Written sources : an investigation into finding the effective ways these can be presented to students

Abstract

This dissertation aimed at finding the best way to present written historical sources to history option students in the age group 13-15 years. A written source in the form of a letter was taken from a textbook used by history option students: ‘From the coming of the Knights to EU membership’, sitting for their SEC. This letter is one of the most challenging sources in the textbook and this dissertation was an endeavour to improve ways of teaching and presenting of this written source to students. This source was presented to two groups of history option students and different techniques were used to make the source more palatable to students and thus support their learning. Students’ work was then evaluated from the worksheet given after the activity and this was contrasted with the answers to the same sheet of questions prior to the study. The students’ work mostly improved and hence from these results, this dissertation made recommendations about the best format to present written sources to students.