UO Mission and Identity
• UO is a comprehensive research university
• Smallest public university member of the AAU
Goals of Undergraduate Education
• Question critically• Think logically• Communicate
clearly• Act creatively• Live ethically• Opportunities to
teaching/learning, research, and service
Partnerships to Enrich Learning
• UO Libraries
• First Year Programs
• Academic Affairs
• Student Affairs
• University HousingPhoto by flickr user WolframBurner. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs. Source file <http:// p://www.flickr.com/photos/wolframburner/3359632645/>)
What is a FIG?
Origins of Hidden HistoryWR 399: The New Research (4 credits)Meets M 10-12 and W 10-11 How can you carry out more effective research and make better arguments in this age of new media, digitalization, and collaboration? How can you pursue new knowledge, how can you find something original and convincing that makes a real contribution to a field? This class will do a series of writing and research exercises to improve your techniques and help you learn to establish the credibility of sources. You will complete a research paper or project that shows you have learned to make use of these very valuable abilities. You will work in the University of Oregon library, using online resources, the archives, the class blog, and exploring the new possibilities of publishing your research online or making a powerpoint presentation.
Hidden History: The Analog Era
Four Essential Learning Challenges
Of Teaching History
2007-2008
Hidden History 2009-2010: The Big Idea
Hidden History 2009-2010: The Big Questions
• How does technology effect the methodology of doing history? – (The nature of primary sources)
• How does technology effect teaching history? – (Res community and online community)
• How does technology effect learning history?– (Drawing parallels from the past to the present)
Incorporating Web 2.0 Technologies
Hidden History Hub – pbworks wiki
Tales of the O
Facebook Group
Documenting Freshman Year Project
17 written journals5 Blogs
1 Podcast1 Scrapbook
1 Photo collection1 Video series
Donation and Preservation
AccessScholars’ Bank Northwest Digital Archives
Intended Learning Outcomes
Understanding historiography
Thinking critically
Historical thinking
Source analysis and interpretation
Peer community development
Interdisciplinary inquiry
Previous Experience with Social Media
Blogs-2 of 23 students had blogs -5 of 23 students read blogs-5 students wrote blogs for their DFYP
Podcasts-4 of 23 students subscribed to podcasts-1 student produced a podcast for their DFYP
Facebook-100% of students were Facebook users
Student’s Assessment and Findings
Was the wiki helpful in analyzing Lucile’s diary?
“I enjoyed being able to compare my thoughts to others and it was a chance to connect before fall term
began.”
“After reading the diary, I had developed my own thoughts and ideas. Being able to read other wiki
posts helped me understand the document.”
“The wiki was helpful reading Lucille’s diary so that a thorough discussion could occur online. It gave me a good indication of what the course discussion would
be like before they event started.”
20 out of 23 students found the wiki helpful in analyzing Lucile’s diary
Student’s Assessment and Findings
Did the communal nature of the Tales of the O blog influence what your wrote and did you return after your
initial post?
“I did return to my post but my motivation was to read other people’s stories, then I noticed comments on my own
story and I was encouraged to re-read my work.”
“I did return after I posted and read all the stories simply because I was curious about what my classmates and
neighbors wrote about.”
“The Tales of the O really inspired me to write truthfully and honestly about the story I was telling. I wanted my
classmates to know my style of writing and the way I tick.” 15 out of 23 students returned to the blog after their
initial posts
Student’s Assessment and Findings
Did the wiki or blog help you understand the connections between folklore and history?
“It made me realize that our stories were similar to the primary sources we had been reading in World
History. While we may find our stories to be small, later they may be used to document the past.”
“I thought the very idea of posting someone’s diary online for everyone to read made it very easy to see that everyday people’s mundane lives are making
history and anything they do can matter to someone in the future.”
“Not really, I think our discussion in class helped me form that connection.”
11 out of 23 students found the wiki and the blog helpful
in relating the two FIG courses
Student’s Assessment and Findings
Did the wiki or blog make your posts feel more like a conversation or dialogue than simply an assignment or
busy work?
“Yes, it felt like a discussion. For Lucile’s diary, people commented on my entry and would agree or disagree
with it and explain why. I would do that to other entries as well.”
“It was like a having a dialogue with people in the FIG even before school started, in the case of Lucile’s
diary, which was cool.”
“No, not really. Since I don’t like to write, and I don’t write blogs, everything felt like an assignment.”
17 out of 23 students found the wiki and the blog made
assignments more conversational
Student’s Assessment and Findings
Did the wiki and blog contribute to the development of a peer community inside class and/or inside class in the
residence hall?
“Yes, for example, people still talk about Tales of the O all the time, especially the funny ones!”
“No. I think the fact that we were a residential FIG was the reason that we were more of a community than a class.”
“The blog did, not so much the wiki. It was really great to read the stories of my McClure neighbors posted, and
experience their voice in writing. Some stories I already knew; others taught me really interesting things about
my fellow residents.”
12 out of 23 students found the wiki and the blog contributed to peer community
Student’s Assessment and Findings
Having used the wiki and blog, do you leave the course with an improved understanding of what it means to be both a student of history and a
historical actor?
“Yes, I can look at sources now and determine if they are primary or not and look at how they function in describing history. I can also now
make connections between history and folklore and I am more aware of what traces of myself I
am leaving behind.”
21 out of 23 students found the wiki and the blog helped to convey what it means to be both a student of history
and a historical actor
Implications for Libraries
• Enabling technologies, digital infrastructure, and training and consultation programs need to be in place
Implications for Archives
• Contribution to knowledge instead of class work
• Students in the course development conversation
• Documenting student experience? Talk to the archivist.
Implications for Teaching History
• Empower students to interpret and create primary sources outside of traditional media
• Transform students from passive consumers of facts to active producers of historical narratives
• Keeps history relevant and timely to students’ experiences and lives by providing online learning environments
Implications for Peer Mentorship and Community Building
• Dynamic of the FIG was enhanced by technology – conversation vs. function
• Course based requirements were central incentives to use technology rather than community
Resource List• University of Oregon Academic Plan
http://provost.uoregon.edu/files/2009/12/Academic-plan-10_13_09-final.pdf• First-Year Programs
http://firstyear.uoregon.edu/FYP_home.html• Living-Learning Initiatives
http://housing.uoregon.edu/reshalls/academic_programs.php• Scholars' Bank page for the HIST 199 Hidden History community:
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/9983 NWDA Guide to the Hidden History collection:
• http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv56450 Scholars' Bank collection for the student papers: https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/309
• Here is the digital collection that was started for the class, but really flourished with the additions gathered from students' research: http://boundless.uoregon.edu/digcol/uopres/
• Here is the New Research Summit video archive: http://media.uoregon.edu/newresearch/intro.html
ContactsAndrew Bonamici, Associate University Librarian, Media and Instructional ServicesUniversity of Oregon [email protected](541) 346-2682
Heather Briston, Corrigan Solari University Historian and Archivist University of Oregon [email protected](541) 346-1899
Kevin D. HatfieldAssistant Director for Academic Initiatives/Adjunct Assistant ProfessorUniversity of [email protected](541) 346-1977
Matthew Villeneuve, StudentUniversity of [email protected](425) 941-6740
Copyright Andrew Bonamici, Heather Briston, Kevin Hatfield, and Matthew Villeneuve, 2010. This work is the intellectual property of the author.s. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author(s).