Approaches to teaching and learning in the Diploma Programme history course
History guide94
Skills
The DP history course, as with all DP courses, provides rich opportunities to develop students’ thinking,
research, communication, social and self-management skills. More advice on developing these five
categories of skills in the history course can be found in the History teacher support material. Four examples
of the types of skills developed throughout the history course are outlined below.
Example 1: The gathering and sorting of
historical evidence
Many of the skills developed in the history course
relate to the gathering and sorting of historical
evidence. This area includes research skills such as
locating and selecting relevant and appropriate
evidence from books, articles, websites and
audio-visual resources; and recognizing the
distinctions between different kinds of evidence.
The course provides the opportunity for students
to increase their confidence and independence in
locating and using a variety of historical sources.
Example 2: The evaluation of historical
evidence
A key element of the course relates to the
development of thinking and research skills
relating to the evaluation of historical evidence.
These skills include recognizing the subjective
nature of the historical evidence; examining
sources for information and interpretations, and
for cases where they corroborate, complement
or contradict each other; recognizing the value
and uses of sources, and reasons to use them
cautiously; and recognizing and appreciating why
and how opinions and interpretations differ. The
course provides the opportunity for students to
increase their awareness of multiple perspectives,
historical opinions and interpretations.
Example 3: Recognizing and understanding
historical processes and their relationships to
human experience, activity and motivation
The history course allows students to develop their
appreciation of the nature of human experience
in a range of contexts. It achieves this through a
focus on skills such as recognizing, explaining and
analysing causes and consequences; recognizing,
explaining and analysing continuity, change and
development over time; recognizing, explaining
and analysing similarity and difference; relating
human activities, experiences and motivations
in history to a range of cultural and social
dimensions; and synthesizing material studied
across time and space.
Example 4: Organizing and expressing
historical ideas and information
The history course places a strong emphasis on
developing the communication skills needed to
organize and express ideas and information with
clarity. These skills include: posing questions
and hypotheses, and answering or testing them;
handling and synthesizing several sources for one
inquiry; selecting and deploying information and
ideas; constructing narratives, with ideas, analysis
and relevant substantiation; and summarizing
and arriving at conclusions. The development of
these skills helps increase students’ confidence
and sophistication in both oral and written
communication.