In this essay, the author offers her experiences teaching a methods course at the University of Missouri, St. Louis (UMSL), "U.S. History for the Secondary Classroom" (History 4013), in order to foster discussion of how history educators might find ways to close the gap between history content and pedagogy. The author focuses particularly on the…

Methods courses provide a rich opportunity to unpack what it means to "learn history by doing history." To help explain what "doing history" means, the author has created history labs to walk teacher candidates through the historical process. Each lab poses a historical problem, requires analysis of primary and secondary sources, and demands…

Despite more than a decade of groundbreaking research on the advantages and need for more historical thinking and historiography in middle and high school history classrooms, many students continue to receive only modest exposure to these teaching concepts and related strategies. Research indicates that middle and high school students who are not…

In an examination of how content knowledge influenced her initial third grade social studies teaching experiences, Suzanne Wilson found that it, among other things, helped her "to hear what students say" and in her students' comments were "often...the seeds of complex and sophisticated historical ideas." She also found content knowledge to be…

While the field of history education elucidates a clear and ambitious vision of high-quality history instruction, a current challenge for history educators (including teacher educators, curriculum specialists, and school-based history and social science supervisors) becomes how to illuminate and capture this when observing classrooms to research…

Given California's role in the Pacific economy, its historic Asian heritage, and the strong and growing presence of Asian communities and businesses in the state, it is imperative that students statewide understand the history of Asia. Unfortunately, the California state curricular framework and standards in history and social science limit the…

Having served as a college and university instructor at several institutions, the author has taught numerous history courses that have dealt with race relations in the United States. A class that he currently teaches, titled "Race in America," focuses specifically upon this topic. It is designed for non-history majors who are in their early years…

Students of history are expected to be able to interpret visual images as a source of primary evidence for historical inquiry, yet history teachers may not always place sufficient emphasis on pedagogies that consistently and specifically target the skills of visual interpretation. Developing understanding of visual evidence is sometimes left to…

A few days into the new school year, the author's female students invariably beg, plead, and cajole her in the hopes of watching Disney's "Pocahontas" in class. Toddlers when the film was released in 1995, doubtless they have seen it already dozens of times; more importantly, the author cringes at the ethnic and gender stereotypes sometimes…

In 2008, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) joined the ranks of institutions offering Global Seminars, short-term study abroad programs designed and led by the institution's own faculty. In this model, an instructor teaches two courses in his or her area of expertise and guides students through a city or other location abroad for five…

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is developing its Social Studies curriculum and pedagogy for public schools. Practically speaking, teaching Social Studies in the UAE is still based on the traditional way of teaching; route memorization is the means of acquiring knowledge. In order to enhance Social Studies constructivist teaching-learning, there is…

The importance of content-focused professional development for high school teachers has been widely recognized by educators and legislators. Professionals in education at all levels have long argued for more contacts between secondary and post-secondary instructors as one important way to improve subject matter mastery. In response to this call,…

In fall 2007, the Department of History at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) began offering an undergraduate certificate of emphasis as well as a Master's degree in the field of Public History. Now entering the third year of existence, the program has a small but enthusiastic group of students involved and is continuing to build to the future.…

What could two dozen middle school students, two teachers, land surveyors, journalists, divers, college professors, lawyers, archaeologists, an author, and an 85-year old retiree possibly have in common? The answer is their insatiable quest to redefine colonial American history. From geodesy to glaciology, from geology to hydrology, from…

As a new Ph.D. preparing for his first university appointment in June 2006, the author began constructing World History I and II surveys for which his graduate training left him feeling underprepared. Among the myriad challenges, he sought to create a research assignment for general education students that would address a diverse range of…