At October’s Pennsylvania Council for Social Studies Conference in Harrisburg, Pa., students in the Social Studies Methods class showed that history lessons can be more than lectures. Aaron Bell ’17, Mark Crow ’16MEd, Evan Cunhan ’16, Simon Mohr ’16, and Mark Reitz ’16 showed teachers from around the country how they could use technology to gather primary sources.

Throughout the year, the students learned how to use the National Archives’ DocsTeach.org, which teaches historical thinking skills through activities created by other teachers and experts and allowed the students to create their own lessons to share. They designed activities to show conference attendees how the program could be used in a classroom to engage students in history.

“School of Education pre-service teachers were teaching peers historical content, empathy, and analytical skills through self-created online modules,” said Dr. Marc Brasof, assistant professor of Education. “I couldn’t have been more proud.”