Undergraduate History Courses Research Articles

Investigating Metacognitive Strategies and Exam Performance: A Cross-Sectional Survey Research Study

This investigation used cross-sectional survey research methods in a high-enrollment undergraduate history course, setting out to examine test performance and metacognitive strategies that subjects self-selected prior to class, during class, and during the exam. This study examined the differences in exam scores between one group of students who self-reported completing specific metacognitive strategies and one group of students who self-reported not completing them. An online survey instrument was used to collect data from 121 students about the frequency of occurrence of specific behaviors. Frequencies and an Independent Samples T-Test were used to analyze metacognitive strategies and exam performance. The results showed the following strategies were statistically significant at the 0.05 alpha level: (1) read or listened to assigned readings and audio files before they were discussed during class; (2) frequently took part in small group discussion at the table during the class session; (3) created outlines for each of the potential essay questions to prepare for the examination; and (4) made an outline of the essay question before beginning to write while taking the exam. Limitations of the study, implications of the results, and recommendations for future research are provided. With the challenges of supporting students to earn higher grades and persist toward graduation, faculty members need to join the rest of the campus to be active agents in supporting students through simple learning strategies and effective student behaviors embedded into their courses. This may require extra time and effort to engage in professional development to learn how to embed practice with metacognitive strategies during class sessions.

A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House by Jonathan W. White

Reviewed by: A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House by Jonathan W. White Christopher Thrasher A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House. By Jonathan W. White. (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2022. Pp. xxii, 249. $26.00, ISBN 978-1-5381-6180-7.) A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House by Jonathan W. White analyzes what an unprecedented wave of African American visitors to the White House during the Abraham Lincoln administration meant to the people of the nineteenth century and what those visits might mean to the people of the present. White is well qualified to write this book. In 2008, he received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland at College Park. He currently serves as an associate professor of American studies at Christopher Newport University. White's previous books include the award-winning Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln (Baton Rouge, 2014) and Midnight in America: Darkness, Sleep, and Dreams During the Civil War (Chapel Hill, 2017). A House Built by Slaves begins in the present, with a preface focused on modern debates about Lincoln's legacy. This preface helps White demonstrate this topic's contemporary relevance. To provide context for Lincoln as a person, White spends chapter 1 covering Lincoln's pre-presidential interactions with African Americans. The next fifteen chapters provide stories and quotations from many of the African Americans who visited the Lincoln White House. The book's last chapter covers responses to Lincoln's death and documents how African Americans mourned him. The work's epilogue explores immediate postwar perceptions of Lincoln. The book concludes with an appendix that mentions several unconfirmed meetings between Lincoln and African Americans. White interspaces the book's seventeen chapters with six interludes that provide helpful context for the primary narrative. His use of these interludes is an odd stylistic choice, but one that works well for this story. This book provides an important contribution to scholarship on the Civil War, Lincoln's presidency, and continuing debates about race in America. Long hailed as the great emancipator, Lincoln has been attacked by critics in [End Page 782] recent years, particularly for his treatment of African Americans. In response to these critics, White provides a powerful and well-researched defense of Abraham Lincoln. White argues, "When Lincoln met with African Americans—whether enslaved or free—he treated them with dignity and respect" (p. xiii). To prove his point, White uses extensive quotations from African Americans who visited the White House to demonstrate that while Lincoln was not perfect, he was a friend to slaves and a powerful advocate for racial progress. In the words of Frederick Douglass, Lincoln was "emphatically the black man's president: the first to show any respect for their rights as men" (p. 193). The book's research and writing are both very good. The work rests on a solid foundation of sources, including archival collections, published primary sources, and secondary literature. The writing is easy to read and free of obscure jargon. White wisely includes pictures of many of the African Americans highlighted in the book, which helps humanize the topic. The book's 206 pages of text are both sufficient to cover the subject and brief enough to remain accessible to casual readers. Overall, A House Built by Slaves is an excellent book. It is well written and well researched, and it provides an important contribution to the scholarship. The excellent research will offer seasoned historians new insights into Lincoln and his legacy. The book's conversational tone, carefully selected illustrations, and reasonable length make it a great option for casual readers or for use in undergraduate history courses. Christopher Thrasher National Park College Copyright © 2022 The Southern Historical Association

Reconstructing the Landscapes of Slavery: A Visual History of the Plantation in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World

Reconstructing the Landscapes of Slavery: A Visual History of the Plantation in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World

Bringing History to Life: A Study on the Implementation of an Oral History Research Project as a High-Impact Practice in Undergraduate History Courses

Oral history research projects are assignments that can foster student engagement and learning in undergraduate survey history courses. However, existing scholarship indicates that these assignments are seldom used in undergraduate survey courses. Since the aims of undergraduate survey history courses are to satisfy graduation requirements, foster critical thinking skills, and provide options for potential major areas of study, there is a need to examine whether engaged learning strategies, such as oral history projects, can serve as a high-impact practice (HIP) in undergraduate history courses. With these premises in mind, the purpose of this action research study is to evaluate whether my five-step oral history research project could serve as a HIP in the undergraduate history survey courses I taught at a two-year college located in metropolitan region of the Southeast. Major findings indicate that oral history research projects can be considered a HIP when grounded in pedagogies that emphasize community-based field work that encourage students to consider diverse perspectives on topics and make real-world connections to content and experiential knowledge.

Divided Kingdom, 561: Gamification of the Early Middle ages

Gamification has been a growing trend as a tool for pedagogical use. Incorporating game-design elements into a non-game context not only has the potential to amplify student motivation and interaction, but allows for the exploration of a new way to learn, teach, and understand history. Gregory of Tours’ Historia Francorum provides us with an interesting viewpoint into the world of 6th century Frankish Gaul. Understanding the motivations behind the characters in Gregory’s work and their relationship with the religious and political atmosphere of the 6th century can be difficult for modern readers. My project uses elements of role-playing to better engage students in interacting with the text. Students inhabit the role of a historical character from Historia Francorum and play out a narrative ‘campaign’ of multiple sessions as that character. Through research and primary source reading they will develop an understanding for their character, the world they inhabit, and their role within that society. Students engage with other students, prepare and give speeches, all in their prescribed roles. This, along with continual feedback on their actions given by the instructor, will cultivate a unique and more engaging learning atmosphere for students. My goal for this undergraduate research project is to develop an alternative approach to understanding the dynamics of early medieval Frankish society. By turning Gregory’s work into an inhabitable space, the large body of text becomes approachable and engaging to students. The final phase of the project which is underway, is testing it in a third year undergraduate history course.

Divided Kingdom, 561: Gamification of the Early Middle ages

Gamification has been a growing trend as a tool for pedagogical use. Incorporating game-design elements into a non-game context not only has the potential to amplify student motivation and interaction, but allows for the exploration of a new way to learn, teach, and understand history. Gregory of Tours’ Historia Francorum provides us with an interesting viewpoint into the world of 6th century Frankish Gaul. Understanding the motivations behind the characters in Gregory’s work and their relationship with the religious and political atmosphere of the 6th century can be difficult for modern readers. My project uses elements of role-playing to better engage students in interacting with the text. Students inhabit the role of a historical character from Historia Francorum and play out a narrative ‘campaign’ of multiple sessions as that character. Through research and primary source reading they will develop an understanding for their character, the world they inhabit, and their role within that society. Students engage with other students, prepare and give speeches, all in their prescribed roles. This, along with continual feedback on their actions given by the instructor, will cultivate a unique and more engaging learning atmosphere for students. My goal for this undergraduate research project is to develop an alternative approach to understanding the dynamics of early medieval Frankish society. By turning Gregory’s work into an inhabitable space, the large body of text becomes approachable and engaging to students. The final phase of the project which is underway, is testing it in a third year undergraduate history course.

Pluralism and heterogeneity as criticism: Undergraduate history and systems of psychology courses in Argentinian psychology education (1983-2017).

Multiple studies have analyzed the aims, resources, and approaches to undergraduate and graduate history of psychology education in several countries. Argentina is one of the countries with the highest historiographical production in Latin America. However, to date, there are no published studies on the collective debates among professionals, institutions, and associations that were instrumental in the development of the historiography of science becoming a mandatory part of the curriculum in Argentinian psychology programs. This study describes and analyzes the role of undergraduate history of psychology courses in official debates that took place during the last 30 years regarding Argentinian psychologists' training and education, in the context of regional and international historiography. Data was retrieved from several primary sources, such as minutes and official dossiers, working documents on accreditation standards, and nationwide curricular diagnoses on undergraduate psychology education, as well as individual scholars' ideas. Our findings suggest that, in line with regional and international historiography, history of psychology courses in Argentina have repeatedly been considered as core content in debates and discussions about psychology education, from the restoration of democracy in 1983 to the present day, in which they are currently considered to be mandatory minimum curricular content. Although throughout its history Argentinian psychology has largely been reduced to the teaching of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, historical education has been perceived as a gateway toward a more plural and critical local psychology. We conclude by discussing some potential and actual concerns that pose a threat to Argentinian undergraduate history courses. (PsycINFO Database Record

Current State of History of Psychology Teaching and Education in Argentina

This study is an empirical analysis of the field’s current state in Argentinian universities. Bibliometric parameters were used to retrieve the total listed texts ( N = 797) of eight undergraduate history courses’ syllabi from Argentina’s most populated public university psychology programs. Then, professors in charge of the selected courses ( N = 7) were interviewed regarding the structure, procedure, and instructional strategies of their courses. Results showed predominance of works produced by Argentinian scholars and secondary sources. Syllabi showed limited incorporation of primary sources, recent research papers, and certain psychological schools. The pervasive presence of infrastructural constraints and lecture-based instruction are seen as limitations that should be collectively debated and addressed by courses’ faculty.

Podcasting for Learning and Assessment in Undergraduate History

This case study reflects on the implementation and outcomes of podcasting in learning and assessment on an undergraduate History course at the University of Greenwich. The podcast formed part of an holistic series of summative and formative assessments intended to foster independent learning and research and presentation skills.

Where's Your Thesis Statement and What Happened to Your Topic Sentences? Identifying Organizational Challenges in Undergraduate Student Argumentative Writing

The authors examine the challenges students faced in trying to write organized texts using effective thesis statements and topic sentences by analyzing argumentative history essays written by multilingual students enrolled in an undergraduate history course. They use the notions of macro‐Theme (i.e., thesis statement) and hyper‐Theme (i.e., topic sentence) from systemic functional linguistics to categorize students' challenges constructing effective macro‐Themes and hyper‐Themes. They compare higher graded essays and lower graded essays at six time points during one semester. Both higher and lower graded essays showed challenges with the fronting, specificity, and consistency of their macro‐Themes and hyper‐Themes. However, there was improvement over the course of the semester. By identifying these challenges, the authors aim to help teachers and students develop a meta‐language to talk about these textual features of academic writing and thus enhance the teaching and writing of academic writing. They call for the need for explicit instruction to enhance students' organization of their ideas.

Using Digital Simulations for Teaching the Constitutional Convention in Undergraduate History

College instructors are entering a new frontier of teaching in the 21st century. Millennial students are bringing to university classrooms different experiences regarding the ways they learn and engage in critical thinking. As online universities gain more popularity across the country, higher education institutions are offering more hybrid and distance-learning courses on the Internet match the demand for using technology for teaching and learning. This action research study evaluates how the Annenberg Media digital simulation The Constitutional Convention of 1787 effected student engagement in an undergraduate history course at a community college in a metropolitan region of the Southeast. Practical suggestions are provided for college level history instructors to adapt digital simulations for teaching curricular and content skills that foster critical thinking, digital literacy, and engaged learning.

“Typically American”

“Typically American”

Undergraduates in the Archives: Using an Assessment Rubric to Measure Learning

This study introduces the use of a rubric to assess student learning from archival instruction. The researcher undertook a field study to examine what students in an undergraduate history course at a large state university learn from archival instruction. The study also builds upon previous work in the archival literature to introduce a reliable measure of archival literacy skills. The results of this study demonstrate that archival instruction can have a positive impact on student learning.

Investigating the efficacy of embedment: experiments in information literacy integration

PurposeThis paper seeks to present the findings of a series of experiments in embedding a librarian at a variety of levels into the undergraduate classroom. This study aimed to determine whether different levels of librarian embedment correlated with improvement in undergraduate students' information literacy (IL) skills.Design/methodology/approachStudents from five undergraduate History courses and two undergraduate Women's Studies courses participated in the study. A librarian was embedded in each of the courses, at a variety of levels across courses. All student assignments were graded using a standardized rubric. Students' IL skills were assessed using the research component of the rubric, which measured their ability to locate, retrieve, evaluate, and incorporate sources into their assignments. Students' research and overall scores on their initial problem‐based learning (PBL) assignments and written assignments were compared to their final assignment scores in order to assess improvement over the course of the term.FindingsThere was significant improvement in students' scores when a librarian was conspicuously and obviously embedded in the academic classroom. Students' scores showed little improvement when the librarian was embedded but not explicitly identified as a specialist in information literacy, and when the researchers attempted to embed information literacy seamlessly in the classroom.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was conducted only in courses in the Humanities.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that students' IL skills improve most when IL is identified in the classroom as a specialized subject taught by a highly trained specialist. The methodology used may be useful for others studying the impact of IL instruction.Originality/valueAlthough embedding has been studied and reported on in the literature in a variety of contexts, the study of different levels of embedding, quantified using the same rubric is unique.

Automatic keyword extraction for learning object repositories

AbstractThe paper describes experiments in metadata generation for learning object repositories. Specifically, we present several methods for automatic keyword extraction and evaluate them on a collection of learning objects from an undergraduate history course. The results suggest that automatic keyword extraction is a viable solution for suggesting terms and phrases for metadata annotation.

James C Riley, Rising life expectancy: a global history, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. xii, 243, £30.00, US$49.95 (0-521-80245-8), £11.95, US$16.95 (paperback 0-521-00281-8).

James C Riley, Rising life expectancy: a global history, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. xii, 243, £30.00, US$49.95 (0-521-80245-8), £11.95, US$16.95 (paperback 0-521-00281-8).

Innovative Integration of Technology in an Undergraduate History Course

Schools of education are increasingly experiencing a demand to infuse technology into social studies methods courses to meet both national and state technology standards. However, since most preservice teachers' coursework is taken in the arts and sciences, it is particularly important that these students experience effective teaching using technology in courses outside of the college of education (Cooper & Bull, 1997). Evidence suggests that one of the greatest challenges for college and university faculty is integrating technology into their instruction (Green, 1999). If preservice teachers only see technology utilized in their education courses, they are less likely to integrate technology in their future classrooms. This paper reports the results of a qualitative research study about the innovative and effective use of technology in an undergraduate history course. In addition, the paper provides a discussion of the implications of the strategies utilized in the course for social studies teacher education.

The JOB CRISIS: Report from the Convention

— y. The JOB CRISIS REPORT FROM THE CONVENTION by Danielle l.ighthurn a 'uring The Historical Society'sfirst annual convention, some attendees took part in an informal breakfast discussion on the job crisis in the historical profession. The morning's program began with remarksfrom Professors William Freehling ofthe University ofKentucky and William Keylor ofBoston University, whose presentations were then followed by a lively exchange among the rest oftheparticipants. Freehling began by noting that historical societies have not done much to address the issue of the job crisis, and by suggesting that THS should concern itself with this matter. To that end. he introduced his idea of a "Declaration of Principles'' with tour main points: 1.Graduate programs should limit their admissions to a number of students that could reasonably be expected to find fulltime employment upon graduation. 2.Universities should establish post-dixrtoral instructorships, with terms of appointment lasting between three and five years, for their recent graduates. 3.No professor should retire unless their deans agree to use at least 75 percent of their salaries to hire new full-time faculty. This measure would aim at curbing the common practice of replacing retiring faculty with prt-timc or adjunct professors. 4.Assuming the above point, every professor should retire by the age of seventy. Those wishing to volunteer their teaching time could do so. Professor Kevior provided some historical and economic background to the job crisis. The problem rests not in the demand for qualified professors of historv. as the number of" undergraduate history courses and majors continues to increase, but rather in the overabundant supply of recent graduates. The "crisis" has been a continual one over the past twenty-five years, with 25 percent of recent PhDs unable to find gainful employment in thenfield . Keylor identified three factors that contribute to this problem . First, he highlighted the proliferation of graduate programs. Currently there arc 140 institutions granting PhDs in historv. and these programs have nourished. The medieval "guild model of masters training apprentices provides a basis for the graduate school model, and the academic life attracts many. The needs of the university become a factor as graduate teaching fellows are hired to lead discussion sections in survey courses. Second. Kevior returned to the issue of part-time or adjunct faculty, By hiring part-time or adjunct professors to teach courses, the universities are able to reduce the number of full-time faculty they need to hire. Third, professors also share some responsibility lor the joli crisis. Kevior maintained t lut junior (acuity and recent PhDs are being frozen out of positions as many older faculty refrain from retiring. Until the senior faculty members retire, few Openings are made available for junior faculty. After Frechling and Keylor concluded their remarks, many members of the audience weighed in with their opinions. Much debate centered on the possibility of limiting graduate student admissions. While some agreed with 1-rechling, others believed that limiting admissions might Ix- unduly elitist. [YofcilOt Alan Kors of the I nivcrsitv ol Pennsylvania argued that students should be aware of their chances of finding employment after graduation, and should be able to decide whether they want to pursue a PhD in light of the statistics. Other participants remarked tlut there arc other job opportunities outside of fourveai institutions. Community colleges place an emphasis on teaching and are looking for qualified faculty. One participant also urged graduate students to look at "history beyond the academy" and consider the field of public historv. Further discussion also examined the role of faculty and deportments. Several participants mentioned the role of tenure, while others brought up the possibility ol unionization. Unionization could happen not only among faculty members, but also graduate students, who fill many of the prt-timc and adjunct positions. Overall, the morning's discussion raised many interesting avenues of exploration. While almost all present agreed that there is a job crisis in the academic profession, the participants offered many différent suggestions lor OVtItOuUMg the imbalance between positions and qualified applicants. Although the discussion did not produce one set solution, it brought forth newideas and stimulated further thought on the very difficult problem of the joli crisis. ··*-· -8...

Historical Dictionary of the Korean War (review)

BOOK REVIEWS229 sentation than are found in Part I, which, for some reason, is more than half (nearly 60 percent by my count) devoted to Buddhism and therefore presents a skewed and often esoteric picture of that period. Missing from Part I are many biographies, legends, and myths from the Samguk yusa and Samguk sagi that would add valuable breadth. Intrusively present are some fifteen pages of "Poetry and Song," even though literature is elsewhere ruled out of the Sourcebook. In addition, Part I includes a Koryö document that rightfully belongs in Part II: Yi Kyu-bo's "The Lay of King Tongmyöng." Not only has this been misplaced—at the cost of the more appropriate "Koguryö" from the Samguk yusa—but Yi Kyu-bo's introduction , the first 24 lines of verse, and his concluding 38 lines have been lopped off, despite the cultural and historical significance of what he has to say there. Parts II and III are clearly the work of historians with wellformed notions of how Korea's traditional civilization ought to be presented . Such a purposeful sense of organization is lacking in Part I, which seems organized more around what is available than what ought to be included. Such questions of balance and representation must be addressed in the paperback of selections from the Sourcebook—Sources ofKorean Tradition —which, we understand, is in the offing. And, for other future projects, we really must have accurate and readable translations of the Samguk sagi and the Samguk yusa as soon as possible. In this connection, let it be noted that the Ha-Mintz translation of the Yusa (Yonsei University , 1972) is so profoundly inaccurate and misleading that its text is beyond redemption. No reworking can save that tourist reader—I once tried but threw up my hands in frustration. The Sourcebook of Korean Civilization is a monumental accomplishment and speaks eloquently for the growing maturity of our field of Korean studies, as represented in the work of the seventeen contributors whose scholarship has made this volume possible. We look forward with keen anticipation to the appearance of the second volume on late Chosön and Modern Korea. Marshall R. Pihl University of Hawai'i at Mänoa Historical Dictionary ofthe Korean War, edited by James I. Matray. New York: Greenwood Press, 1991. xxxiii + 626 pp., appendix, selected bibliography, index. James I. Matray should be commended for his successful effort in bringing about this timely and useful volume on the Korean War. This book is of 230BOOK REVIEWS interest not only for specialists in U.S. diplomatic and military history but also for students and the general public interested in the Korean War. It includes more than 500 alphabetically arranged entries that cover a wide range of topics on the war, written by 61 American and international scholars. The Korean War has often been referred to as the "forgotten war." It was the first full-scale American war that ended short of total victory and it cost a great many human lives. American veterans and their families have demanded that proper memorials be erected in their hometowns and in the capital as a tribute to those who died for their country. Koreans mourn their dead as well, and long to be reunited with their loved ones in a still divided Korea. Among young and old alike, there is growing interest in studying the war. Revisionist histories on the origins of the Korean War (such as Bruce Cumings's monumental two-volume The Origins of the Korean War) have made the subject popular among college students in the U.S. and Korea, as well as furthered our understanding of the changing international relations on the Pacific Rim. This Historical Dictionary will be very useful as a supplementary text in undergraduate history courses dealing with Korea, relations between the U.S. and Asia, and, of course, the war itself. It could also be used for classroom discussion on such topics as the role of Douglas MacArthur , the U.S. response to the North Korean invasion of South Korea, and Chinese military intervention. Students can use this book as a research tool to write papers on a variety of topics...

Tying up the Loose Ends of an Epoch: Zola's Docteur Pascal

From a documentary perspective, which assumes that literature is part of the historical record, novels have long been used by historians. This is a quite traditional approach, theoretically unsophisticated but often evocative and enriching, because of a novel's referential functions-the way it serves as a window on life or developments in the past.' Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart series, subtitled Histoire naturelle et sociale d'une famille sous le Second Empire, has been an invaluable source for historians of nineteenth-century France. Zola prepared massive dossiers for each of his twenty volumes, often carried out on-site research, and examined many varieties of history besides the familial-political, military, labor, urban, and economic-to name a few. Germinal (Volume XIII, 1885), Zola's most famous novel, has pride of place in historians' citations, and its use in undergraduate history courses has even been discussed in the Teaching History To-