Dr. Roy Rosenzweig, the Mark and Barbara Fried Professor of History & New Media and director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, passed away October 11, 2007, of cancer.

More information is available at

http://hnn.us/articles/43739.html

http://historycoalition.org/2007/10/12/roy-rosenzweig-1950-2007/

http://www.dancohen.org/

http://edwired.org/

One of the problems frequently cited in the SoTL literature is learning objectives. I’ve recently begun requiring my students to link their presentation objectives to class LOs as noted in the syllabus. They are having a terrible time doing it.

They are not the only ones. Many of my colleagues, to judge by syllabi linked online, also have a hard time defining clear LOs. Here’s my challenge to you: list your learning objectives (or a link thereto) here, and let’s all start looking at them.

Here are mine for my World Civ class to 1500. I welcome comments, suggestions (oh please!!) and critiques.

1. Students will analyze various kinds of visual art for what that art can inform them about the specific society/culture that produced it. To do this effectively, students will analyze their readings in the assigned text(s) so that they can compare and contrast the values, structures and issues of the producing society with those exhibited in the art.

2. Students will synthesize and evaluate the art for its relevance to the study of the history of the producing society/culture.

3. The analyses, syntheses and evaluations will be manifested in various products that each student will be communicating in both written and oral forms.

The full syllabus is available here.

Marie
Oklahoma City University

Hello All,

I’d like to say hello to the group. Lendol Calder directed me to the site, and I’m excited about it becoming an important forum for talking about our common pedagogical concerns.

I’m the director of the Teaching of History program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Housed in the history department, we prepare BA and MAT students to become middle and (mainly) high school teachers. We also serve as the main resource for teaching issues generally in the department. At the same time, I have an active research program outside the teaching of history and am currently working on a book about controversies over vaccination in American history.

Below I will include the syllabus for the Teaching of History course I’m currently doing for our MAT students. Any suggestions and criticisms will be greatly appreciated. I might well change course during the semester, and in any case next year’s students will greatly benefit!

With best wishes,

Robert
johnsto1@uic.edu

****

History 500 Robert Johnston
BSB 135 UH 930
Fall 2007 (o) 312-413-9164
Wed, 5-8 (h) 773-381-7285
Office Hours: W, 10-12, johnsto1@uic.edu
and gladly by appt.

No doubt in part because of the discussions held by the steering committee of HISTSOTL with then ISSOTL President Barbara Cambridge in Washington last year and further discussions with the conference organisers, the 4th ISSOTL conference set aside an afternoon (Wed 4 July) for discipline specific meetings. While only three disciplines took this opportunity, history was one of them. With South Australian wines and Victorian and Tasmanian cheeses provided by the School of History and Philosophy at UNSW a most pleasant afternoon unfolded.

Eleven historians (which was not quite the total number of historians at the conference) from Australia, UK, USA and South Africa attended the meeting. Three members of the HISTSOTL steering committee (Leah Shopkow, Geoff Timmins and Sean Brawley) were present. Three of the attendees were not foundation members of HISTSOTL.

After a welcome and introduction from Sean Brawley as the local organiser for the steering committee, Geoff Timmins with assistance from Leah and Sean discussed the activities of HISTSOTL to date. After this context setting the gathered were divided into small groups to ponder what steps forward the organization could take.

The groups were asked to write down their responses and these follow:

Group 1:

• The Society should reach out to teaching intensive institutions
• The Society should be a source for publicity of SOTL in History
• The Society should consider hosting its own regional or theme specific conferences
• The Society should sponsor workshops/panels at gatherings such as ISSOTL
• The Society should take special interest in training graduate students and new faculty

Group 2:

• The Society should set great value in sharing ideas but it was acknowledged that a cost-benefit analysis at this time would show that it will be difficult to secure immediate benefits due to a lack of resources and time.
• The Society should be interested in issues of reward in terms of:
  a. teaching better
  b. discipline benefits
  c. personal satisfaction
• In thinking about the basis for collaboration the Society should consider routes to publication, resource provision, connections with the wider discipline community, and how resources are shared and pooled to raise the profile of history.

Group 3:

• The Society should concentrate its efforts on performing the role of a clearinghouse of ideas of teaching and learning as they apply to the study of history. It should seek to regularly produce edited volumes to share ideas with colleagues.

In the wake of these reports discussion flowed.

• The issue of a publication was discussed and it was agreed that at this stage a regular journal, while a possible future aim, would be too difficult to do. Strong support was endorsed for the Society sponsoring regular edited collections that might bring to a wider audience up-to-date developments in the field.
• On the issue of our own conference it was suggested that the current arrangement with piggy-backing on the ISSOTL conference was the wisest path forward. Suggestion of regional/national conferences was discussed with a mixed response.
• The question of funding was discussed as an important step forward for the sustenance of the organization. Australian and British funding possibilities as well as other types of support in kind were broadly discussed without any significant resolution.
• Another important issue that was discussed was the question of constitutional arrangements and the adoption of a more formal office-holding structure. The reason for the current approach of a steering committee was explained but there was strong support that for the authority and status of the Society consideration be given to the formalisation of a constitution with more traditional management structure. The possibility of using the bye-laws/structure of ISSOTL as a starting point was discussed.
• The degree to which the Society was truly international was also discussed. Mention was made that the founding membership reflects a fairly significant success in the Society getting its message to a diverse range of historians. It was however acknowledged that the Society currently remained dominated by the English-speaking world.

After these discussions the meeting discussed two pertinent issues. The first was how one structures a Gateway course for History and the second was on the issue of progression.

• Sean Brawley led the discussion on Gateway courses and a very fruitful exchange ensued. Issues of approach, and how content and skills were mediated were discussed and served as a useful entrée to a session on first year history teaching held the following day with presenters Dr Jennifer Clark (UNE-Aust) and Dr Elisabeth Ludlow (Wits-South Africa).
• Geoff Timmins led the discussion on progression and related it to a project he is currently working on.
• Another useful discussion ensued which also showed that we are gradually developing a common language (or at least understanding others). The different meanings of the seemingly simple word ‘seminar’ was but one example. The differences within nations was also an interesting discussion point.

All up, the afternoon session was a great success and does over something of an approach for future disciplinary meetings.

The conference itself was, as always, brimful of useful ideas and insights. My Australian colleagues learned much from our visit to DC the previous year. There was an excellent conference dinner (with two historians, Brawley and Baker the last to leave!) and at the various receptions the alcohol flowed freely (rather than being issued by a ticket with a limit of two drinks). A university rather than hotel location also seemed a winner.

As well as the various presentations by historians, Leah Shopkow and Arlene Diaz’s ‘Decoding the Disciplines Workshop’ was one of only three held at the start of the conference and was very well received. The next ISSOTL conference (and the next opportunity for HISTSOTL members to meet face to face) will be in Alberta Canada 16-19 October 2008.

Cheers,

Sean Brawley

Comment here on Lendol Calder’s “Toward a Signature Pedagogy for History Education,” published in the May 2007 issue of the History SoTL Newsletter.

Click here for instructions about how to register and participate.

I would appreciate the comments and feedback of this community on my fall 06 experiment. The class and an accompanying blog are documented at

http://web.mac.com/critterdom/iWeb/Hooper%27s%20Study%20Pages/Welcome.html

I am planning another, different experiment in fall 07 (I’m currently on sabbatical and involved to my eyeteeth on yet a different project) that will integrate art into a World Civ to 1500 class. That class will have a working subtitle of History through Art, and use various visual arts to illustrate and explore the cultures and values of the societies that produced the art. At least, that’s the plan. If anybody knows of a good supplemental text that focuses on the arts and would generally fit this scenario, please let me know.

SoTL will play a key role in the development and implementation of this (and all of my future) classes. I am delighted that this society has been created!

Marie Hooper
Oklahoma City University

I would like to post a set of questions here about scholarly research into the teaching and learning of history. I know that sometimes terminology differs across national boundaries (for example, in the connotation of the term “assessment”), so feel free to comment about that.

1. What are the major research issues that need to be addressed by historians (us)?

2. What are good models of historians conducting such research?

We are a diverse group of people who do not all know one another yet and who come from all over the world (Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Japan, Sweden, Uganda, UK, and US are represented so far). Feel free to post a comment here to introduce yourself to the group. Or, write a post describing your work and others can provide feedback.

Welcome to the website for the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in History!

Look around, try all of the links, make suggestions.

Click on the “Register” link at the bottom right. On the page that appears you will define a username (it cannot be changed) and enter your email. A password will be immediately sent to you.

When you receive the password, click on the “Login” link at bottom right. You will be asked for your username and the password. Once logged in, you will be able to modify your user profile with your name, etc. When you are finished, click on “Update Profile” at the bottom right, then on “View site” on the top left. Then you will be able to reply to this post.