Exploring patterns of historical thinking through eighth-grade students’ argumentative writing
Building upon research on writing and on students’ development of historical thinking, the current study uses patterns in 427 eighth graders’ writing about sources to assess the sophistication of their historical reasoning. A spectrum is proposed to represent five levels of increasingly sophisticate...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SIG Writing of EARLI
2017-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Writing Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.jowr.org/abstracts/vol8_3/Nokes_2017_8_3_abstract.html |
| _version_ | 1818640446942871552 |
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| author | Jeffery D. Nokes |
| author_facet | Jeffery D. Nokes |
| author_sort | Jeffery D. Nokes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Building upon research on writing and on students’ development of historical thinking, the current study uses patterns in 427 eighth graders’ writing about sources to assess the sophistication of their historical reasoning. A spectrum is proposed to represent five levels of increasingly sophisticated writing about the source of documents. Using examples of students’ writing, this paper shows how students at lower levels fail to recognize sources of documents or misuse source information. In contrast, students at higher levels of the spectrum critically analyze sources of documents and a few even use source information persuasively in their writing. The spectrum, which categorizes the quality of students’ sourcing, correlates positively with the frequency of sourcing in students’ writing, suggesting a connection between strategy use and historical thinking. Suggestions for designing written assessments of students’ historical thinking are proposed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:11:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cae98be6d79746ce8b9245fa56867895 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2030-1006 2294-3307 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:11:25Z |
| publishDate | 2017-02-01 |
| publisher | SIG Writing of EARLI |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Writing Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-cae98be6d79746ce8b9245fa568678952022-12-21T22:12:25ZengSIG Writing of EARLIJournal of Writing Research2030-10062294-33072017-02-0183437467doi:10.17239/jowr-2017.08.03.02Exploring patterns of historical thinking through eighth-grade students’ argumentative writingJeffery D. Nokes Building upon research on writing and on students’ development of historical thinking, the current study uses patterns in 427 eighth graders’ writing about sources to assess the sophistication of their historical reasoning. A spectrum is proposed to represent five levels of increasingly sophisticated writing about the source of documents. Using examples of students’ writing, this paper shows how students at lower levels fail to recognize sources of documents or misuse source information. In contrast, students at higher levels of the spectrum critically analyze sources of documents and a few even use source information persuasively in their writing. The spectrum, which categorizes the quality of students’ sourcing, correlates positively with the frequency of sourcing in students’ writing, suggesting a connection between strategy use and historical thinking. Suggestions for designing written assessments of students’ historical thinking are proposed.http://www.jowr.org/abstracts/vol8_3/Nokes_2017_8_3_abstract.htmlhistorical writinghistorical literacyhistorical readinghistory teachingassessments of historical thinking |
| spellingShingle | Jeffery D. Nokes Exploring patterns of historical thinking through eighth-grade students’ argumentative writing Journal of Writing Research historical writing historical literacy historical reading history teaching assessments of historical thinking |
| title | Exploring patterns of historical thinking through eighth-grade students’ argumentative writing |
| title_full | Exploring patterns of historical thinking through eighth-grade students’ argumentative writing |
| title_fullStr | Exploring patterns of historical thinking through eighth-grade students’ argumentative writing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring patterns of historical thinking through eighth-grade students’ argumentative writing |
| title_short | Exploring patterns of historical thinking through eighth-grade students’ argumentative writing |
| title_sort | exploring patterns of historical thinking through eighth grade students argumentative writing |
| topic | historical writing historical literacy historical reading history teaching assessments of historical thinking |
| url | http://www.jowr.org/abstracts/vol8_3/Nokes_2017_8_3_abstract.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jefferydnokes exploringpatternsofhistoricalthinkingthrougheighthgradestudentsargumentativewriting |