Writing About History: Effects of a Web-based History-learning Environment in Middle School

1. Writing About History: Effects of a Web-based History-learning Environment in Middle School Cynthia M. Okolo, Andrew VanEgmond, Emily Bouck, Carrie Anna Courtad, Carol Sue Englert, Anne M. Heutsche okolo@msu.edu This research was supported by grants from the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Program and funds from LARC Frequency of Writing Styles 6th Grade 8th Grader • The Writing Task • Before and after VHM intervention • No time limits (most finish in 10 minutes or less) • East student has individual color reproduction of image • Selected based on content covered during VHM intervention • Pre- and posttest administrations (approximately 8 weeks apart) • The Intersection of Literacy and History • Critical reading (interpretation, inference) • Intertextual analysis, integrating multiple perspectives • Writing in various genres (biography, personal narratives, argumentation) • Taking and defending reasoned conclusions • Embedding literacy in content-area instruction Pretend you are a historian. Write about the historical event you see in the picture. Start with a title. In your writing, try to explain the picture so that someone who does not know much about this time in history will understand what is happening. After you have finished writing, please go back and read your work. Make sure what you have written will help others understand the historical perspective of the picture. • Research Questions • How do students write about history? • When asked to write like a historian, what approach do they take • How do students’ approach to writing vary across grade levels? • How does a web-based learning environment affect students’ writing about historical topics? • Are these outcomes different for students with varying levels of content knowledge? Primary Approach to Historical Writing 6th Grade 8th Grade • The Virtual History Museum • vhm.msu.edu • Web-based history learning environment • Runs in any browser (recommend Firefox with TTS add-on) • Supplements curriculum • Instructional unit = Exhibit • Artifacts • Activities • Standard and supported activities, including • Dairy • Essay • Opinion paper/letter to the editor • Compare-contrast table • KWL • Teacher management system • Assign exhibits • Differentiate activities • Student feedback • Student comments/grades • Historian’s notebook • Searchable database of artifacts and exhibits • Teacher sharing options (with all, some, private) • Narrative writing predominant • Picture description and explanation most common • Analytic writing much less common • Nearly 10% of responses were very general and superficial (skimming • Narrative writing predominant • More explanation, less picture description • Use of analytic writing increases (from 6hth grade and from pre- to posttest) • Less fanciful elaboration or skimming • Analysis • Read all responses, looking for primary style (most predominant style) • Primary style coded, independent of accuracy, extent of content knowledge, or historical understanding (these are measured by other instruments) • Categories of response: • NARRATIVE • Picture Description- focus on describing the picture, facts don’t go beyond naming characters or events • This is a picture of the Greeks and Romans fighting in the coloseem (Colisuem). You can see men with swords and men wit sticks • Explanation of the Event – focus on account of event itself, including historical facts • This is a picture of the Spanish leader, Cortez, and his men attacking the Aztecs, who were native to Mexico. Cortez traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and made a false alliance with the Aztecs. The Aztecs treated him like a god and just when the Spanish men had their trust, they attacked and killed the king and war broke out. • Skimming: Superficial, broad, global response • There is a war going on • Fanciful elaboration: response embellishes event or image; story drawing on everyday knowledge • It was a hot day and the Aztecs wanted the gold that Britain had found in the underground tunnel in Venezuela. So one of the Aztec soldiers said, “hey, get out of there and get that gold” and don’t come back until you get it. So the soldier ran as fast as he could behind the British Empire that was keeping an eye out for the Aztecs. So the Aztec soldier ran over to the safe and tried to figure out the combination… • ANALYSIS • Causation/Motivation: Analysis of characters and/or events that goes beyond description or statement of fact. • If I was a historian trying to explain to someone who does not know much about this time in history, I would say this is a picture of the last war in history. They are fighting because the Indians want freedom and the British want strict rules. The British men surprise the Indians, so the Indian men were ready, though. The women are trying to take cover and trying to get to safety to save the children. That’s what I’d tell someone who does not know about this time in history. • Argumentation: At least a rudimentary argumentative structure; thesis, supporting evidence, summary or conclusion • The South is fighting the North because they want to keep their slaves and their right to determine their economy. The North believes that slavery is wrong. But the south doesn’t think the North has the right to impose their rules on them. The plantations can’t work without slavery. And the government is supposed to let states decide their own rules, anyway. • How Does Content Knowledge Affect Writing? • Lower- knowledge students (below median on knowledge test) write in ways most consistent with narrative • 88% on pretest, 84% on posttest • Higher-knowledge students about as likely to use narrative on pretest (91%) but sharper drop on posttest (79%) • Differences in students with and without disabilities parallel those of higher- and lower-knowledge students • Other Results • All students gain content knowledge • LD gains as strong as non-LD gains • Gains greater when VHM used more frequently • Statistically significant correlation between length of student responses and measures of historical reasoning • No significant correlation between historical knowledge and number of words written • No significant correlation between number of words written and reasoning • No discernable patterns between VHM use and writing style • Sample • 124 students • Seven social studies teachers • Two suburban middle schools • 6th and 8th graders • 27% diagnosed as learning disabled • 95% Caucasian • 25% free or reduced lunch • Limitations & Conclusions • VHM use constrained (lab time, nature of units developed, types of activities preferred and assigned) • Nature and frequency of VHM use varied among teachers • Teachers did not teach writing • Limited measurement of approach to historical writing (image-based, affected by content-knowledge) • Images used in writing assessment varied by grade levels due to nature of content • Is analytic writing really “better” writing? • Narrative more natural • Historical narratives are key tool of historians • Knowing more doesn’t necessarily mean writing more (depends on what you measure) • A web-based environment designed to promote historical understanding improves knowledge & reasoning, but not writing • Does being a better writer transfer to being a better history writer or does history writing need to be taught? • Few history teachers teach writing or assign extended writing tasks • Procedures and Instruments • PD about teaching for historical understanding, instruction and time for exhibit creation • Teachers agreed to use VHM at least 3 times • Actual use: two to seven times • Teachers created own exhibits and activities • Teachers serve as their own controls (VHM and non-VHM class) • Open-ended writing task • Also administered knowledge measures and analyzed writing for number of facts and length • Writing task administered prior to and after VHM use (about 8 weeks) • Other measures: knowledge (multiple choice), reasoning, word count, facts in writing