Task complexity in history textbooks: A multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education research
The purpose of history education in Austria has changed over at least the last decade. While the focus used to be to give students a master narrative of the national past based on positivist knowledge, the current objective of history education is to foster historical thinking processes that enable...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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UCL Press
2019-03-01
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| Series: | History Education Research Journal |
| Online Access: | https://www.scienceopen.com/document?vid=e9e480c4-c29b-4414-8340-ca78f38af9b2 |
| _version_ | 1818719370264707072 |
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| author | Christoph Kühberger Christoph Bramann Zarah Weiß Detmar Meurers |
| author_facet | Christoph Kühberger Christoph Bramann Zarah Weiß Detmar Meurers |
| author_sort | Christoph Kühberger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The purpose of history education in Austria has changed over at least the last decade. While the focus used to be to give students a master narrative of the national past based on positivist knowledge, the current objective of history education is to foster historical thinking processes
that enable students to form transferable skills in the self-reflected handling and creation of history. A key factor in fostering historical thinking is the appropriation of learning tasks. This case study measures the complexity of learning tasks in Austrian history textbooks as one important
aspect of their quality. It makes use of three different approaches to complexity to triangulate the notion: general task complexity (GTC), general linguistic complexity (GLC), and domain-specific task complexity (DTC). The question is which findings can be offered by the specific strengths
and limitations of the different methodological approaches to give new insights into the study of task complexity in the domain of history education research. By pursuing multidisciplinary approaches in a triangulating way, the case study opens up new prospects for this field. Besides offering
new insights on measuring the complexity of learning tasks, the study illustrates the need for further research in this field – not only related to the development of analytical frameworks, but also regarding the notion of complexity in the context of historical learning itself. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:05:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e9d4cc7827b94912b7fdeac5b8c3ca7c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2631-9713 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:05:52Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | UCL Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | History Education Research Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-e9d4cc7827b94912b7fdeac5b8c3ca7c2022-12-21T21:34:20ZengUCL PressHistory Education Research Journal2631-97132019-03-0110.18546/HERJ.16.1.12Task complexity in history textbooks: A multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education researchChristoph KühbergerChristoph BramannZarah WeißDetmar MeurersThe purpose of history education in Austria has changed over at least the last decade. While the focus used to be to give students a master narrative of the national past based on positivist knowledge, the current objective of history education is to foster historical thinking processes that enable students to form transferable skills in the self-reflected handling and creation of history. A key factor in fostering historical thinking is the appropriation of learning tasks. This case study measures the complexity of learning tasks in Austrian history textbooks as one important aspect of their quality. It makes use of three different approaches to complexity to triangulate the notion: general task complexity (GTC), general linguistic complexity (GLC), and domain-specific task complexity (DTC). The question is which findings can be offered by the specific strengths and limitations of the different methodological approaches to give new insights into the study of task complexity in the domain of history education research. By pursuing multidisciplinary approaches in a triangulating way, the case study opens up new prospects for this field. Besides offering new insights on measuring the complexity of learning tasks, the study illustrates the need for further research in this field – not only related to the development of analytical frameworks, but also regarding the notion of complexity in the context of historical learning itself.https://www.scienceopen.com/document?vid=e9e480c4-c29b-4414-8340-ca78f38af9b2 |
| spellingShingle | Christoph Kühberger Christoph Bramann Zarah Weiß Detmar Meurers Task complexity in history textbooks: A multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education research History Education Research Journal |
| title | Task complexity in history textbooks: A multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education research |
| title_full | Task complexity in history textbooks: A multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education research |
| title_fullStr | Task complexity in history textbooks: A multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education research |
| title_full_unstemmed | Task complexity in history textbooks: A multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education research |
| title_short | Task complexity in history textbooks: A multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education research |
| title_sort | task complexity in history textbooks a multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education research |
| url | https://www.scienceopen.com/document?vid=e9e480c4-c29b-4414-8340-ca78f38af9b2 |
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