“Utilizing primary source databases as the main reading material for my American history survey resulted in my students actually “doing history” and also resulted in high student engagement with the class.” (Vecchiola, p. 117)
One of Vecchiola’s main points throughout this piece is the drastic change seen in students’ engagement after providing them the means to access historical databases and conduct their own primary source research. Vecchiola’s student testimonies throughout this piece prove not only a deeper engagement with the material and topics covered in class, but a more sincere trust for the discipline of history, as students who become more confident with their ability to “think like a historian” were better able to make sense of and contextualize both the primary sources they chose to explore and the false or biased history they had been previously presented with in their academic career. This deeper understanding leads to students becoming more active academic and civic participants!
“If we can show our passion for historical questions, and prompt our students to follow their own passions and interests, we can connect even with students who have previously expressed a dislike of history.” (Vecchiola, p.125)
Vecchiola articulates historical thinking as a skill applicable to multiple disciplines, and a skill that can transform a previously bored student of history into an active, curious historian! Introducing students to history as a way of thinking instead of a body of facts to memorize can have positive impacts on a student both across the curriculum and outside of the classroom altogether. Teachers should not go into teaching history assuming that their students already know how to make sense of and contextualize the sources they are presented with or find through their own research. Instead, it’s our responsibility to lead by example, displaying the importance of asking historical questions in our own lives (both in and out of the classroom), and encouraging students to ask their own questions (and follow up on them with primary source research) within the context of their own curiosities about history and their own lives.
“Introductory-level classes can do far more than cover the basics of the field; they can also imbue our students with technological and research skills that carry over into all of their future studies.” (Edge)
The use of alternate presentation methods, like Omeka exhibits, challenge the classic essay as an adequate mode of historical exploration and conceptualization in an introductory class. This article’s argument for the importance of exploring and compiling an array of primary sources instead of simply summarizing and proving your learning through a paper emphasizes the value in learning historical thinking skills while simultaneously comprehensively compiling findings. Even for students in other disciplines, historical thinking skills can translate into research and critical thinking capabilities that will benefit them in any discipline, or in their every day life!
