A Survey Investigation of Students’ Historical Time Knowledge

Abstract

Research on the development of historical time knowledge among school children has been sparse and seldom grounded in a firm body of content that is likely to have been taught in the formal curriculum. This study attempts to extend our understanding of the development of historical time knowledge of students by assessing four dimensions of this construct and it casts this knowledge within the context of U.S. History. The study is cross sectional, involving fifth grade, eighth grade, twelfth grade, and college level students. It was hypothesized that a gradual development of historical time knowledge would be found and that considerable ignorance of historical time knowledge would also be revealed at all levels. The results of this study raise several questions about the outcomes of history instruction provided in our schools.

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