Learning to write like a historian (HSTY1044)

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HSTY1044 – Twentieth Century Politics and Culture (2006) Designer – Dr. Chris Hilliard Unit co-ordinators – Dr. Chris Hilliard & Dr. Cindy McCreery

Contents 1 Educational challenges 2 Chris’s design solutions 3 The design in context 4 What the design facilitates 5 Adapting the design to your context 5.1 Technical considerations 5.2 Management tips 5.3 What Chris would do differently next time 5.4 Ideas for other contexts 6 Cite as 7 Add a comment

Educational challenges

A

• Help students to learn historical scholarship

B

• Get students working on their essay ahead of the due-date

Chris: “I had to think how I could give support to such a large group of students, because the skill of writing as a historian is complex. I decided to get a mixture of peer and tutor support and to make that work, I had to keep the group working at roughly the same stage.”

Chris’s design solutions

A

1. Design the essay task around one core skill that historians need (in this case, using primary and secondary sources correctly). This allows novice students to concentrate on developing competence in one skill that they will later learn to combine with other skills, rather than trying to develop wholistic historical scholarship skills all at once.
2. Limit the reading list provided, so students are not distracted by the volume of content from the task of learning the the skill (relating the secondary sources to the primary source)
3. Create peer groups of students working on identical topics so they are exposed to multiple, valid approaches to a question.
4. Check students’ understanding of the question and their essay plan early in semester so everyone starts with a valid approach during the next stage of structuring and writing the essay.
5. Highlight the importance of writing skills by devoting one of the lectures to the subject.
6. Give feedback on essay drafts two weeks before the submission date for the final essay so that students have a chance to learn from, and correct, their mistakes.

B

1. Break the essay task up into stages.
2. Give each stage its own deadline and make it compulsory and graded.
3. Give students the chance to swop ideas, learn from each other and motivate each other.
4. Get students to submit a draft of their essay four weeks before the due date.

Related pattern: Assessment map

The design in context

1. Students choose from a range of topics that all focus around a single primary historical source. This ensures that students can concentrate on their skill development and prevents them from being overwhelmed or becoming sidetracked.
2. The reading list that is provided with each essay question is very small and carefully chosen so that students find it easy to initially concentrate on the task of relating the secondary sources to the primary source. Once they have developed a point of view, they are encouraged to search for other sources and expand their understanding.
3. One of the lecture hours in week 4 is dedicated to writing a research essay in history. General feedback is given on the online essay topic workshop along with guidance on writing a history essay and links to writing resources.
4. Student development of the essay is broken down into three stages and each is compulsory. This ensures that students work systematically through steps that are essential for producing a good piece of writing and also ensures that they start the writing task in time. Therefore the design of the task guides students into developing good writing habits and skills. Encouraging students to work somewhat synchronously on the stages of the writing task maximises the chance for peer-support.

The task stages are:

• Essay topic workshop

The tutorial in the 3rd week is replaced with an essay topic workshop conducted entirely online using asynchronous discussions. Each essay topic has an associated topic on the discussion board in WebCT.

Each student is asked to post their paraphrase of the essay topic they have chosen and talk about the sources they have read so far and the approach they intend to take in answering the question. Tutors are allocated to specific topics and moderate the discussion board.

The tutors play devil’s advocate and pose questions for consideration that may alter students’ focus, but do not give answers. Their questions open students to the multiple interpretations that are possible. They also check that students are not losing their way with the task (reminders to focus on the primary source were common).

At the conclusion of the week all students should have a valid interpretation of the question and some idea of other possible interpretations.

Students must participate online during the week to pass the unit of study.

• Essay draft

Each student is required to submit a 500 word essay draft, due in the 5th week (10% of total marks). Drafts are submitted online and returned to the students with comments from their tutor in week 7.

• Essay submission

The final essay is due in the 9th week (40% of total marks).

Number of students in 2006 = 481

View the essay questions and associated reading lists

Read an excerpt from the discussion board (names have been changed to protect student and tutor privacy)

What the design facilitates

A guarantee that students understand the essay question.

• The first compulsory activity in which students post to the discussion board paraphrasing the question and outlining the approach they will take, allows tutors to discover early who doesn't understand the question and to give assistance. No student should fail because they made the fundamental mistake of misunderstanding the essay question.

Student exposure to multiple ways of addressing the essay question.

• Students can view other students' approaches to the question on the discussion board and start to understand the range that is possible.

Increased student motivation

• The compulsory nature of the stages helps students to develop good research and writing habits, while the feedback from tutors and access to the ideas of their peers broadens their outlook, provides a measure of community support and gives them the impetus to improve.

Adapting the design to your context

Technical considerations

You need access to an asynchronous discussion tool and assignment dropbox (optional) for submission of draft and final essays.

Management tips

Briefing and coordinating tutors Tutors picking up essays

What Chris would do differently next time

Ideas for other contexts

Cite as

Hilliard, C. (2006). HSTY1044 - Twentieth Century Politics and Culture. Sydney: University of Sydney, http://wiki.arts.usyd.edu.au/elearning/index.php?title=Learning_to_write_like_a_historian

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