Module HIST1751: Doing History: Evidence, Methods, and Challenges

Department: History

HIST1751: Doing History: Evidence, Methods, and Challenges

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To introduce students to a range and variety of historical sources and methodologies.
• To develop practical skills that can be employed when conducting historical research.
• To conduct research in libraries, archives, museums, and online databases.
• To develop skills of collaboration and team leadership through group work.
• To reflect on the research process through individually assessed work.
• To develop a range of research skills which will form a foundation for the assignments conducted throughout the degree, especially in Making History, Conversations, and the History Dissertation.

Content

• This module shows students that history can be something that we do, not just something that we learn. It introduces students to some of the methodologies they will encounter on their degree and can employ in their own research. These may include, but are not limited to: visual and material culture studies, museum and heritage studies, oral history, environmental history, economic history, marginalised or minoritised histories (gender, race, sexuality, ethnicity, class), decolonial approaches to history, histories of the senses and emotions, and histories of medicine, science, and technology. The module also equips students to understand some of the institutions where they will encounter the past, such as libraries, archives, special collections, museums, heritage sites, and online repositories. It teaches students how to do history by linking historical research, evidence, and methods through a series of lectures, seminar-based discussions, and interactive research challenges.

Learning Outcomes

• An understanding of what is meant by a historical methodology.
• A critical understanding of the methodological approaches developed by historians.
• An awareness of the relationship between theory and practice.
• An awareness of how archives, libraries, museums, and online repositories organize sources.

• An ability of how to locate primary sources in various repositories.
• An ability to interpret sources using a range of methodologies.
• The development of oracy skills and an ability to present research to small groups.
• An ability to reflect upon the research process through written work.
• An ability to work cooperatively within groupwork settings.

• The ability to employ sophisticated reading skills to gather, sift, process, synthesise and critically evaluate information from a variety of sources (print, digital, material, aural, visual, audio-visual etc.).
• The ability to communicate ideas and information orally and in writing, and to devise and sustain coherent and cogent arguments.
• The ability to write and think under pressure, manage time and work to deadlines.
• The ability to make effective use of information and communications technology.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Student learning is facilitated by a combination of lectures to set the foundations for further study, seminars to provide the basis for the acquisition of subject-specific knowledge, and group work to foster the skills of organisation, cooperation and independent research.
• Lectures provide a broad framework which defines individual module content, introducing students to themes, debates and interpretations. In this environment, students are given the opportunity to develop skills in listening, selective note-taking and reflection.
• Seminars allow students to present and critically reflect upon the acquired subject-specific knowledge, methodologies and theories, and to identify and debate a range of issues and differing opinions. The seminar is the forum in which students are given the opportunity to communicate ideas, jointly exploring themes and arguments. Seminars are structured to develop understanding and designed to maximise student participation related to prior independent preparation. Seminars give students the opportunity to develop oral communication skills, encourage critical and tolerant approaches to reasoned argument and historical discussion, build the students' ability to marshal historical evidence, and facilitate the development of the ability to summarise historical arguments, think in a rapidly changing environment and communicate in a persuasive and articulate manner, whilst recognising the value of working with others and, occasionally, towards shared goals. The seminar will also be the primary forum for developing students skills in reading and criticising primary sources.
• Group work offers students the opportunity to organise a project with their fellow students, to allocate tasks and conduct independent research, and to present the results of this research to tutors and fellow students. It develops skills of cooperation, time management, independent research, and presentation of research findings through various forms of media.
• Assessment: Students are required to complete a portfolio as a summative coursework assignment. This portfolio will include short written reflections on a series of research challenges that students have been set during lectures and seminar series. Examples may include, but are not limited to, primary sources the students have located plus a written commentary on the research process they have undertaken in order to locate these sources, and reflections on different research methodologies and their limitations.
• The summative essay for this module is an individual written reflection on a group work research project that students will have conducted over a number of weeks. Though the research project involves cooperation with fellow students, the reflections are written individually. The summative essay remains a central component of assessment in history, due to the integrative high-order skills it develops. It allows students the opportunity to recognise, represent and critically reflect upon ideas, concepts and problems; students can demonstrate awareness of, and the ability to use and evaluate, a diverse range of resources and identify, represent and debate a range of subject-specific issues and opinions. Through the essay, students can synthesise information, adopt critical appraisals and develop reasoned argument based on individual research; they should be able to communicate ideas in writing, with clarity and coherence; and to show the ability to integrate and critically assess material from a wide range of sources.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Students will submit selected entries to their research portfolio at the end of Michaelmas term. They will receive feedback on these so they can revise them as part of their final submission of this portfolio as a summative assessment. This builds an iterative dimension into the assessment process. Students will present their research as part of their groups. These presentations may take many forms. Formats may include but are not limited to synchronous PowerPoint presentations, performances, or mini-lectures, and asynchronous presentations such as exhibitions, podcasts, guided tours, etc. The process of researching and presenting as a group will form the basis of the individualised summative reflection, described above.

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.