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Related Experiment Videos

Students' misconceptions about U.S. westward migration.

Ralph P Ferretti1, Charles A MacArthur, Cynthia M Okolo

  • 1School of Education, University of Delaware, Newark 19716, USA.

Journal of Learning Disabilities
|March 27, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Fifth-grade students learned about 19th-century westward migration using primary sources. While gains in historical knowledge were observed, students with learning disabilities (LD) and typically achieving (TA) peers showed varied progress, with misconceptions persisting.

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Area of Science:

  • Educational Psychology
  • History Education

Background:

  • Investigating 19th-century U.S. westward migration offers opportunities to teach historical inquiry.
  • Understanding historical bias is crucial for interpreting primary and secondary sources.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the impact of an 8-week historical investigation on fifth-grade students' knowledge of westward migration.
  • To compare learning gains between students with learning disabilities (LD) and typically achieving (TA) peers.
  • To identify persistent misconceptions in historical content and inquiry.

Main Methods:

  • Fifth-grade students (LD and TA peers) analyzed primary and secondary sources on westward migration.
  • Teacher-led discussions focused on identifying bias in historical evidence.
  • Quantitative analyses assessed changes in historical knowledge and understanding of inquiry.

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Main Results:

  • Students demonstrated gains in knowledge about westward expansion and historical inquiry.
  • Learning gains were not consistently comparable between students with LD and TA peers.
  • Misconceptions about the historical period and inquiry processes persisted post-instruction.

Conclusions:

  • Inquiry-based learning can improve historical understanding, but instructional design must address the needs of diverse learners.
  • Persistent misconceptions highlight the need for targeted interventions in history education.
  • Further research is needed to understand how to effectively support students with LD in historical investigations.