Search

The article focuses on how the use of identification questions (IDs) can encourage students to think historically. The author explores two ways of implementing IDs, the journalistic approach of "What, Who, Where, When, Why" and the alternative approach of "Identify, Before, After, and During" and discusses the differences between memorization and comprehension.

The article offers opinion on helping students read and write history effectively. It is proven that the key to improving the asking of good questions is developing a better understanding of how professional historians do their work. Some students will always love history but almost all need to be taught how to write the kind of history that history instructors are fond of reading. It is important to share with the students the lesson that historian themselves have learned, that some questions are better to work with than others.