Teaching Big HistoryRichard B. Simon, Mojgan Behmand, Thomas Burke Big History is a new field on a grand scale: it tells the story of the universe over time through a diverse range of disciplines that spans cosmology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and archaeology, thereby reconciling traditional human history with environmental geography and natural history. Weaving the myriad threads of evidence-based human knowledge into a master narrative that stretches from the beginning of the universe to the present, the Big History framework helps students make sense of their studies in all disciplines by illuminating the structures that underlie the universe and the connections among them. Teaching Big History is a powerful analytic and pedagogical resource, and serves as a comprehensive guide for teaching Big History, as well for sharing ideas about the subject and planning a curriculum around it. Readers are also given helpful advice about the administrative and organizational challenges of instituting a general education program constructed around Big History. The book includes teaching materials, examples, and detailed sample exercises. This book is also an engaging first-hand account of how a group of professors built an entire Big History general education curriculum for first-year students, demonstrating how this thoughtful integration of disciplines exemplifies liberal education at its best and illustrating how teaching and learning this incredible story can be transformative for professors and students alike. |
Contents
the case for big history | 9 |
contents | 14 |
Big History and the Goals of Liberal | 21 |
Collective Learning | 27 |
Big History course or talk about it with others outside of class | 47 |
Teaching Complexity in a Big History | 77 |
The Big Bang | 91 |
The Formation | 109 |
Threshold 9? Teaching Possible Futures | 232 |
Reflective Writing in the Big History | 261 |
Activities for Multiple Thresholds | 275 |
Fostering | 287 |
A Little Big History of Big History | 296 |
big history and its implications | 309 |
Teaching Big History or Teaching about | 318 |
The Case for | 336 |
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Common terms and phrases
activity agrarian civilizations agriculture andand Anthropocene approach assessment atoms beginning Big Bang Big History course Big History narrative Big History program Big History story billion Brian Swimme Category:Category cells challenge chemical elements classroom collective learning concepts connect Connection:Connection Cost:Cost Craig Benjamin creation myth cultural curriculum Cynthia Brown David Christian discussion Earth emergent properties engage Eric Chaisson essay eukaryotic Everything evolution experience explain faculty features of complexity film first-year formation four features galaxies global helium help students hominine Homo sapiens human hydrogen industrialization information literacy instructor learning outcomes lecture Little Big History living modern organisms Paleolithic perspective planets plate tectonics practical pedagogy PreparationPreparation forfor Activity:Activity Print Print.Print protons questions redshift reflective writing religion religious rise of homo Sagittal crest skull solar system species stars structure Summary:Summary summer institute teaching Big History teaching threshold Threshold 9 tion topic understanding