In 2024, following the AHA’s Tuning Project (est. 2012) and History Gateways (est. 2019), the AHA published Designing Introductory History Courses for Student Success, which describes problems facing introductory history courses, and recording solutions adopted by history faculty at eleven participating postsecondary institutions, in part inspired by the Gardner Institutes Gateways to Completion (G2C) model. The results stressed active learning practices that support skill development, accessible and inclusive materials, and promoting student engagement.

As faculty work to integrate such recommendations in their classrooms, they often lack meaningful evidence-based models. As the AHA’s survey of 800+ history faculty in 2021 demonstrates, instructors overwhelmingly want increased opportunities to workshop course design and resources and communities of colleagues to help them achieve these goals (Claire Vanderwood and Julia Brookins, “Introductory History Courses in 2001: A Snapshot in Time and the Midterm View,” in Designing Introductory History Courses, p. 42–43).

This 2-part workshop offers just that. It will involve colleagues supporting colleagues using evidence-based practical solutions to the challenges of teaching introductory history courses. It’s is led by leaders of the History for the 21st Century project, a faculty-led, non-profit project that produces inquiry-based, active-learning teaching materials for use in introductory world history courses that are peer reviewed, classroom-tested, and designed using evidence to support student engagement and the learning of historical thinking skills, while also being free and easy-to-use by faculty teaching outside of their areas of expertise.

Part 2 of this workshop series will provide a structured approach for faculty to use their areas of expertise to integrate inquiry-based, active-learning teaching approaches in large introductory classes that they teach. Faculty will bring examples from their own teaching and research expertise and then practice considering questions of engaging students in required General Education courses and promoting skill development through the habituation of historical thinking skills in large-class environments.