This study explores the psychometric qualities of the Relevance of History Measurement Scale (RHMS), a questionnaire designed to measure students’ beliefs about the relevance of history. Participants were 1459 Dutch secondary school students aged between 12 and 18. Data analysis revealed three reliable factors, compliant with our theoretical framework which defines three strands of relevance of history: relevance for building a personal identity, for citizenship, and for insight into ‘the human condition’. The convergent and known-groups validity of the RHMS was demonstrated. The collected data show that students find history more relevant as they grow older, with most progress taking place between 14 and 16. Out of the three strands of relevance, building a personal identity scores lowest in students’ appraisals. This study shows that the RHMS is psychometrically sound and can be used to evaluate effects of lesson interventions directed at enhancing the relevance of history to students.
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Debates about the identity of school history and about the nature and purpose of the learning that does, can and should take place in history classrooms continue in many countries around the world. At issue, in many of these debates, beyond the concerns about history and national identity, are often unaddressed questions about the role and inter-relationship of historical knowledge and historical understanding in historical learning
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The role of subject teachers in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has received little attention, since most research focuses on language learning results of students. This exploratory study aims to gain insight into the perceptions of Dutch bilingual education history teachers by comparing teaching CLIL with regular history teaching. We used questionnaires and interviews to collect data. Results show that bilingual education history teachers perceived their dual task as language and subject teachers to be challenging. Teaching in English also enriched their teaching skills and eventually had a positive influence on their level of job satisfaction.
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Teaching history requires clear, detailed and subject specific language. History teachers teaching in a second language are confronted with students' second language limitations, which likely have an aggravating impact on their application of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). We analysed and compared 12 Dutch spoken and 12 English spoken paired history lessons in junior grades 7 and 9. Contrary to our expectation, we found a strong similarity of the teachers’ PCK application in both grades 7 and 9, irrespective of the used language. The PCK application in both grades and languages was of average quality, while the PCK used in grade 9 was more advanced.
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History education frequently aims at developing active citizenship by using the past to orientate to the present and the future. A pedagogy for pursuing this aim is making connections between the past and the present by means of comparing cases of an enduring human issue. To examine the feasibility and desirability of this case-comparison teaching approach, students (N = 444) and teachers (N = 15) who participated in an implementation study conducted in the Netherlands were questioned about their experiences and views. Results show that both students and teachers felt that case-comparison in the context of an enduring human issue is feasible and not more complex than the usual history teaching in which topics are studied separately without explicitly making comparisons between past and present, even if some students thought that taking account of episodes from different historical periods concurrently required an extra learning effort. Both students and teachers believed that connecting past and present in history teaching enhances engagement and meaning making. They suggested a curriculum combining the case-comparison approach with the type of history teaching they were accustomed to. Mixed methods were used for data collection. Implications for further research on case-comparison learning in history are being discussed.
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Teaching history requires clear, detailed and subject specific language. History teachers teaching in a second language are confronted with students' second language limitations, which likely have an aggravating impact on their application of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). We analysed and compared 12 Dutch spoken and 12 English spoken paired history lessons in junior grades 7 and 9. Contrary to our expectation, we found a strong similarity of the teachers’ PCK application in both grades 7 and 9, irrespective of the used language. The PCK application in both grades and languages was of average quality, while the PCK used in grade 9 was more advanced.
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In 2020 hebben drie docentonderzoekers (Irene de Kleyn, Mariska Dinkelman en Marleen IJzerman) vanuit het lectoraat Meertaligheid en Onderwijs een inventarisatieonderzoek opgezet en uitgevoerd onder een representatieve afvaardiging van lerarenopleiders en studenten van de internationale varianten van de lerarenopleidingen Duits, Engels, Frans en Spaans van Instituut Archimedes (IA) die zijn gebundeld onder “Teacher Education” (TeacherEd). Het onderzoek had als doel inzicht te krijgen in de rol/plek van meertaligheid als leermiddel, leerdoel en context in de verschillende curricula van de TeacherEd.
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Bilingual education has become popular in many countries in the last two decades. It is generally acknowledged that learning a second language (L2) through subject content has a positive impact on students’ L2 learning, but there is less agreement on whether this also applies to learning subject content knowledge in and through L2. This cross-sectional study compared Dutch pre-university mainstream and bilingual education students in grades 7 and 9 on a history knowledge test, taking into consideration the language of instruction and testing. Students were also tested on their motivation to learn and affinity with history, because of the alleged higher motivation bilingual education students bring to the classroom. Multilevel analyses showed that bilingual education students in grade 7 lagged behind in the English part of the test but performed at the same level in the Dutch part. 9th bilingual education graders on the other hand performed significantly better on the knowledge test than 9th mainstream graders in both L2 and L1, thus providing evidence for the non-detrimental effect of bilingual education on the acquisition of subject content knowledge.
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Using the past to orientate on the present and the future can be seen as one of history’s main contributions to educating future citizens of democratic societies. This thesis defines and explores aims and methods that may support teachers and students in making meaningful connections between the past, the present and the future in history class. Measurements with the Relevance of History Measurement Scale (RHMS), which was specifically developed for the purpose of this thesis, revealed that this type of history teaching positively affects students’ views on the relevance of history. This is an important outcome, because young students in particular have difficulty seeing the benefits of studying the past. Enabling them to see the relevance of history may be an important means to stimulate their motivation and engagement, because students’ appreciation of the value of school subjects is key to their commitment in school work.
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Over the past decade, the maker movement and in its slipstream maker education have attained worldwide popularity among educators, politicians, and the media. Makers’ enthusiasm for creative design and construction, using old and new tools has proven contagious, and is worth exploration and critical reflection by the community of engineering and technology education (ETE). This chapter describes what has been said about “making” by philosophers and educators; what maker education is, and what is new and not so new about it; why it has gained momentum; what the evidence is about its effectiveness and its possible weaknesses; and how mainstream technology education may benefit from maker education. This chapter concludes with ideas for a research agenda.
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