Session Abstract

As history instructors we strive to engage our students in the content and meaning of our subject matter.  Our students also want to learn what drives our passion for the discipline because a passionate professor creates excitement to which students respond.  Some of our best teaching occurs when students inspire us to reach beyond the classroom, when students become part of history and help build our course, and when we set standards that they then exceed.  Instructors also learn some of the best techniques and skills in teaching by sharing specific assignments, lessons and successes with other instructors.  In this session we will showcase specific examples of how our students helped us to think outside-the-box and how we developed unique teaching resources that engage our students.  We will present assignment examples as well as class projects, and the development of new teaching resources that can be shared with instructors and students around the world.  We will give ideas for specific projects you can use with your students to help them build historical knowledge and critical thinking.  We will present a new online primary resource database for teaching which uses memorials and cemeteries, and we will explain how students inspired its development and continued growth by contributing to its expanding knowledge base.  In addition, we will provide an example of student-inspired use of gaming techniques to enhance teaching.   Games can be modified to teach higher order thinking and compare conflicts across time using a variety of factors while also assessing how and what students learn.  Students help to refine the game process and provide continued review of its effectiveness.  Finally, we will show how online journaling or blogs can enhance student comprehension of historical travel and help them develop a sense of meaning and purpose of historical sites.  Through blogs they can share their insights and ignite broader discussion and critical thinking.  A peer review process and discussion develops student and class ownership of the blog and thus creates a student narrative of their learning experience.   The session will utilize technology and discussion so that participants gain real-world knowledge of teaching projects they can employ in their own classrooms.