Abstract
The need for a transformation of the teaching and learning process of history has long been called for from the field of history education research. A change is advocated which affects both the methodology and the epistemology of the field and promotes the development of historical thinking. This chapter presents an intervention programme aimed at primary education students in Spain and validated via expert judgement with the aim of contributing to the aforementioned change in the teaching of history by including work on the historical thinking skills along with the use of active methodologies such as gamification. The objective of this chapter is to present this gamified project for the development of historical thinking in such a way that it can serve as a point of reference and to propose a series of steps to facilitate the design of gamified learning experiments.
TopHistorical Thinking
Research into historical thinking is increasingly gaining relevance (Epstein & Salinas, 2018; Lévesque & Clark, 2018; Thorp & Persson, 2020) as can be observed in the recent monographs on this issue (Carretero et al., 2017; Counsell et al., 2016; Metzger & Harris, 2018). Within this field, two main trends can be identified (Seixas, 2017); one based on historical consciousness and controversial issues (Barton & Levstik, 2004; Domínguez-Almansa & López-Facal, 2017; Rüsen, 2012), which complements another focused on historical thinking (De Groot-Reuvekamp et al., 2018; Lévesque & Clark, 2018; Thorp & Persson, 2020; VanSledright, 2014).
In spite of the proliferation of research on history education, and historical thinking in particular, Lévesque & Clark (2018) have stated that history teachers have not fully integrated proposals made as a result of this research into their teaching practice, although it is true that the education curriculums of some countries have incorporated historical thinking (Brant et al., 2016; Clark, 2018; Domínguez, 2015; Parkes & Donnelly, 2014).
The lack of relationship between the research on historical thinking and classroom teaching experience (Lévesque & Clark, 2018) explains the fact that researchers continue to defend the need to carry out a renovation of history education towards the development of historical thinking. This necessity is also justified by the very epistemology of history and its aims, as well as by the guidelines set out in education curriculums (Gómez et al., 2018).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Badges: Collectable visual icons which reflect the students’ achievements in a gamified learning experience.
First-Order Concepts: Substantive knowledge of the content about the past, that is, past events, concepts, and dates.
Narrative: The history or context which serves as the central theme of the whole gamified learning experience.
Second-Order Concepts: Procedural ideas about history that provide the necessary tools for the study of the past and the construction of historical explanations.
Missions: Activities and tasks which the students must carry out in a gamified learning experience.
Avatar: A personal representation of each student within the gamified experience.
Gamification: The application of the elements of which games are made up to the teaching process in order to improve students’ motivation, learning and engagement, among others.
Historical Thinking: Creative process based on the analysis and interpretation of different historical sources in order to generate historical narratives.