HISTORICAL STEPS: THE EXAMPLE OF THUCYDIDES This exercise explores what sorts of questions make up a historical explanation using the example of Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War.

INTERACTIVITY and CREATIVITY in teaching and learning History OBJECTIVES: INTERDISCIPLINARITY in the analysis of a primary source; RELATION TO THE MODULE: how to develop a historical inquiry out of using a primary source; RELATION TO MODULE ASSESSMENT: how to develop source commentary skills.

SOURCE ACTIVITIES: Close reading of a primary source; Discussion groups; Quiz on historical research questions. Let's take a further look.

TASK: What makes for a GOOD HISTORICAL QUESTION? Another easy online tool developed for online learning, discussion boards and classroom use

QUIZ OBJECTIVES Introduce critical skills for examining historical sources in week 2-3, related to course assessment Encourage students' confidence in using a wider range of visual, cinematic and 'biased' sources in commentaries Establish online Moodle discussion boards for follow-up questions between teachers and students

What's a good question? Good question: specific, has a testable hypothesis, and relates to other historical scholarship Bad question: too broad, anachronistic, or containing moral/political prejudices preventing fair investigation. Let's take the quiz:

DISCUSSING the RESULTS Take a look at some student contributions from a Moodle discussion boardstudent contributions Students tended to be reserved about giving authoritative statements or debating with each other Though students were not always correct, the exercise allowed them to receive quick and brief feedback that could be incorporated into their Mahara journals The quiz, along with others, were quick and simple to produce and aided online learning beyond the classroom