As you have learned, thinking like a historian is about developing a “particular set of skills” that will allow you to determine what is really happening in the world around you, what happened in the past, and how that all connects to you. These skills are also useful in letting you figure out why people do what they do, what their motivations or biases are, and if what they are saying make sense and is correct, or not. This is especially important today due to the prevalence of social media in people’s lives.
According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of all adults, and 90% of adults age 18-29, use at least one social media siteand 36% of adults age 18-29 get their news from social media. In addition, much of the information on social media, especially Facebook, is not fact-checked. This lack of fact-checking and the increase in “fake news,” has serious consequences above and beyond misinformation.
Thinking like a historian allows you to sort out the facts from the “fake news.”
Directions:
In this assignment you will create a reflection (using words and/or images) about historical thinking skills and show how you can use them in “real-world” situations.
Complete the following Steps:
- Please answer the following prompt: Identify and explain 3 historical-thinking skills you practice. Why are they important and how you can use them when studying history and while reading the news? How can you use them in your everyday life? Please provide another example besides analyzing the news 🙂
You can enter the writing in the text box or upload a Word, Google Doc, or PDF document
- Find one or more images or videos that relates to the prompt or your answers.
You can upload an image or video file or attach a website URL where the images/videos are located
