printable versionHistory professor pushes students to become confident thinkers through writing
BY LISA TREI
Nancy Kollmann
Students learn best when they are engaged, and nothing jumpstarts that process better than having to write about a topic, according to history Professor Nancy Kollmann.
"I ask students to do lots of kinds of writing in my various courses, even lecture courses and small-group seminars, with the goal of pushing students for bolder arguments and greater clarity of expression," said Kollmann, the William H. Bonsall Professor. "I really want to support students in becoming more confident thinkers and, in the process, I want to help them become better writers." In other words, Kollmann said, she doesn't teach writing per se—she uses writing to teach students how to think as historians.
Kollmann, an expert on early modern Russia, discussed how she uses writing to teach history at the Feb. 2 presentation of "Award-Winning Teachers on Teaching," a lecture series sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning. Kollmann, director of the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, has taught at Stanford since 1982. In 1984, she received the School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching, and in 2002, the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching.
In Kollmann's experience, Stanford students are smart and hard-working, and most have adequate writing skills for crafting five-paragraph essays. "But the content of their essays can be a little bland," she said. "It takes a while in history to feel confident of your own opinions. I find I'm encouraging them to write interesting papers, to pose the question that's interesting. I'm always pushing them to become engaged in the material rather than take the safest, most obvious way through it. And that means hard work."
Kollmann always assigns papers in her courses: six to eight pages in a lecture course, and longer papers in a colloquium. She also gives midterm and final exams and map quizzes, and assigns oral reports. In a colloquium, Kollmann may assign a research project but on a tightly defined topic and provide a bibliography to help keep students on track. "The quarter system moves too fast to set them a very open-ended research assignment," she said. In a lecture course, she asks students to write a book review, which, she said, largely encapsulates what historians do. "We assess and comment on each other's arguments," she said. "That's the habit of mind I want even my undergraduates to develop."
Kollmann's students are always required to write a first draft of an essay that is closely critiqued. The draft must contain a full argument, not just an outline, and it must be carefully proofread. The paper is not graded but it is a mandatory part of the class.
In the draft, Kollmann looks closely at the essay's structure—whether it flows well from introduction of the theme through a progressive marshaling of evidence, building in a logical fashion to a rounded conclusion. "I'm often writing at the end of paragraphs, 'So?' because often students forget to make it clear why they just marched the reader through a bunch of material," she said. Often, the professor tells students to reorganize their essays to create a more persuasive argument.
At the end of this process, Kollmann said, she pulls back and, regardless of the students' skill level, encourages them to make bolder, more interesting arguments. "That's where it gets a little bit difficult," she said. "It's a bit of a delicate balance. The students always appreciate your comments. Sometimes students say they really feel empowered: 'You mean, I really can say this about that book?'" Kollmann said, referring to a common reaction from students. At the same time, the professor assures students that her comments are just suggestions. "I tell them, 'I don't grade you on obedience,'" she said. The final version of an essay is always read on its own merits. Kollmann wants "a good paper with a strong argument that is a compelling read."
In addition to essays, the professor also assigns what she calls reading logs, or reading responses, to assigned readings. These one-page mini-essays push students to read the assigned material more carefully, she said.
The process of writing teaches students to think historically and analytically, Kollmann said. Instead of just buying an author's presentation as "the truth," students learn to critique the author's voice and argument. "They see books and articles as 'artifacts' shaped by the author's intellectual curiosity and … judgments, not as some sort of prepackaged, naturalized, innate historical body of knowledge," she said. "This is a habit of mind that will help them beyond their history courses."