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Thinking in history : engaging students in meaningful learning
Author
Tan, Lulie Beng Geok
Supervisor
Moo, Swee Ngoh
Abstract
This study investigated into student learning of history at the lower secondary level in Singapore schools. Questions pertaining to the thinking and learning processes engaged in by students during history lessons, their perceptions of history and the meaning that they make of the past were addressed. The study also examined the perspectives of history teachers and their approach to classroom instruction in terms of their objectives of history teaching and learning, strategies and methods.
A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection was adopted in this study: two lesson observations with each class, interviews with students (five students from each of the participating class were selected by their history teachers), discussions with teachers, analysis of students' written work and student and teacher questionnaires. Combining these methods of inquiry enabled the researcher to investigate into students' thinking and their history in a broader range of contexts and to 'triangulate' the findings. The sample consisted of 360 lower secondary students drawn from six secondary schools and eleven history teachers. The student sample drawn from these schools were from the Express steam and they represented a mix of academic abilities.
Analyse of results show that generally students seem able to appreciate the importance and relevance of history learning. Students indicated that they could draw useful lessons from the past and that it helped them understand their heritage and the present better. It was also apparent that though students had a healthy regard for history per se they did not feel the same about having history lessons. Students did not find history lessons inspiring or challenging and the general feeling was that the lessons were boring.
The findings further suggest that the students did acquire certain thinking skills and processes through history learning such as making comparisons between past and present, analysing the causes and effects of events and imagining past happenings. However, classroom approaches and efforts at facilitating the development of the students' thinking processes were inadequate. It was observed that the mode of instruction in the history classroom was still predominantly teacher-talk and one that encouraged the students to be passive learners. This finding suggests that the teacher-centered expository style of teaching is one main factor that has inhibited the development of student thinking in history classrooms. The didactic mode of history teaching which does not encourage active student involvement in the learning process is probably one of the main causes for history lessons to be boring.
Teachers play a critical role in determining student learning and it is important therefore that history teachers should re-evaluate their teaching practices and make a commitment to develop their students' thinking through history learning. It is also important that teachers are given help through training programs and in-service courses to equip them with the strategies and skills and to enhance their abilities to teach for thinking.
A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection was adopted in this study: two lesson observations with each class, interviews with students (five students from each of the participating class were selected by their history teachers), discussions with teachers, analysis of students' written work and student and teacher questionnaires. Combining these methods of inquiry enabled the researcher to investigate into students' thinking and their history in a broader range of contexts and to 'triangulate' the findings. The sample consisted of 360 lower secondary students drawn from six secondary schools and eleven history teachers. The student sample drawn from these schools were from the Express steam and they represented a mix of academic abilities.
Analyse of results show that generally students seem able to appreciate the importance and relevance of history learning. Students indicated that they could draw useful lessons from the past and that it helped them understand their heritage and the present better. It was also apparent that though students had a healthy regard for history per se they did not feel the same about having history lessons. Students did not find history lessons inspiring or challenging and the general feeling was that the lessons were boring.
The findings further suggest that the students did acquire certain thinking skills and processes through history learning such as making comparisons between past and present, analysing the causes and effects of events and imagining past happenings. However, classroom approaches and efforts at facilitating the development of the students' thinking processes were inadequate. It was observed that the mode of instruction in the history classroom was still predominantly teacher-talk and one that encouraged the students to be passive learners. This finding suggests that the teacher-centered expository style of teaching is one main factor that has inhibited the development of student thinking in history classrooms. The didactic mode of history teaching which does not encourage active student involvement in the learning process is probably one of the main causes for history lessons to be boring.
Teachers play a critical role in determining student learning and it is important therefore that history teachers should re-evaluate their teaching practices and make a commitment to develop their students' thinking through history learning. It is also important that teachers are given help through training programs and in-service courses to equip them with the strategies and skills and to enhance their abilities to teach for thinking.
Date Issued
2001
Call Number
D16.4.S55 Tan
Date Submitted
2001