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COLUMBIA: Spring 2001; Vol. 15, No. 1

Historical Thinking Concepts

Time - In the History Lab learning center we examine time in its biological, geological, and mechanical/physical forms. Other aspects of time, such as change, chronology, perceptual vocabulary and dimensions can be applied to all three of these "faces" of time.

Place - In history, the significance of place is found in geographical characteristics and location, historic happenings, and physical change over time. These three aspects of place are all factors essential to revealing the story of a particular location and its significance.

Viewpoint - A person's viewpoint is the product of many things, including education, experience, cultural background, age and spiritual beliefs. Essential to the complete understanding of a historical event, the study of viewpoint leads to a more personal and relevant path of historical interpretation.

Biography - The biography concept is based on seeing and investigating the past through the eyes of a historic person. Working in league with the other historical thinking concepts, biography allows a researcher to see the past from another's point of view, examine places important to the life and time of the individual, and determine the influences on the individual in terms of causation and precedent.

Exploration - We are all explorers, but our experiences and observations vary. The exploration concept relates to both the act of going to a place where history happened (personal exploration) and developing a greater understanding of the motivations and observations of past exploring expeditions (historic exploration).

Causation - To study causation is to build a series of connections between actions and reactions, causes and effects. For any historical event there are multiple causes leading to multiple effects. Investigating these connections is essential to understanding situations in the past.

Precedent - When you investigate the concept of precedent, you identify what came before-or in some cases, "set the stage" for-a particular object, event or idea. By investigating precedent we can discover the ideas behind present technologies, activities and cultural beliefs.

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