SOTL: Teaching Hidden History: Teaching Inquiry and Respecting the Process

Abstract

While the topic of inquiry-based learning has received a lot of attention, how instructors can best support and scaffold the process of meaningful inquiry is not as well understood. In a course developed by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RR-CHNM) called Teaching Hidden History, graduate students created their own online learning modules on topics of their own choosing. The modules' format was based on modules that were part of teacher professional development courses previously developed at RR-CHNM. In my lightning talk I will talk about how this combination of student directed research and pre-determined project format facilitated a scaffolded process of inquiry. Students in post course interviews expressed both the motivation associated with self-directed inquiry while also noting the benefits of extensive scaffolding throughout the course.