Signature Pedagogy and Student Learning: Promoting Student Learning and Student

Engagement

Kevin Dolan

Manhattan College: Education 376

Sr. MaryAnn Jacobs

October 16, 2020

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The subject of Social Studies is often associated with an incessant use of facts and

information, directly leading to the diminishment of engagement of students, and therefore

learning. However, as Charles G. Sellers once stated, “The notion that students must first be

given facts and then at some point in the distant future will ‘think’ about them is both a cover-up

and a perversion of pedagogy,” Social Studies classrooms that primarily rely on the absorption of

all information by students fail to incorporate pedagogy into their curricula (as quoted in Calder,

1362). As Calder explains, teachers of Social Studies need to go beyond basic facts and textbook

information in order to effectively teach students the content. For example, an educator who

makes reference to discriminatory acts in the past could and should relate the content to present-

day events, rather than rely on their students’ ability to process random facts and information.

The development of a signature pedagogy will help educators in combatting the content-heavy

curriculum that is Social Studies. Pedagogy refers to the “method in which we teach,” and can

help to facilitate discussions, achieve deeper learning, and impact a student’s perspective on the

content.

In my personal experience, I have been subject to a variety of different pedagogies during

my educational career. Some Social Studies instructors placate the content-heavy curriculum of

Social Studies with content-centered instruction that devoid the classroom of personality, leading

to an influx of boredom throughout the classroom. While many of my past instructors have

avoided this method of teaching, there are some that cannot help but create this environment.

Educators such as this remind me of the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” in which an instructor

is presented to be teaching in a similarly boring manner. In some Social Studies classes, this

scene is a reality; a content-centered approach in Social Studies can diminish student interest and

student learning. Learning from past experiences, it is vital for Social Studies instructors, such as
Signature Pedagogy and Student Learning Dolan 3

myself, to engage students in the content by fostering student interest in order to promote student

learning. In order to accomplish this, one must create a signature pedagogy that uses strategies

that promote both student interest and student learning while not taking away from the content.

The first strategy that was examined in an attempt to create a signature pedagogy was

cooperative learning. According to Charles Igel and Vicki Urquhart, “collaborative learning

occurs when students work together in groups, while cooperative learning, a subset of

collaborative learning, is highly structured with certain elements that address teachers’ concerns

about uneven effort among participants.” (17). In cooperative learning, an instructor can

reengage students who have become marginalized while also facilitating all of the students’

success. In order to successfully incorporate cooperative learning, and instructor must teach

group processing and interpersonal skills, establish cooperative goal structures withing groups,

and provide mechanisms for individual accountability. Group processing involves task

management and distribution of responsibilities, since “each member is assigned a different role,

such as materials handler, recorder, or manager,” while interpersonal skills involve active

listening and providing constructive criticism (Iges, 19). In order to create a shared goal, an

instructor can “[link] outcomes among group members. Grades should not be considered

outcomes” (Iges, 19). In Social Studies, this would translate to the completion of a project or

presentation. According to Iges and Urquihart, “For groups to operate effectively, they must

maintain a balance between interdependence and individual accountability,” explaining that

individual participants of a group may loaf, or not contribute as much as other members,

hindering the outcome and grade of the other group members. By giving student groups the

opportunity to have individual accountability, they will work far more effectively. By following
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these parameters, cooperative learning can effectively increase student engagement and student

learning in any classroom.

The second strategy that was researched extensively was the incorporation of technology

in the classroom. In a case study, on Social Studies teacher noticed the ineffectiveness of the use

of technology in his school. Although technology integration into the classroom has been

required teachers, and they follow this integration, the instructor noticed “it would not have been

sufficient to radically change student perceptions or increase confidence; a more sustained and

meaningful approach was necessary” (Crowe, 160). The instructor went to explain that he

incorporated “modeling and then discussion of social-studies-specific activities… so students

would have experience with content-specific examples of technology facilitating student

learning” and “the use of technology in a variety of settings” (Crowe, 160). Modeling activities

that use technology can give students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the

technology or software that the instructor is requiring them to use. Modeling general teaching

strategies with technology can “both introduce students to various structures and uses and teach

some of the content of the day’s lesson” (Crowe, 162). Lastly, it is important the technology is

used in a variety of settings, making use of school facilities and “[experience] different ways to

use technology, with a focus on different ways to use computers” (Crowe, 162). Additionally, in

“Guidelines for Using Technology to Prepare Social Studies Teachers,” the authors recommend

the use of digital archives, “learn how to use technology to make their teaching better than it

would be without it,” and “Include Opportunities for Students to Study Relationships Among

Science, Technology, and Society” (Mason et al, 108-110). Evidently, effective use of

technology goes beyond using PowerPoints and watching films, but should be used to make
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learning more effective and provide students with opportunities to use computers and other

technology in other ways than they have before.

The final strategy examined was increasing the quality of student learning by

empowering students. According to Anna Sullivan and Len King, “Processes of empowerment

facilitate motivation and motivation is an attempt to meet students’ needs” and they claim that

there is a “connection between a sense of empowerment and the quality of learning” (37).

Sullivan and King recommend empowering students by using negotiation and promoting

students to take ownership of their work by incorporating student voice and decision making into

the lesson. When an instructor shares power with the students, it creates leadership among

students and allows students to easily take ownership of their learning. According to the article,

“Student participation is about giving students a voice about their education and requires

negotiation with students and encouraging students to take part in the decision making process”

(Sullivan and King, 37). The most important concept to take from this article when creating my

signature pedagogy is allowing students to have a voice in what they learn in order to create a

sense of ownership among students.

While these strategies differ from each other vastly, they can be incorporated and mixed

together to create a pedagogy that promotes student learning and student engagement.

Cooperative learning can be achieved through the use of small-group tasks, and can be combined

with technology and ownership in many ways. Ownership can be achieved through student

choice, which is very easy and simple to provide in a Social Studies classroom. One example of

this would be allowing students to choose which geographic region is studied on a particular day.

In Social Studies, history is taught linearly, and often there are many times when multiple

regions and perspectives are being looked at within the same period of time. A fantastic example
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of this would be the Little Ice Age and the Crisis of the Seventeenth Century, since many regions

such as France, Japan, the Ottoman Empire, and Mesoamerican Empires are all examined within

this period of time, an instructor could provide students with the opportunity to choose which

region to study in what order. This will allow students to feel as if they took a part in the

planning of the lesson, and can help promote a sense of ownership of learning. Cooperative

learning and technology can be combined through the use of various small-group projects. One

example of such a project would be having small groups of students create Storyboards about

particular events in history. Not only is this an effective and unique tool of technology, it also

provides creativity to flourish in a subject that is traditionally content-heavy and information-

oriented.

After executing a lesson plan using my signature pedagogy, it is vital that I reflect on the

progress I have made, and how I can improve. Using my pedagogy, I devised a four-day lesson

plan, starting with the Enlightenment, and ending with the spread of the nation-state system.

Then, I put the plan into practice by presenting a thirty-minute lesson using one of days, for this I

chose day three, a lesson on the French Revolution. While I made good use of technology, the

lesson lacked student participation until the last ten to fifteen minutes, due to a need to show and

explain vital information in order to complete a Story Board. However, while the lesson was

more “chalk and talk” then I hoped originally, there were several aspects of my signature

pedagogy. The group work done by the students facilitated the cooperative learning aspects of

the lesson, the Story Board activity provided both an opportunity for student choice and unique

use of technology, and the method in which the class was conducted, through a Zoom call, also

provided unique technological opportunities through the use of break out rooms.
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Overall, the lessons created could provide more choice and should be reconfigured to

allow for greater student engagement and participation, particularly the lesson on the French

Revolution. It is the duty of an educator to constantly look for improvement in lesson planning,

and it is vital to do so in order to meet the needs of students and provide those students with the

best educational opportunities.

Word Count: 1616

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References

Calder, L. (2006, March). Uncoverage: Toward a Signature Pedagogy for the History Survey.
Retrieved October 16, 2020, from https://app.perusall.com/courses/educ-376-curriculum-
and-methods-of-teaching-english-grades-7-12-01-x-educ37701-educ37801-20f/calder-
uncoverage-in-history-681178890?assignmentId=Lro2C63TMvEacP3HE

Charles Igel & Vicki Urquhart (2012) Generation Z, Meet Cooperative Learning. Middle School
Journal, 43:4, 16-21, DOI: 10.1080/00940771.2012.11461816

Crowe, A. (2004, June 1). Teaching by Example. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10402454.2004.10784500

Mason, C., Berson, M., Diem, R., Hicks, D., Lee, J., & Dralle, T. (2000). Guidelines for Using
Technology to Prepare Social Studies Teachers. Contemporary Issues in Technology and
Teacher Education, 1(1), 107-116.

Sullivan, A. M., and King, L. (1998, December 27). Conceptualizing Student Empowerment: A
Sweep Through the Literature. Retrieved October 16, 2020, from
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna_Sullivan3/publication/296959830_Conceptuali
sing_student_empowerment_A_sweep_through_the_literature/links/575fcc9a08aed884621
bc608/Conceptualising-student-empowerment-A-sweep-through-the-literature.pdf