Study Shows U.S. History Collection on PBS LearningMedia Improves Student Learning in History
Methods: GBH Education, working with an external researcher, conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of the PBS LearningMedia U.S. History Collection on students’ content knowledge and historical thinking skills. The study collected data from more than 1,200 students in 86 classrooms across 17 states. Teachers’ classes were randomly assigned to either be taught with the resources (“treatment”) or be taught as they would have otherwise (“business-as-usual”). All students completed the same pre- and post-assessment and teachers also answered pre- and post-surveys and completed weekly implementation logs. (Read the full report here.)
Key Findings
- Teachers reported that the U.S. History Collection helped students better understand multiple historical perspectives. Ninety-six percent of teachers agreed that it improved students’ ability to ask critical questions about historical events
- Students in U.S. History Collection classes gained more historical knowledge compared to “business-as-usual” classes. On average, students in classes with the resources increased their scores on a content knowledge assessment by 34% compared to 4% for those in classes taught without the resources.
- Students in U.S. History Collection classes developed stronger historical thinking skills compared to “business-as-usual” classes. Students in classes with the resources had a 27% improvement in historical thinking skills compared to 8% in classes without the resources.
- Teachers highly recommend the collection and plan to continue using it.
In Teachers' Words
These are EXCELLENT resources and it will enhance student engagement at our alternative learning environment…keep student attention and extremely focused on the content itself.
What I personally love about the US History Collection is that it really does TEACH history in the sense that it gets kids thinking and interacting with history whereas so many history resources out there are just summaries of information.
My students were slow to warm up to the lesson but after lesson 1 they were thrilled to work on them. The amount of work within each lesson was a capacity building block for my students. It provided depth and stretch needed to flex new learning muscles around comprehension, evaluation and interpretation.
About the U.S. History Collection
The U.S. History Collection on PBS LearningMedia is a free, comprehensive compilation of 400 media-rich digital learning resources for teaching U.S. history to students in grades 6-12. Emphasizing multiple perspectives and untold stories, it spans the breadth of core topics and periods in U.S. History, and is organized by 16 eras and nine historical thinking skills. The collection was developed by veteran social studies educators, and benefited from research with hundreds of educators and input from students. It draws on major public media programs like American Experience, Ken Burns, American Masters, and more, and also includes several new youth-oriented interactives, interactive lessons, and a video series that connects the past with the present. Since its launch in August 2022, as of November 2023, the collection has been viewed by over 1,000,000 users who have generated 7.6 million page views and 82,000 student assignments.
Funding for the U.S. History Collection and impact study is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.