Teaching And Learning With Primary Source Projects

“It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics one should study the masters and not the pupils.” —Niels Henrik Abel Recent pedagogical research has supported Abel's claim of the effectiveness of reading the masters. Students exposed to historically based pedagogy see mathematics not as a monolithic assemblage of facts but as a collection of mental processes and an evolving cultural construct built to solve actual problems. Exposure to the immediacy of the original investigations can inspire an inquiry mindset in students and lead to an appreciation of mathematics as a living intellectual activity. TRIUMPHS (TRansforming Instruction in Undergraduate Mathematics via Primary Historical Sources) is an NSF-funded initiative to design materials that effectively harness the power of reading primary historical documents in undergraduate mathematics instruction. Teaching and Learning with Primary Source Projects is a collection of 24 classroom modules (PSPs) produced by TRIUMPHS that incorporate the reading of primary source excerpts to teach core mathematical topics. The selected excerpts are intertwined with thoughtfully designed student tasks that prompt students to actively engage with and explore the source material. Rigorously classroom tested and scrupulously edited to comply with the standards developed by the TRIUMPHS project, each of the PSPs in this volume can be inserted directly into a course in real analysis, complex variables, or topology and used to replace a standard textbook treatment of core course content. The volume also contains a comprehensive historical overview of the sociocultural and mathematical contexts within which the three subjects developed, along with extensive implementation guidance. Students and faculty alike are afforded a deeper classroom experience as they heed Abel's advice by studying today's mathematics through the words of the masters who brought that mathematics to life. Primary sources provide motivation in the words of the original discoverers of new mathematics, draw attention to subtleties, encourage reflection on today's paradigms, and enhance students' ability to participate equally, regardless of their background. These beautifully written primary source projects that adopt an “inquiry” approach are rich in features lacking in modern textbooks. Prompted by the study of historical sources, students will grapple with uncertainties, ask questions, interpret, conjecture, and compare multiple perspectives, resulting in a unique and vivid guided learning experience. —David Pengelley, Oregon State University

Teaching Undergraduates with Archives mirrors the evolving practice and academic research on primary sources in the classroom. The result of a national symposium at the University of Michigan in 2018, the volume features case studies, reflections, and forecasts concerning critical thinking, active learning, and archival evidence. The chapters describe collaborations between faculty, archivists, librarians, and students. Ideas behind new assignments and syllabi provide an immediate utility for those who teach with primary sources. Testimonies to the challenges and benefits of robust programs speak to the emerging prioritization of teaching and learning across disciplines with archives and special collections. "The contributions to this volume capture exceptionally well the passion and the creativity that archivists and special collections librarians who teach and do outreach with primary sources are bringing to their work in this increasingly important activity domain." -- Martha O'Hara Conway, Director, Special Collections Research Center, University of Michigan Library "As teaching with archival materials has moved to the foreground of the archival mission for many institutions, this timely, inspiring, and practical volume, which comes out of the multi-day symposium solely devoted to teaching undergraduates with archival materials, is a required reading for anyone who teaches with archival materials, or who would like to. It really captures the spirit and enthusiasm that these authors brought to that symposium." -- Josué Hurtado, Coordinator of Public Services & Outreach, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries "Reflecting the increasing priority of teaching in archives and special collections libraries, this book captures a variety of perspectives, insights, approaches, and prognostications that will enlighten, challenge, and inspire a growing community of practitioners." -- Bill Landis, Head of Public Services, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library "Building on the momentum generated at the symposium, this book is a treasure trove for professionals in the field who are eager for innovative ideas regarding collaboration and experimentation in teaching with archival material." -- Elizabeth Williams-Clymer, Special Collections Librarian, Kenyon College

Focusing on student analysis of primary sources, this book explores several proven analysis strategies to use with students, including methods from the Library of Congress, the Stanford History Education Group, and Harvard's Project Zero. Many elementary school librarians and teachers want to incorporate primary sources into their lessons but struggle with how to do it. Whether you are starting from the beginning, have used strategies that didn't seem to work, or were underwhelmed by others' suggestions, this book shows you how you can successfully supplement and deepen your students' learning with primary sources. Focusing on proven strategies for elementary students, the book is divided into four sections, each of which demonstrates the strategies through real-world examples of student work. In the first three parts, it explores the three major considerations for using primary sources, strategies for analyzing primary sources, effectively using primary sources to teach different subject areas, and special considerations for different primary source formats. In the final part, the author shares tips that he has learned after years of bringing primary sources into his elementary school that will ensure success in students' primary source analysis.

"Contributors explore methods of incorporating primary source materials into classroom instruction to promote civic engagement"--

This resource has been developed for Pre-K–20 educators in order to help students use primary sources to go beyond simple acquisition of content knowledge and rote memorization. The procedures and approaches outlined in this book are designed to be used with Pre-K–20 students to help them use primary sources in discipline and inquiry-based ways to develop and enhance understandings for cultural understanding, civic mindedness, and democracy. Expert authors demonstrate how the skills students learn through this process can be applied to their everyday life and allow them to think critically about the world around them, better understand various cultures, communicate their understandings effectively, and enhance their democratic values. Grounded in the National Council for the Social Studies C3 Framework, topics include social emotional learning, inclusion, higher order thinking, civic agency, project-based learning, democracy-building across cultures, teaching about war, enacting change through intentional civic engagement, and systemic racism in the United States. Book Features: Chapters by leading experts in the areas of civic education and teaching with primary sources. Guidance for supporting multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Detailed examples of classroom-tested instructional ideas and approaches from educators teaching with primary sources in Pre-K–20 classrooms. Primary sources and links to resources throughout the book.

Teaching with primary sources can be overwhelming to teachers who have minimal time to teach social studies. Turn your classroom into a primary source learning environment with this easy-to-use resource that has everything you need to incorporate primary sources into today’s classrooms. Primary sources provide firsthand accounts of history that will capture students’ curiosity about the past. Students who observe, reflect on, and question primary sources understand history at a deeper level than students who only learn about social studies through textbooks. With more than 100 digital primary sources, this book by Kathleen Vest delves deeply into a wide variety of primary sources and details how they can be used in any K–12 classroom. Model lessons for three grade ranges (K–3, 4–8, 9–12) reduce teacher prep time. With fun and engaging activities and a chapter devoted to strategies for using social media posts as primary sources in the classroom, this resource is essential for today’s social studies classrooms.

A look at how to teach history in the age of easily accessible—but not always reliable—information. Let’s start with two truths about our era that are so inescapable as to have become clichés: We are surrounded by more readily available information than ever before. And a huge percent of it is inaccurate. Some of the bad info is well-meaning but ignorant. Some of it is deliberately deceptive. All of it is pernicious. With the Internet at our fingertips, what’s a teacher of history to do? In Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone), professor Sam Wineburg has the answers, beginning with this: We can’t stick to the same old read-the-chapter-answer-the-question snoozefest. If we want to educate citizens who can separate fact from fake, we have to equip them with new tools. Historical thinking, Wineburg shows, has nothing to do with the ability to memorize facts. Instead, it’s an orientation to the world that cultivates reasoned skepticism and counters our tendency to confirm our biases. Wineburg lays out a mine-filled landscape, but one that with care, attention, and awareness, we can learn to navigate. The future of the past may rest on our screens. But its fate rests in our hands. Praise for Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone) “If every K-12 teacher of history and social studies read just three chapters of this book—”Crazy for History,” “Changing History . . . One Classroom at a Time,” and “Why Google Can’t Save Us” —the ensuing transformation of our populace would save our democracy.” —James W. Lowen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Teaching What Really Happened “A sobering and urgent report from the leading expert on how American history is taught in the nation’s schools. . . . A bracing, edifying, and vital book.” —Jill Lepore, New Yorker staff writer and author of These Truths “Wineburg is a true innovator who has thought more deeply about the relevance of history to the Internet—and vice versa—than any other scholar I know. Anyone interested in the uses and abuses of history today has a duty to read this book.” —Niall Ferguson, senior fellow, Hoover Institution, and author of The Ascent of Money and Civilization