s bunks and were taught to raise the anchor and steer the craft with a tiller. Then we moved on to recreation of the 1610-1614 James Fort . They explored the homes, church, and storehouse. A cannon is shot off every so often, so be prepared to hear that noise as well as learn how colonists used matchlock muskets. Emily found the colonial armor very heavy and couldn't imagine walking around in it often.

At Jamestown historical facts collides with cultural legends about Pocahontas, John Rolfe, and John Smith. While I can not capture the hands-on experience that I would like all my students and their families to have, I do offer my students the option of traveling to and reporting on a museum experience in replace of a homework assignment.

History Detectives

2008-10-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

Get students actively involved in history and excite them about their research by making them history detectives. Like the PBS TV show, break students into groups to research and “solve” a history topic that you assign. Visit the PBS site for some great topic ideas, research tips, games, and Lesson Plans.

Pick a variety of topics to cover a wide range of history and provide detailed rubrics and guidelines for group work. Some examples might be Did Thomas Jefferson father children with Sally Hemings, Was Billy the Kid actually shot by Pat Garrett, Did Oswald assassinate Kennedy, and What happened to Amelia Earhart?

Here is a brief outline of what you might require:

Identify the agreed upon facts of the event.
Review the common theories of what happened.
Organize and evaluate the reliability of available sources.
Evaluate theories based on their research and either support one of them with details or develop their own hypothesis about the event.
Submit to a discussion a report of their findings in the above 4 steps.

Not only have you encouraged students to work together as a team and problem solve, you are also actively engaging them in important research skills and history. What kind of group projects do you assign students?

Historical Scavenger Hunts

2008-10-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

We want students to actively engage with content and explore their resources. The first day of class, your history instructor probably reviewed the syllabus and schedule for the course. Our syllabi are available in the online course, but we have to count on students to find it and read it. How do we ensure online students make the most of the information provided in our courses? One method is a Scavenger Hunt Assignment at the beginning of the semester. The answers are not necessarily as important as where they find the information, so require students to include with the answer the link to the page where the information is located.

Additionally, some of my best instructors would encourage us to look at our new texts at the beginning of the semester. What features did it include? What was the layout? How do you quickly find information? However, my text is the NROC materials located at Hippocampus.org. What courses are offered for free at this site? What two views can you use to access the History I content? In course view, how many Units are there? In Unit 1, Chapter 1, how many explore activities are there and describe your favorite.

Another way to use the Scavenger Hunt concept during the semester is to send them to a specific place on the web. When we are unable to send students to a physical location, some museums also have wonderful online sites that students can visit instead. The Smithsonian is an awesome place to see in person, but the online materials are also exhaustive for an exploration project as well. Like leading students in the actual Smithsonian so that you do not loose anyone, you might narrow the hunt to one topic such as American Women’s history. One web page at the Smithsonian that would encourage students to reflect over a period of time and that would encourage them to explore figures often left out of texts is an American Women Page that students could search for answers about prominent women in history.

Rather than dictating the answers, use a Scavenger Hunt assignment to require students to actively find information on their own.

Bringing History to Life

2008-10-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

This month we will explore ways to move history from boring facts to a live experience for our students even in the online environment. Many of you may remember sitting in one dull history class after another in junior high, high school, and even in college. The instructor might drone on about dates, names, and places but never really pull the students into the historical moment. The question: how can we actively engage our students with artifacts and more, especially in the online environment? I will share various techniques and tools that I use, but I really want to hear your ideas as well!

As you may recall in a previous post, my courses do not use a traditional hard copy text. Instead, I use the interactive and engaging Hippocampus.org content. The numerous pictures particularly illustrate topics in a way that words simply do not. In addition to the many wonderful illustrations, the content includes primary documents and video. Using this kind of content is a good first step to getting online students engaged.

However, some learners, particularly the kinesthetic or tactile, may need to go a step further. I offer my students the option of visiting museums in their area and reporting on that experience as an alternative to some homework assignments. They may visit any museum that deals with any part of the course they are taking. Then they must report on their experience and overall impression of the museum. Was the cost for what you saw appropriate? Would you go again? Were facilities adequate and handicap accessible? How effective were the displays? Were you able to touch anything? Was there a children’s hands on area? Then they must report about what they learned, particularly a part of the exhibit that really excited and engaged them. Students post this report in a discussion for other classmates to read so that those students can either plan to visit the museum themselves, or at least learn a little bit about what that student saw and found interesting. Museums tell the story of our history in a way texts simply do not. They provide artifacts and vast models for visitors to experience. Next week, I will explore the rise of Living History Museums, and we will explore techniques to add a more acitve history experience in our courses.

Topic of the Month: Natural Disasters

2008-09-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

This month we focused on making history more relevant to our students by using interviews and biographies of people students know. To continue that theme, the topic of the month is natural disasters. Whether or not a student has experienced a hurricane, tornado, or flood themselves, they either know someone who has or have at least witnessed the destruction on TV. No matter how great or small the loss of human life, property damage, and outstanding acts of heroism, the media and the nation become fixated on the stories of human triumph and tragedy.

September is traditionally a month with many devastating hurricanes, the most recent being Hurricane Ike in Texas which left my in-laws who live well north of Houston without electricity for more that a week. Ike can be compared to the deadliest hurricane in US history that also occurred in Galveston, TX in 1900. Some natural disasters even have great impact on politics and the economy, like Hurricane Katrina or like the Great Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Other events like the San Francisco Fire and Earthquake or the Johnstown flood let students reflect on the development of local government agencies like police and fire departments. When an event occurs or when one is pertinent to the students in my course, I add an extra credit discussion question on the history of natural disasters in US history. What happened? What did we learn from the event? What, if any, government actions occurred during or after the event?

In the past, communication about impending storms was nearly non-existent. Today we get warning of some potential natural disasters like Hurricanes and Blizzards, but even with modern technology, forecasters sometimes get it wrong and some citizens become complacent until their looking at the eye of the storm over their home. Students, like the nation, want to talk about these events, and that is an opportunity to talk about other important natural disasters of the past. Students need a place to share their own experiences, frustrations, and awe but also learn about similar events and put the current disaster in perspective. One helpful resource is this interactive map that shows locations of some of the worst disasters by the type of event.

In no particular order, ten natural disasters worth remembering and maybe discussing in your courses
1. Great dust bowl of 1930s
2. 1900 Hurricane in Galveston
3. San Francisco Fire and Earthquake in 1906
4. Hurricane Katrina
5. Okeechobee Hurricane in 1928
6. Johnstown flood 1889
7. Peshtigo Fire 1871
8. Tri-State Tornado 1925
9. Blizzard of 1888
10. Great Mississippi Flood of 1927

Witnessing History

2008-09-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

One assignment I remember as a young person was a biography I wrote about my grandfather that I titled “A Happy Man from Maryland.” Silly I know, but I was in 6th grade. This post is a little late because this weekend my daughters and I traveled to Richmond, Virginia to celebrate my Grandfather’s 80th Birthday.

Consider the history witnessed in his life. He was raised in a small fishing community in Rock Hall, Maryland during the Great Depression and World War II, where three was a great retreat for those in Baltimore as an amusement park . This town with many German immigrants saw families including his change the spelling of their last names to sound more American in WWI and again in WWII. As a high school graduate in 1947, he married and began a family. Becoming a salesman, his family of 4 moved to Richmond, Virginia . As a sales man, he traveled the country visiting places like Las Vegas and Denver as small yet growing cities in the West when it was emerging as an important part of the nation’s economy. Like many Americans in the 50s and 60s, his family moved to a prominent suburb . His children were in high school during the Civil Rights Movement and integration of schools . His son joined the Air National Guard during the Vietnam, war and in the 70s, he became a grandparent 4 times. Retired in 2008, he is witnessing the election of the fourteenth different president in his life.

Today we take technological advancements for granted and at times even get annoyed that the computer you buy today is out of date practically when you open the box. Reflecting on the technology that changed in the last eighty years, my grandfather witnessed the movement from silent films to today’s blockbusters, from radio shows to color tv , from ice boxes to the refrigerator, from operators running the phone system to the cell phone, from the first computer that filled a room to the modern age of information and the internet, from the first man on the moon to space stations.

Without sharing great personal details about a person, asking students to write this kind of biography helps them review concepts and understand that history is not just names and dates to memorize but part of our family and personal experience. Take a moment to reflect on the history you and those closest to you have witnessed first hand.

Interview Assignment: Post Civil War History

2008-09-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

The interview assignment in our Post Civil War History course is a class favorite. This opportunity for student-generated content asks students to interview anyone in their lives about any historical event. They can interview about any period like the Great Depression, any war including our current war, or about any key event in the interviewee's life like a natural disaster. I leave it open as a good overview of the course and to allow students to research something that interests them. One modification to the project is to have students interview about a specific period to build a database, or your students could also post their assignments to a wiki for a collection that would grow each semester. Have students visit some other online archives like the Rutgers Oral History Archives , the National Park Service collection, or the Vietnam Center and Archive .

In this oral history project, I ask students to interview anyone they want about any topic they are comfortable sharing with our class. Oral history is an important part of recording the past for family traditions but is a part of our national experience as well. Students are encouraged to study the topic before the interview, write thoughtful questions to elicit detailed responses, and to be prepared with additional questions if the responses are short. Students post in a discussion a one paragraph description of the event, person, or period that the interview covers. They are required to ask a minimum of 10 questions, and they post the questions and responses in the discussion.

Students often thank me for this assignment because they learn about the historical experiences of people around them. It gives them an opportunity to learn something special and unique about a grandparent, parent, or even co-worker. They feel a connection to the person interviewed, as well as to history.

I like this assignment because we cover a wide range of history, learn about each other and national history, and we explore the significance of oral history. Students get a sense of the significance of history in our lives today including their own. Some resources to help get students started are this outline of why and how to interview for oral history , the Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide, and finally this guide from the Center for the Study of History and Memory.

Visit Thomas Jefferson's Library

2008-09-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

The Hippocampus materials that I use to replace a traditional text include many features like interactivity, audio files, and concise information. Another resource you might incorporate in a course is Thomas Jefferson’s Library. In 1815 Thomas Jefferson wrote letters to convince Congress to purchase his personal library and create a National Library. This wonderful idea only continues to grow with Library of Congress websites that bring many of the resources available in the building to Americans across the nation and world.

Thomas Jefferson’s Library could enhance history, political science, theology, and anthropology courses. This resource is a gold mine for instructors and students who are looking for interactive activities, manipulative primary resources, lesson plans, web casts, graphics, and movies.

At this point in the semester, many of you are exploring the Early American Cultures. Check out the exhibit to see many useful resources, particularly the artifacts used to tell the history of these cultures. Students and instructors can interact with the artifacts by zooming in, seeing interpretations, and rotate the object. Another exhibit currently running is one on Creating the United States. Both will bring history to life for your students.

Additionally, there are many primary source documents and books. Documents include bibles and of course the Declaration of Independence . With these, you can turn the pages of the “original” documents, zoom in, and have added features like interpretation and explanations as you move your cursor over them.

There are also many interactive activities like word searches and crosswords. One of my favorites is the Branding of America which is a map with active spots that explain some of the logic behind brands like Buster Brown. Others include poetry, political cartoons, maps and cover a wide range of topics from Civil Rights to holidays.

Another helpful feature for instructors of all age groups is well-organized lesson plans. Don’t limit yourself by looking for ones in the age group of your students. You can always customize their good ideas to be age appropriate.

What are some of your favorite resources?

Topic of the Month: National Convention

2008-08-31T07:46:00.000-07:00

Relating students’ lives today to history is sometimes a challenge, but when events like the Democratic National Convention and the upcoming Republican National Convention occur in a semester, we can link current events that matter to students to events of the past. For example, did you know the 2008 Democratic National Convention was not the first to be held in Denver ?

One assignment for the election year is to watch some of the speeches at the Conventions, particularly those of the nominees, and report as a historian about what they witnessed. This is a good opportunity to discuss that historians try to look objectively at current events with an understanding of the past and its relationship to the present. Prior to the Conventions, spend some time exploring with students the purpose of conventions and the democratic process. Require students to review the events at past conventions for comparison purposes. An especially unique and fun theme this year is to compare the 1908 convention held in Denver to our modern Convention 100 years later.

Customize a discussion for students about the electoral process and the history of conventions. What are some of the most remembered speeches? What were the party platforms? Are there key topics or recurring themes? Were there protests and what about? Where were the Conventions held and who participated in the events?

This tie between modern elections and the past can help students get a real sense that they are not only witnessing but are an important part of history. Later this fall we will explore more ideas around the elections, please share your ideas with us.

Finally, since tomorrow is Labor Day , I would like to share that I often ask a bonus discussion question about why we celebrate certain holidays. I also like to ask students to share their traditions and they often find commonality with each other and me in that process. Happy Labor Day everyone!

Student Voices

2008-08-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last week we explored ways to add audio content for our students. This week I want to share my experience of asking students to create audio content to share with each other as an assignment.

When considering this assignment, I found free and easy to use programs, Audacity and Gabcast. Both programs are free, and the Gabcast option, while not very easy to edit, allows students to record themselves with no special equipment or downloads on their computer. I provide instructions in the assignment on how to use and access these tools, but I accept the assignment created with different tools.

The assignment is to create a short 2-5 minute recording describing an identification term like Valley Forge. Students are required to post the sound file in a discussion for other students to hear along with a transcript of the speech in case others have trouble opening their sound file. This serves a practical purpose, and students think about their writing in a whole new way when they write for a speech. Students are required to listen to and comment on at least two classmates’ speeches and descriptions. This allows students to add to each others’ comments, provide feedback, and learn about the topics from each other. This student-generated content can be a great review of concepts and terms in a course. In my course, this assignment serves as a review for the final exam in the wrap up unit.

At first this assignment is a bit intimidating to students who are unsure how the technology will work. However, students do record themselves successfully, post it, and listen to each other without much frustration or trouble. In fact, some report they really enjoyed the uniqueness of the assignment, hearing their classmates' voices, and plan to continue to use the free programs for other purposes after the course ends. The rubric for this assignment emphasizes the content with less points assigned to the actual recording of the speech to lower the stakes just in case someone struggled with the technology. Other, more experienced students take this assignment a step further by creating video of themselves delivering the speech or add slide shows to their audio. Though I haven't experimented in a courseVoice Thread may be an option to take this assignment to the next level as well.

Look for our special Topic of the Month next week.

Adding a Voice

2008-08-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite history instructors weaved interesting, engaging tales of events and people in their lectures. How do we add this story-telling component of teaching history to our online courses? Add audio files.

Add audio pieces to your courses to communicate with your students, personalize the course, and appeal to audio learners. There are many ways to create audio, but there are many resources already available. For example, The Free Information site has many recorded speeches including some less famous by Stokely Carmichael and William Jennings Bryan and sound files like the recording of Appollo 13 astronauts reporting "Houston we've had a problem." NROC and hippocampus already have mp3 files and audio lectures created for their US history courses. These files are complimented with slides shows that you can add to your courses to make them more dynamic and explain concepts to students.

Do you want to create original files for your courses to use semester after semester? Try a free downloadable program called Audacity to create, edit, and refine audio materials of your own. Consider adding an audio welcome and recorded lectures for each unit in your courses. You should provide transcripts or at least similar content in print form for those who have trouble downloading mp3 files or are not interested in using them. I found that my students were relieved to have the audio files to listen to while multi-tasking. Some students read the lectures while they listened to my voice, and some said they cooked dinner or folded laundry while they listened to the lectures.

Another free program you might use is Gabcast . This needs no special download on your computer or equipment. You call a toll free number and record yourself making a quick message, announcement, or explanation for students. Personalize your course this way by adding audio announcements, reminders, or quick explanations.

In the past, online history courses were very text based requiring hours of reading for the students. Now there are many ways to create audio for your courses quickly and easily. In fact, next week we’ll explore student generated audio content.

Research Papers

2008-08-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

The summer semester is about to conclude, and I am grading the final research papers. Last week we explored providing students some guidance for researching online. This week we’ll explore organizing and directing the research paper writing process for lower level history courses.

Research and writing are both important skills for history students. However, few students come to beginning history courses with strong skills in these areas. Research papers intimidate this level of student and can be prone to plagiarism issues due to student fear of high stakes assignments. Therefore, break down the research writing assignments into graded checkpoints to monitor, provide developmental and regular feedback, lower the stakes, and reduce the likelihood of plagiarism.

Checkpoint 1 is to write a thesis statement for a short research paper. Provide sources on brainstorming and narrowing the topic to something manageable. This step is particularly difficult for students who will often write a thesis that is simply a fact or very broad. Students who claim to hate history also need encouragement to discover topics that interest them.

Checkpoint 2 is to provide a rough draft of a Works Cited Page that includes both primary and secondary sources. This assignment has a required number of sources and checks for formatting issues. Provide Sources as guides. This assignment sets the expectation for proper citation in the final assignment and emphasizes the importance of research before writing.

Checkpoint 3 is an outline of the research assignment in complete sentences. Require the thesis statement, three main ideas, and at least three supporting details for each main idea. This encourages students to develop a framework for their paper and to start to exploring how they will organize and state their ideas. At this time, I also have a Research Paper Discussion that allows students to ask any questions they may have about the assignment from me and their classmates. If they are having trouble generating a good set of questions, I might ask some of my own about plagiarism, online writing lab services, and requirements for the paper.

There are no additional checkpoints for a grade. Where is the rough draft? I offer an extra credit discussion where students can submit their paper for review by their classmates and provide feedback to each other for extra points. This is not required for students who are not comfortable, but is an option for some peer review. I check the quality and tone of the responses, but I do not offer feedback here on the papers. I've found the feedback provided by peers in this discussion is often very thoughtful and accurate in assessment.

The final paper is worth less points than the other checkpoints combined emphasizing the significance of the process over the final product at this level. This organization leads students through the research and writing process providing them regular feedback on the assignment but also confidence to write something on their own. Students learn about a history topic that interests them and develop writing and research skills for future history courses.

What kinds of research assignments do you use in your courses? What are the pros and cons of these assignments?

Web Searching....

2008-08-02T06:19:00.000-07:00

Think back to your first research paper in college. You had a topic and maybe used a card catalog or an early library search engine on a computer. The library seemed huge and overwhelming…How did you find what you needed in a reasonable amount of time?

Today finding reliable, useful resources on the web can be overwhelming, challenging, and time consuming too. There is a plethora of good and bad information out on the web, and for a researching student, that can be very daunting. Students are concerned they may pick a misleading site and often do. As instructors we can act as librarians of the web pointing students to appropriate, strong resources.

Whether you are a student or an instructor, if you haven’t visited Hippocampus , check out its great search feature. It looks through all the existing courses for a topic. For example, you might be researching religion for a history paper. In the search box, type “religion” then you will get a list of everything it can find on that site related to the word religion from all the courses. The possibilities here for using the related items in any course in addition to the history content makes the spectrum of the resources even more helpful to a student or instructor.

Another good resource with a fun search engine is American Memory from the Library of Congress. If you type in religion, you’ll get over 2000 hits, so you might direct students to be more specific. For instance if you type Puritan in the search box, you only get 189 hits.

Providing a framework and guiding your students’ research on the web isn’t doing their work for them, but rather more like pointing them to the right floor and section in a library. Always listed on the right are some other useful starting points for students like the National Archives and Smithsonian. What web resources do you think should be added to this list?

Topic of the Month: George Washington

2008-07-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

Each month we will explore one topic and the related resources and ideas on how to teach it in our US History courses.

On July Fourth, we celebrate the birth of our nation. George Washington’s life uniquely illustrates this tumultuous time. He served in the French and Indian War, Commanded the Revolutionary Army, and then served as the first President of the United States under the Constitution.

When students learn about Washington’s life, they also learn about a defining part of US history. In a discussion, I like to ask my students who was the greatest founding father. This discussion allows us to review many of the key figures, but Washington is usually the number one pick. Then we examine the challenges Washington faced as Commander of the Revolutionary Army and then Commander and Chief of the nation. What were his strengths, weaknesses? What precedents did he establish?

There are many wonderful resources available online about one of our greatest presidents. There are biographies, primary sources, online treasure hunts, interactives, and a tour of Washington's home, Mt. Vernon. Any of these could be used to enhance a discussion or assignment on Washington.

What do you use to excite students about Washington and the significance of the Revolution? What resources do you use?

Blackboard Green House Exemplary Course Award

2008-07-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

I just returned from Las Vegas and the Blackboard World Conferene, where I accepted the Blackboard Green House Excemplary Course Program Award for CCCOnline's History from Civil War to Present Course. While earning this award was a great honor and seeing Vegas for the first time was fun, the process of evaluating the history course based on their rubric and finding ways to improve it was challenging and rewarding. More importantly students are successful and even report enjoying the course format.

The history course is dynamic, engaging, and interactive. The use of the NROC content to replace a traditional text and engage the learners impressed the program's judges and the visitors to my poster session. What many couldn't believe was how easy it is to access and use the hippocampus content.

You can tour the winning course that ran last fall. Since then more modifications and improvements were made but the overall framework and use of digital content from NROC remains. In future posts, I will be exploring some of the assignments in this course and my pre-Civil War course in more depth.

History Assignment: Create a Virtual Time Capsule

2008-07-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

The first assignment in my courses is the Time Capsule Project. It is designed to teach the concept of primary and secondary sources and encourages internet research.

First, what is time capsule? It is a container that holds documents and other artifacts that illustrate a certain period, person, place, or event. This project is called a Time Capsule, because I want them to create a virtual container using sources from the web.

In the Introduction Unit, students select any identification term from lists on the following Unit homework pages. They write a long paragraph describing who, what, where, when, why, and the historical significance of that term. Additionally, they must cite three primary source and two secondary source items they find online about that term.

Students struggle most with finding primary sources. The first resource I encourage them to use is the Library of Congress which also includes a link to the American Memory site. These sites have great search engines that can be used to find all kinds of primary sources like letters and maps. The NROC history courses also contain many primary source documents and photographs. This assignment encourages my students to review the hippocampus content that replaces a traditional textbook in the course.

Additionally, students are asked in their citations of the primary sources to describe what they found at that link and explain why it is a primary source. Finally students post both the descriptive paragraph and citations in a discussion for classmates.

This assignment encourages the students to explore the course and familiarize themselves with they layout and materials. Additionally, the project establishes the expectation of citation and research beyond encyclopedia type sources on the web. Students use the concept of primary sources versus secondary sources and enjoy finding items that link them to the past.

Reading and responding in an encouraging but thoughtful way to their classmate’s posts makes students carefully think about what to include in their own description of the term. Knowing that a classmate is going to review your work and that others are relying on you to provide accurate information forces students to evaluate their work critically.

Students are also exposed to a wide range of topics and connect with prior knowledge while getting an overview of the upcoming course. Invariably two students will do the same term, but I use this as an opportunity to show how two people might write about the same topic very differently based on their sources and personal experience. Finally, these terms do appear again in Unit assignments and the midterm and final exams, so students feel a sense of collaboration and team work as they create a bank of knowledge that they can refer to again.

Creating a Community of Learners

2008-07-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

How do we unite our online students into a community of learners rather than individuals logging in? Many would agree that establishing a sense of community is very important for online courses. There are many resources available that give explanations and ideas.

Establishing an expectation of cooperation and creating a welcoming environment starts opening day. We want to become acquainted with our students and them with each other. My goal in this post is to focus on ideas for online history courses, but there are many wonderful resources with ice-breakers and building community techniques.

One of my colleagues refers to his class as a History Village. In the introduction discussion, he establishes that the class is a community learning U.S. History together. This fosters a spirit of cooperation in discussions, and it also unites students in their goal of learning. In the spirit that “it takes a village,” students can and should help each other by sharing information and resources. This idea could be greatly expanded by using tools like Second Life, but if your students or you are not ready for the virtual world, consider how this concept could be incorporated in group work and discussions. Assign different village titles to students in discussions for some role-playing, or create a discussion project that requires students to research different aspects of village life. Thinking back to the early role of towns and villages in US history teaches history and encourages students to collaborate in a very isolating environment.

In my post Civil War American History course, I ask my students to post their memory of an important historical event in their lives. This reminds students that while history is a subject about things in the past, they have experienced important events in their own life times that created the world we live in today. Additionally, this question often gets a wide rage of responses that tells a little about the student and reviews modern history.

Get students to question what they already know. Ask students to view a certain historic image or listen to a sound file and share what their connection to or emotional reaction is to the artifact. This conversation leads to how history is more that just memorizing a series of names and dates, but also allows us to reflect personally and sometimes very emotionally. Next, explore how even scholars write a description of history swayed by their own feelings. The lesson is that when studying history, watching a TV program, or reading the news, students should be wary of the personal bias of the author.

Two other ideas are biographical in nature. First, ask students to share information about their favorite historical figure that lived in the period the class covers. Not only will you learn about your students' interests, it will review various key figures in the course. Additionally, define autobiography, and its significance as a primary source document. Compare that to a biography as a secondary source. Then ask the students to write a brief autobiography of themselves, or a biography of their favorite historical figure. Instructors learn about the students with these, but also cover important concepts for the course and create student generated content.

In these examples, initial discussions in the course trigger students’ prior knowledge of history and get them interested in upcoming topics. Most importantly, the discussions build a sense of community among students.

I really want to hear from you! What are your techniques for getting your courses started with an engaging discussion that connects you to your students, your students to each other, and everyone to the subject matter?

Welcome to the Hippocampus History Blog

2008-07-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Hippocampus History Blog! In this Blog, we will share ideas for teaching US history online. My goal is to create courses that are more than just text. Instead, I want to create an engaging, active learning environment that inspires students to walk away with a general understanding of US history and a desire to learn more.

I am the Social Sciences Chair and Director of Training and Professional Development at CCCOnline, Colorado Community Colleges Online. I teach United States history using NROC, National Repository of Online Courses, materials in my courses. I really enjoy the online education experience and feel that it offers wonderful opportunities for students and instructors. The ideas and opinions expressed by myself in this blog are mine and not necessarily those of CCCOnline or NROC.

Going Text Free?

2008-06-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

Have you ever considered forgoing the traditional hard copy text in your history course? In today’s education and digital environment, not only is this possible, but it is also very practical, and dare I say “green.”

Why go text free? For the students this is a cheaper option that can be more dynamic for an active learning experience and may appeal to more learning styles. Also, students can get acquainted with advanced technology they are likely to encounter in the workforce. For the instructor, there are no new publisher editions to contend with, and content readily changes with current learning theories and ideas.

Colorado Community Colleges Online is one institution that experiments with not using hardcopies of texts in their courses. During the past year, I worked on an open content project to again save students money but also provide a more dynamic learning environment. In the spring, I had the pleasure of teaching both the first and the second half of US history courses using the National Repository of Online Courses materials. NROC has interactive US History courses that appeal to multiple learning styles using MP3 files, slide shows, and primary sources. Many of these resources are available at the Open Education Resource (OER) site http://www.hippocampus.org/

What do the students think? I ask my students twice during the semester in open discussions to share their experience with digital materials rather than a traditional text. You may not be surprised by the overall enthusiasm for saving money, but also many students seem to prefer having what I call a “buffet” of options to study rather than one flat text. Additionally, some students, who started the semester concerned that their learning experience would be insufficient without a text, commented at the end of the semester that they learned much more than they expected and enjoyed the format.

Yes, there are some cons for students and instructors. Some students prefer a text to hold. However, one viable solution is to provide printing options of NROC content. Also the NROC materials include a list texts (in the syllabus for each course) that compliment the NROC lessons that instructors can share with students. Then students can purchase one that meets their budget and learning style. For instructors, going text-free also may require more regular updating of resources such as website links, and the courses can take more time to plan and organize.

I replaced the traditional text with the NROC history courses that you find at the hippocampus website. There you will find resources for teaching various subjects including math, sciences, and government. The history courses are quite thorough and offer timelines, interactive maps, printable pages, and slide shows with audio lectures. My students particularly find the MP3 files helpful in their studies as they are able to take their text on the “go”. The support material for instructors is also quite thorough with assignment questions and terms, discussion questions, and objectives provided for each chapter. If you are not sure you’re ready to break from a traditional text format, the support materials also correlate various texts by multiple publishers to each chapter and would be a great way to add dimension to any course. Among other teaching concepts, I will highlight various aspects of the hippocampus history courses and how I incorporate them in my classes in upcoming Blog posts.

Next week, we’ll explore some ideas on how to build community among your online history students.