Students’ experience of using primary sources at A-level and in an honours degree in history: an exploratory case-study
<p>The use of primary sources plays a significant role in history teaching in England. With the development of the School Council History Project (1976), the establishment of the GCSE (1985) and the National Curriculum (1991), students’ work on primary sources became fully integrated within hi...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2020
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| _version_ | 1797056200319172608 |
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| author | Gargioni, S |
| author2 | Burn, K |
| author_facet | Burn, K Gargioni, S |
| author_sort | Gargioni, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>The use of primary sources plays a significant role in history teaching in England. With the development of the School Council History Project (1976), the establishment of the GCSE (1985) and the National Curriculum (1991), students’ work on primary sources became fully integrated within history teaching, with assessment objectives specifically devoted to it. </p>
<p>Scholars in history education have investigated how students make sense of primary sources and develop historical thinking, by emphasising the importance of understanding sources in their context. Much less attention has been paid, however, to the ways in which students themselves think about the process and purpose of using sources within their study of history. In seeking to address this gap, my research uses a cross-sectional case-study design to examine the ways in which students approach the use of sources within history courses at A-Level and when within a single-honours history for an honours degree. Therefore, this dissertation aims to explore students’ perspectives of the journey towards becoming historians, examining the process of transition from working with sources at school, within a tightly structured programme tailored to A-Level examinations, to looking at primary materials when studying at university, with a more independent approach to the subject. </p>
<p>Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, in which both A-Level students and third year undergraduates were involved. The analysis of the data collected revealed how A-Level students perceived a certain disconnect between historians’ methodology and the work done with primary sources during their course. Instead, undergraduates viewed more positively the tasks with sources carried out during an honours degree in history, highlighting how this work was often similar to historians’ way of thinking.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:19:59Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:19beff7f-0235-4d6b-9900-c48a30b6ac98 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:19:59Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:19beff7f-0235-4d6b-9900-c48a30b6ac982022-03-26T10:50:45ZStudents’ experience of using primary sources at A-level and in an honours degree in history: an exploratory case-studyThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_bdccuuid:19beff7f-0235-4d6b-9900-c48a30b6ac98History EducationEnglishHyrax Deposit2020Gargioni, SBurn, KIngram, J<p>The use of primary sources plays a significant role in history teaching in England. With the development of the School Council History Project (1976), the establishment of the GCSE (1985) and the National Curriculum (1991), students’ work on primary sources became fully integrated within history teaching, with assessment objectives specifically devoted to it. </p> <p>Scholars in history education have investigated how students make sense of primary sources and develop historical thinking, by emphasising the importance of understanding sources in their context. Much less attention has been paid, however, to the ways in which students themselves think about the process and purpose of using sources within their study of history. In seeking to address this gap, my research uses a cross-sectional case-study design to examine the ways in which students approach the use of sources within history courses at A-Level and when within a single-honours history for an honours degree. Therefore, this dissertation aims to explore students’ perspectives of the journey towards becoming historians, examining the process of transition from working with sources at school, within a tightly structured programme tailored to A-Level examinations, to looking at primary materials when studying at university, with a more independent approach to the subject. </p> <p>Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, in which both A-Level students and third year undergraduates were involved. The analysis of the data collected revealed how A-Level students perceived a certain disconnect between historians’ methodology and the work done with primary sources during their course. Instead, undergraduates viewed more positively the tasks with sources carried out during an honours degree in history, highlighting how this work was often similar to historians’ way of thinking.</p> |
| spellingShingle | History Education Gargioni, S Students’ experience of using primary sources at A-level and in an honours degree in history: an exploratory case-study |
| title | Students’ experience of using primary sources at A-level and in an honours degree in history: an exploratory case-study |
| title_full | Students’ experience of using primary sources at A-level and in an honours degree in history: an exploratory case-study |
| title_fullStr | Students’ experience of using primary sources at A-level and in an honours degree in history: an exploratory case-study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Students’ experience of using primary sources at A-level and in an honours degree in history: an exploratory case-study |
| title_short | Students’ experience of using primary sources at A-level and in an honours degree in history: an exploratory case-study |
| title_sort | students experience of using primary sources at a level and in an honours degree in history an exploratory case study |
| topic | History Education |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gargionis studentsexperienceofusingprimarysourcesatalevelandinanhonoursdegreeinhistoryanexploratorycasestudy |