[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-597594-en":3,"doc-seo-597594-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":98},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":11,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29,"preview_page_count":4},597594,962090760408,"pop out","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45",8,"Research & Report","Was Columbus a Hero? A Study of Students who have been Confronted with Multiple Historical Narratives","This paper compares two attempts to teach two different grade 12 world history classes to think historically through a shared assignment centered on conflicting accounts of Christopher Columbus. The second class also receives direct instruction on how historical accounts are constructed. On average, this group demonstrates a more sophisticated understanding of history, aligning with research that historical understanding can be developed through carefully designed lessons and teaching historical thinking tools.","Canadian Social Studies, Volume 46, No. 1  \nWas Columbus a Hero? A Study of Students who have been Confronted with Multiple  \nHistorical Narratives  \nScott A. Pollock  \nOntario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto  \nAbstract  \nThis paper compares two attempts by the author to teach two different grade 12 world history classes to think historically. Both classes werepresented with a similar assignment that revolved around the conflicting historical accounts of Christopher Columbus. However, the second group of students was also provided with direct instruction about the nature and construction of historical accounts. In the end, this second group of students demonstrated, on average, a more sophisticated understanding of the study of history. These results correspond with a growing body of research, which suggests that historical understanding can be taught by carefully crafted lessons.  \nOver the past few decades a growing body of research into historical thinking has found that students’understanding of history progresses through a series of stages (Lee, 2005; Lee & Ashby, 2000). These stages range from the naïve view of history as corresponding directly to the past, to the recognition that history is a reconstruction of selected events, based upon evidence, that is undertaken to answer specific questions (Lee & Ashby, 2000; Sandwell, 2005) .  \nThis essay describes one of my own attempts, as a practicing high school history teacher, to improve my students’understanding of what history is. This endeavor, described in detail below, required my students to consider conflicting historical accounts of Christopher Columbus. Unfortunately, this activity was only moderately successful (at best) when first used. At the time, the reasons for this mystified and frustrated me. As I became more familiar with the research on historical thinking however, I came to realize that the lesson failed because I had not taught my students to apply important historical thinking tools to this task. In particular, I had failed to see the need to teach my students about historical empathy, I assumed that my students would naturally know how to analyze conflicting historical accounts, and I had failed to discuss with my pupils how the concerns of the present influence our interpretation of the past. I also added to my students’ difficulties by placing far too much stress on the detection of bias in historical documents and accounts. This had given them a faulty impression of what it means to study history, and this conception had made it difficult for them to complete my Columbus assignment in a sophisticated way. Armed with these realizations I was able to make a few small changes to the assignment, discussed below, that transformed it into a more powerful teaching tool.  \nIn the end, this rather personal essay is meant to highlight two facts. First, it demonstrateshow students’understanding of history can grow when their naïve beliefs are challenged directly. Second, and perhaps more importantly, this essay illustrates the need for teachers to clearly understand what history is and how this knowledge can be translated to students. Without a clear  \nCanadian Social Studies, Volume 46, No. 1  \nconception of what it means to “do” history, it is easy for both teachers and students to mistake a moderately sophisticated historical epistemology for a fully developed one.  \nThis paper begins with a discussion of recent research into students’conceptions of history. It then outlines my original Christopher Columbus assignment and analyzes the responses ofthe 12 students who completed it in 2005, using Lee and Ashby’s (2000) typology of historical thinking. I then discuss the changes I made to the Columbus assignment and analyze the responses ofthe 12 students enrolled in the same course in 2009. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of my experience for other teachers.  \nExisting Research on Historical Epistemology  \nIn ","cbCaih58rGHcVmW9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaih58rGHcVmW9","pdf",181128,1,14,"English","en",105,"# Abstract\n# Historical thinking and students' conceptions of history\n## Research-based six-stage typology of historical epistemology\n# Author's original Columbus assignment and student responses (2005)\n# Revisions to the assignment and student responses (2009)\n# Implications for other teachers","[{\"question\":\"What is the central focus of the two teaching attempts in the paper?\",\"answer\":\"Both attempts use an assignment about Christopher Columbus that confronts students with conflicting historical accounts. The goal is to develop historical thinking rather than rely on a single accepted narrative.\"},{\"question\":\"What change distinguishes the second student group from the first?\",\"answer\":\"The second group receives direct instruction about the nature and construction of historical accounts, along with the classroom work based on the Columbus narratives.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper explain why the original lesson was only moderately successful?\",\"answer\":\"It argues the activity failed because important historical thinking tools were not taught, including historical empathy and discussion of how present concerns shape interpretations of the past, while overemphasizing bias detection.\"}]","Was Columbus a Hero? A Study of Students who have been Confronted with Multiple Historical Narratives | PDF",1792085307,35,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":92,"head_meta":94,"extra_data":96,"updated_unix":97},"was-columbus-a-hero-a-study-of-students-who-have-been-confronted-with-multiple-historical-narratives","",{"@graph":36,"@context":91},[37,54,74],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/was-columbus-a-hero-a-study-of-students-who-have-been-confronted-with-multiple-historical-narratives/597594/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"image":56,"author":61,"headline":13,"publisher":63,"fileFormat":66,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":67,"datePublished":68,"encodingFormat":66,"isAccessibleForFree":69,"interactionStatistic":70},"DigitalDocument",{"url":57,"@type":58,"width":59,"height":60},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/was-columbus-a-hero-a-study-of-students-who-have-been-confronted-with-multiple-historical-narratives/597594.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":9,"@type":62},"Person",{"url":41,"name":64,"@type":65},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":71,"interactionType":72,"userInteractionCount":11},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":73},"ViewAction",{"@type":75,"mainEntity":76},"FAQPage",[77,83,87],{"name":78,"@type":79,"acceptedAnswer":80},"What is the central focus of the two teaching attempts in the paper?","Question",{"text":81,"@type":82},"Both attempts use an assignment about Christopher Columbus that confronts students with conflicting historical accounts. The goal is to develop historical thinking rather than rely on a single accepted narrative.","Answer",{"name":84,"@type":79,"acceptedAnswer":85},"What change distinguishes the second student group from the first?",{"text":86,"@type":82},"The second group receives direct instruction about the nature and construction of historical accounts, along with the classroom work based on the Columbus narratives.",{"name":88,"@type":79,"acceptedAnswer":89},"How does the paper explain why the original lesson was only moderately successful?",{"text":90,"@type":82},"It argues the activity failed because important historical thinking tools were not taught, including historical empathy and discussion of how present concerns shape interpretations of the past, while overemphasizing bias detection.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":93,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":64,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":95,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},1792190250,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":99},[100,104,108,112,117,122,127,130,135,138,142],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":113,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":128,"slug":129},30,"research-report",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":134},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":137},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":139,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":140,"show_sort_weight":139,"slug":141},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":143,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":144,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":145},19,"General","general"]