An investigation of the teaching and learning practices of history in secondary schools: a case study

Rosy Talin (2011) An investigation of the teaching and learning practices of history in secondary schools: a case study. ["eprint_fieldopt_thesis_type_phd" not defined] thesis, Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

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Abstract

The case of this study is to investigate in-depth the teaching and learning practice of history in secondary schools. To attain the purpose, the issues to be studied are the history teachers' teaching practice in the classroom, the students' learning practice in response to the teaching practice, the inculcation of historical thinking skills, the teachers' views, and the students' voices about the teaching practice. A qualitative case study is seen as the relevant methodology to be adopted to allow an in-depth investigation of the issues concerned. Four experience history teachers from secondary schools and a group of four students from each teacher are the participants of this study. The data is collected from the real setting, the secondary schools, and from the real actors, the teachers and the students, through classroom observations, interviews and review of documents related to the teaching and learning practice in order to portray the data as authentic as possible. Field notes, video recordings, audio recordings and related documents are the forms of data sources in this study. These various data collection sources and the involvement of both teachers and students are meant for data triangulation. Besides triangulation, member checking and prolonged engagement with the setting and the audit trail techniques are used to ensure the validity and reliability of the data. All data are analyzed in two phases, within-case analysis and cross-case analysis. In the within-case analysis the data go through the process of coding and "subcategorizing. Codings that share similar features are grouped and given their subcategory. Each of these subcategories is described according to the group participants. The cross-case analysis is done after the within-case analysis. The purpose of this analysis is to discover similarities and differences between each group participants. The process of merging the subcategories to become categories and themes are done in this analysis. The finding of this study reveals the Direct Instruction of teaching dominates the practice of these teachers. Consequently, the students learn history passively, thus, the historical thinking skills incorporated in the teaching are at the basic level, understanding the chronology and exploring evidence found in the textbook. The teachers' views show the concern toward self, task and impact are the main reason underpinning the practice. From the students' voices it is identified that they learn through seeing, listening and feeling. As such, they are mixture of learners, the visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners, which prefer their teachers to use eclectic and blended approaches in delivering the lesson. Based on these findings, mismatch has seen occurred between the implementation of the teaching and" the learning preferences of the students. To successfully improve the teaching and learning of history, teachers need to plan their lesson thoughtfully and comprehensively. With these findings, information from the literature review, and research findings elsewhere I suggest the 'upside down’ instructional approach to allow the integration of teaching the content and incorporating historical thinking skills in the practice and to allow for more research in the future.

Item Type: Thesis (["eprint_fieldopt_thesis_type_phd" not defined])
Keyword: Education, Teaching and learning practice, Secondary schools
Subjects: L Education > LA History of education
Department: SCHOOL > School of Education and Social Development
Depositing User: ADMIN ADMIN
Date Deposited: 25 May 2012 18:02
Last Modified: 14 Nov 2017 15:32
URI: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/3703

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