History Students’ Awareness of “The Importance of Knowing How History is Written”

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to reveal history students’ regarding the importance of knowing how history is written. The study was carried out with a qualitative methodology in particular basic qualitative research design. The research was carried out with 80 senior students in the department of history and taking pedagogical formation training at two universities located in the east of Turkey in 2017-2018 academic year. The data were collected via both interview and open-ended questions. The results revealed that most of the students do not read any books about historical methodology outside the classroom and show interest in this field. Nearly all of the participants considered it necessary for the students studying in the history department to know how history is written, due to the many contributions they will provide, especially in to do the academic career. More than half of the participants stated that in order to learn history more accurately and to prevent believing in unfounded things, it is necessary for other segments of the society to know how history is written.