Undergraduate History Research Articles

Историк в пространстве междисциплинарности: взгляд студентов

This article presents the results of a pilot study of research priorities and professional preferences of undergraduate history students at three Siberian classical universities (Tomsk, Novosibirsk and Omsk). As an analytical framework for the study, we chose (a) the processes of reformatting socio-humanitarian knowledge and expanding areas of cooperation between historians and representatives of different disciplines; (b) the generational approach as a new direction for historical science in studying the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of corporate cultures and identities. The data were collected by a questionnaire. To analyze the data from 165 respondents, a specialized application package IBM SPSS StatisticsBase and methods of mathematical statistics were used (descriptive statistics, parametric and non-parametric tests, one-way analysis of variance, correlation and factor analysis). The results of the study are described in two sections. The first section shows that the growing interest in the research activities of historians of the zoomer generation is not accompanied by an expansion of partner disciplines and, for example, interaction with IT is on the periphery of their preferences. The data analysis revealed differences between junior and senior students in their image of a “collective project” due to the distance learning format widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic, and gave the assumption on the continuing influence of the “Soviet scientific component” in the university socialization of historians. The second section presents students’ understanding of the connection between “society” and a “historian”, which is characterized by the majority of respondents as limiting their personal employment opportunities in the Siberian region and beyond. This allows us to state the high interest of students in acquiring research and social competencies through participation in interdisciplinary projects and explain the reasons for the discrepancies between their expectations and the actual practices of implementing such scientific interactions. In conclusion, the prospects for the participation of history students in projects to create online resources of a humanitarian nature are characterized, and a typology of groups focused on experimental, programmatic and situational interdisciplinary cooperation is presented.

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.

An Experimental Plan: Teaching of Astronomical Clock Tower under View of New Liberal Arts Perspective

At the end of the 11th century, the “Astronomical Clock Tower” developed by Su Song’s team involved many scientific knowledge, advanced and complex technologies, and created many world firsts. It played an important role in the history of science and technology in China and even the world. It was the best test sample for exploring the teaching method of the history of science and technology content in the teaching reform of the undergraduate history (normal) major “Ancient Chinese History” course under the guidance of the new liberal arts and science concept. The experimental plan focuses on the common characteristics of this type of content, closely adheres to teaching objectives, fits the actual learning situation, and is based on general teaching conditions. Within the limit of class hours, it introduces the background, structure, and function, explains the principle and process of key components, analyzes ideas and methods, highlights the key points and difficulties, and strives to be interesting, easy to understand, and memorable, so that students can feel the outstanding wisdom and innovation of the sages, clarify its position and influence in the history of science and technology in China and the world, and accumulate knowledge and methods for future teaching of this type of historical content.

Discuss: Several Problems in the Chinese Ancient History Textbook of Zhu Shaohou Version

The textbook Ancient History of China edited by Zhu Shaohou and others is the most widely used textbook for the course "Chinese ancient history" of history majors in Chinese universities. This textbook has been revised multiple times in the past 40 years, but there are still many problems, such as contradictory expressions of the same problem, lack of pronunciation and meaning labeling of rare characters in ancient literature, omission of legal and diplomatic aspects in the history of Song and Yuan , inaccurate use of historical materials, and obvious untrue statements; Part of the content is outdated, neglecting the important role of maps, schematics, datasheets, and physical photos in students' construction of specific historical time and space and understanding of relevant content. These issues reveal that there is room for improvement at all stages of the compilation process of undergraduate history textbooks in Chinese universities, and it is urgent to attract the attention of the historical community and management departments.

Teaching women's work and thought in undergraduate history of science courses

AbstractAs a rich field of scholarship now demonstrates, from at least the early modern period, women have consistently contributed to natural philosophy, science, and medicine in Europe and the Anglo‐American world. Their participation in these fields, like men's, has been shaped by gendered social and cultural expectations. It has risen and fallen on cyclical waves of effort to exclude them or minimize their contributions. In historical accounts, until recently, women's roles have been neglected or forgotten. Even today, in both scholarly and popular histories, women in science are often presented as surprising rediscoveries. Women are persistently perceived as newcomers in the sciences. Unless women's contributions are consistently integrated into mainstream narratives in the history of science, women could easily become invisible again. To counter this possibility, I first examine the structural factors shaping women's participation in the sciences and their historical visibility from the early modern period through the 19th century. I then suggest ways to include women in undergraduate surveys in the history of European and Anglo‐American science that encourage students to engage with women's ideas and with women as complex, multi‐valent historical actors. I show how we can situate women's contributions in a narrative that invites students to examine the history of science as a history of ideas, people, and practices and to explore history as a resource for understanding the role of scientific knowledge and authority in the present. Though my own examples are limited to the history of science in Europe and the Anglo‐American world from the early modern period, I argue that a similar thematic approach could be explored and implemented in other historical contexts, given appropriate secondary and primary sources.

Zooming in the Timeline: Investigation of the Case of Pseudo-Archimedes by Preservice Teachers

The study proposed an inquiry-based activity for an undergraduate History of Science (HOS) course. The activity aimed to promote collaboration, engagement, and motivation among students from various disciplines. The participants in this activity were 40 undergraduate students enrolled in different teaching programs at a private university. The course followed a timeline approach to teaching HOS, supplemented by weekly research questions and short activities. The specific focus of this activity was to investigate whether Archimedes designed a water clock. Students worked in groups to conduct research on the question and develop a group claim based on the evidence they collected. The course discussions resulting from this activity yielded comprehensive outcomes that contributed to the course's timeline, covering the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages. These discussions touched upon various historical events, including the closing of the Platonic Academy, the birth of the House of Wisdom, cultural and geographical factors in the translation movement, and the concept of pseudepigrapha. Importantly, the study noted that many of these events between antiquity and the Middle Ages were not commonly mentioned in traditional HOS course books. By engaging in this activity, participants were able to zoom into the timeline and uncover fascinating historical events. The research, collaboration, and discussions brought about a sense of excitement among the students. This activity demonstrated that incorporating such an approach can enhance the narrative nature of HOS courses. The success of the activity depends on the time allocated and the content of the course, suggesting that it could be tailored to different contexts and course objectives.

Disobedience as Usual: Why Design Activists Need Historians

Since the financial crash of 2008, and the resulting rise of the Occupy, Indignados, and other anti-capitalist movements, a flurry of academic publications devoted to design activism has also resulted.1 Publishers recognize a hungry student readership wanting to be reassured that, once they graduate, there may be alternatives to “working for the giant,” something other than selling their souls in service of capital. Of course, this isn’t the first time that a narrative of social change has inhabited the history of design. Indeed, a rather “standard” history of design—from William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement, through the early Bauhaus, postwar reconstruction, Italian radical design to present-day design activism—may be recounted as one of socially committed design and the crafting of alternative visions.2‘The history of design is a history of activism’. Discuss. might be an examination question for an undergraduate History of Design program general paper. The late 1960s and early 1970s have gained special attention lately.3 This might be because many of the emergent activities of the period, including participatory processes and community engagement, as well as design as refusal, critical practice, and autonomous action, have found a new relevance for design activists today. These accounts underpin the suggestion that the most interesting design in history has been disobedient. Given all this, one sometimes wonders why there seems to be such a wide gap between these noble intentions and what we have in daily life.

Patron of the Past

This essay provided a rare opportunity for an undergraduate history student—doing hands-on research with a copy of a seventeenth-century book held in the Brock University's Special Collections. The essay provides a "way in" to understanding early English book culture. It explores that culture through an investigation of Philemon Holland’s 1635 translation of Pliny’s Natural History.

"A Study of Influence Factors of Undergraduate History Majors’ Continuance Learning Intention of Online Courses "

"A Study of Influence Factors of Undergraduate History Majors’ Continuance Learning Intention of Online Courses "

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

Examining Nigerian Undergraduate History Students' Survey Dataset on Gambling Behaviour.

Examining Nigerian Undergraduate History Students' Survey Dataset on Gambling Behaviour.

School Engagement of Undergraduate History students: Effect of REBT intervention

School Engagement of Undergraduate History students: Effect of REBT intervention

Canadian Veteran's Headstones and What They Can Tell Us

This paper was an exercise that stepped outside of my comfort zone, as an undergraduate history student, by gathering data in the field before contextualizing it with a healthy dose of library research. This task involved visiting a cemetery, determining a research question and then answering it by gathering data on site before contextualizing the findings with existing sources. The synthesis of gathering one’s own data and supporting it with a more traditional exploration of secondary research before expressing unique findings was an exhilarating experience. This paper explores the information gathered from Canadian Veterans headstones found in the Victoria Lawn Cemetery in St. Catharines, Ontario while focusing on key variables such as age at death, distribution of service branches, and religious affiliations present on the headstones.

Academic burnout among undergraduate history students: Effect of an intervention.

Background:This study aimed to examine the effect of an online psychological intervention on academic burnout of undergraduate history students in Nigeria.Method:The sample for the study consists of burned-out undergraduate history students selected randomly from public universities. A total of 18 undergraduate history students with moderate to high burnout symptoms were randomly allocated to the online intervention group, while 17 were randomly assigned to the waitlist control group.Results:The use of online rational emotive behavior therapy (online REBT) effectively reduced academic burnout and sustained this significant reduction among Nigerian undergraduate history students compared with a waitlist control condition.Conclusion:Online rational emotive behavior therapy intervention delivered to undergraduate history students brought about a significant decrease in academic burnout. Further studies should expand the benefits of online psychological intervention for burnout treatment among Nigerian undergraduate history students.

Une analyse didactique de pratiques pédagogiques en premier cycle universitaire d’histoire. Apprendre à lire historiquement en histoire ancienne

L’article interroge les rapports entre pratique de recherche en histoire et enseignement en premier cycle universitaire, afin d’identifier les conditions didactiques de la logique de certains choix pédagogiques. L’étude du cas d’un cours en histoire de la Grèce ancienne sur l’ostracisme est menée selon une approche qualitative dans le cadre didactique de l’apprentissage par problématisation. Elle rapporte les énoncés écrits et oraux des étudiant⋅e⋅s (un groupe de 36) à leurs lectures et aux discours du professeur, selon certains enjeux épistémologiques et historiographiques de la recherche historique sur l’institution politique de l’ostracisme. L’analyse met en lumière un malentendu entre l’enseignant et les étudiant⋅e⋅s qui provient de l’invisibilité des divergences de configurations historiographiques (au sens de Prost, 2006) qui sous-tendent leurs approches respectives.

Developing Historical Thinking in Large Lecture Classrooms Through PBL Inquiry Supported with Synergistic Scaffolding

As PBL has gained popularity across disciplines, its move from small medical-school inquiry groups into large-class undergraduate inquiry has led to an increasing need to understand the elements of successful PBL implementations in large classrooms. In this study, we investigated how PBL was appropriated among students to develop historical thinking skills in a 96-person introductory undergraduate history survey course. The video analysis demonstrated that it was initially challenging for students to appropriate the routines and norms of PBL, but instructor interaction with both the students and representational tools in a large classroom provided multiple co-occurring and dynamic supports. This synergistic scaffolding structured around representational tools was instrumental in a semester-long intervention in which we supported student learning of historical thinking skills by encouraging appropriation of the activities that govern PBL. Keywords: PBL in large classrooms, history PBL, developing historical thinking skills, synergistic scaffolding, representation tools

Investigation of the environmental problems attitudes of the undergraduate history students

Investigation of the environmental problems attitudes of the undergraduate history students

Valuing Process Over Product: Using Writing to Teach History in the Undergraduate History Classroom

Valuing Process Over Product: Using Writing to Teach History in the Undergraduate History Classroom

Toward a Critical Latinx Pedagogy: A Multi-Generational Reflection on Teaching and Learning in the U.S. Latinx History Survey and Beyond

ABSTRACT In this essay we discuss the shared vision for a critical Latinx pedagogy that has emerged from our five-year collaboration as professor and TA of a large undergraduate Latinx history course. We discuss specific classroom practices through which we seek to embrace, engage and empower diverse Latinx students; to provide non-Latinx students with a new appreciation of the centrality of Latinx experiences within U.S. history and an opportunity to reflect on how their own identities and experiences are intertwined with those of Latinx and other minoritized Americans; and to foster new solidarities and social justice commitments among students of all backgrounds.