Professional activities

I'm working as professor of History Education (Vakdidactiek, in het bijzonder van geschiedenisonderwijs) at the Research Institute of Child Development and Education and the Institute of Culture and History of the University of Amsterdam. I give lead to the Dutch Centre for Social Studies Education (Landelijk Expertisecentrum Mens- en Maatschappijvakken).

My research focuses on the learning and teaching of history. I published on historical reasoning, the learning of historical concepts, the use of visual representations such as pictures and schemas, heritage education and the potential of collaborative learning in small groups and whole-class discussions.

I was co-editor of a much used history textbook series for secondary education (MeMo, geschiedenis voor de onderbouw).

For more information about the projects I'm currently involved in, see the Projects page. Publications and presentations can be found under 'Publications'. 

• Curriculum Vitae

• Research Institute Child Development and Education

• Landelijk Expertisecentrum Mens- en Maatschappijvakken

• Onderzoek erfgoededucatie

• Master Academisch Meesterschap

Enhancing the development of motivation, self-regulation and achievement for potentially excellent students through an integrated enriched learning arrangement in mathematics and history education (NWO project) 

Carla van Boxtel, Thea Peetsma, Jaap Schuitema & Sonia Abrantes-Garces Palha

High achiements in school are the result of both high abilities and students' motivation and self-regulated learning. Excellence must be supported by a learning environment which challenges and motivates students. Characteristics of the learning environment that have been found to enhance student motivation and self-regulated learning of students include support for student autonomy, structure and collaborative learning tasks. This study investigates how the learning environment can support potentially excellent students in upper high school (vwo5). Two enriched learning arrangements will be developed for mathematics and history education. One condition includes more open tasks and the second more structured tasks. In addition, we investigate the influence of the groups’ constitution (homogenous or heterogeneous on cognitive ability) on students’ outcomes. In a longitudinal study the effects of the learning arrangements on the development of potentially excellent students’ motivation, self-regulated learning and achievements will be investigated.

Assessment in Arts education (NWO project)

Carla van Boxtel, Folkert Haanstra, Marie-Louise Damen, Talita Groenendijk

Since schools are increasingly encouraged to also monitor and assess the development of students in the domain of arts education, there is a growing need for high-quality assessment methods and instruments. There is, however, disagreement about how to appropriately assess competencies aimed at in arts education. Literature on assessment in arts education shows a broad variety of  assessment methods an instruments and reveals the complexity of assessment in this domain.
This study reviews literature about assessment in arts education at the primary and secondary level.
The study results in an overview and discussion of a) types of instruments available for domains of arts education b) operationalizations of competencies and competence levels used c) the quality of available assessment instruments and d) methods applied to determine this quality. The review helps schools, teachers and researchers in the field of arts education chosing forms of assessment that are in line with their approach of arts education, competencies they aim at and available expertise and resources.

Historical contextualization: underlying knowledge and strategies

Carla van Boxtel & Jannet van Drie

Historical contextualization, creating a spatial and temporal context for an historical phenomenon or action of people in the past to render it more intelligible, is a component of historical reasoning. In many countries the ability to contextualize historically is considered an important aim in history education. We investigate the question which types of historical knowledge and strategies afford historical contextualization.

See publications: Van Boxtel & Van Drie (2013);

Improving students’ writing in history

Jannet van Drie, Martine Braaksma, Carla van Boxtel

Developing students’ abilities in historical reasoning is an important goal in history education. Historical reasoning can be displayed in interaction between students and between students and the teacher and in writing. In this project we combine our expertise in historical reasoning and in writing, in order to gain more insight in effective ways to improve students’ historical reasoning in writing.

Taking a ‘writing to learn’- approach, writing can be considered an important means to engage students in historical reasoning. Since writing in history puts high demands on students, more insight is needed in how to support students while writing. We investigate the effects of different kinds of instruction to improve students’ writing in history. In a first experimental study we compared the effects of two types of instructions on students’ writing in history: a more general writing instruction and a discipline-based writing instruction.

See publications: Van Drie et al. (2014)

Teaching towards Expertise in History; developing students’ historical reasoning ability

Gerhard Stoel (UvA) Supervisors: Jannet van Drie & Carla van Boxtel

This Phd study aims to define and test an instructional strategy that fosters the development of secondary school student’s historical causal reasoning ability.

 Professionalization of museum docents in arts and history museums

Mark Schep (UvA) Supervisors: Carla van Boxtel & Julia Noordegraaf
This project is supported by Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, SNS REAAL Fonds and Mondriaan Fonds.

This Phd study focuses on educational tours in arts and history museums. What kind of learning outcomes are specific for these museums? How can we measure and develop the competencies of museum docents?

Improving the understanding of historical time of students aged 6 to 12

Marjan de Groot-Reuvekamp  (Fontys pabo 's-Hertogenbosch ) Supervisors Anje Ros & Carla van Boxtel
The main question of this PhD study is how to develop primary school students' understanding of historical time.

See publications: De Groot-Reuvekamp et al. (2014).

"Just imagine..." Empathy tasks in secondary history education

Tessa de Leur (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences), Supervisors:  Arie Wilschut (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences), Carla van Boxtel
This Phd project aims to explore the current use and future possibilities of empathy tasks in secondary history education. Research questions are about cognitive and affective learning strategies, students' perceptions of empathy tasks and the construction of meaningful tasks.

 Assessment of students' causal reasoning in history

Uddhava Rozendal (UvA) Supervisor: Carla van Boxtel
This Phd research aims to develop instruments that history teachers can use to assess the development of students' causal reasoning ability. It also investigates the effects of formative assessment on students' historical causal reasoning.

Doing history in the classroom: upper secondary school teachers' practices, orientations and professionalization

Susanna Margret Gestsdottir (UvA) Supervisors: Carla van Boxtel & Jannet van Drie
The subject of this Phd research is professionalization of history teachers. The main research question is how teachers in upper secondary education can transform their teaching practice towards teaching historical thinking and reasoning. An observation instrument is developed and used in a professionalization program based upon the lesson-study approach.

Historical contextualization

Harry Havekes (RU, Docentenacademie) Supervisors: Peter-Arno Coppen (RU),  Carla van Boxtel, Johan Luttenberg (RU)

The main question that is addressed in this PhD study is: What kind of historical thinking emerges during student talk and teacher guided classroom discussion when working  odd-one out task on historical contextualisation, used in a normal classroom routine?
The study focuses on secondary school students.

See publications: Havekes et al. (2012).

 The quality and effectiveness of history teachers’ instructions in classrooms

Tim Huijgen (H.N. Werkman College / RUG) Supervisors Paul Holthuis (RUG), Carla van Boxtel (UvA) and Wim van de Grift (RUG)
 This PhD study focuses on the question of how history teachers can improve students' ability to contextualize historical phenomena and acts of people in the past.

See publications: Huijgen et al. (2014, open access).

Heritage Education, Plurality of Narratives and Shared Historical Knowledge

Maria Grever (EUR), Carla van Boxtel (EUR), Stephan Klein (EUR), Pieter de Bruijn (EUR), Geerte Savenije (EUR)

This NWO research programme is carried out at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, Center for Historical Culture. It consists of four projects:

• Project 1: Heritage educators and history teachers: concepts andideas
• Project 2: Heritage and history teaching: Dutch and English curriculum practices
• Project 3: Heritage and entrance narratives: constructing shared historical knowledge
• Synthesis: Heritage education, plurality of narratives and shared historical knowledge

More information can be found on the website of the Center for Historical Culture.

See publications: Savenije et al. (2014); Grever et al. (2012)

• Center for Historical Culture

• Research Heritage Education

Onderzoek naar motivatie en prestaties van (potentieel) excellente leerlingen in het voortgezet onderwijs

Over het project

Veel (potentieel) excellente leerlingen blijken onder hun niveau te presteren. Een van de oorzaken hiervan is dat deze leerlingen te weinig worden uitgedaagd; ze raken hierdoor minder gemotiveerd en dat heeft consequenties voor hun leerprestaties en loopbaan op school. Uit onderzoek blijkt dat het ondersteunen van de autonomie van leerlingen, het bieden van structuur en samenwerkend leren kenmerken van de leeromgeving  zijn die de motivatie en het zelf gereguleerd leren van leerlingen kunnen bevorderen. Of en in welke mate dit voor excellente leerlingen geldt is nog weinig onderzocht. In deze studie onderzoeken wij hoe de leeromgeving geschikt gemaakt kan worden door de docenten om potentieel excellente leerlingen in de eigen klas te ondersteunen door ze meer autonomie of juist meer structuur te bieden.

We richten ons op leerlingen in vwo 5 met wiskunde B of geschiedenis. Voor deze twee vakken zullen in samenwerking met docenten lessenreeksen worden ontwikkeld waarin leerlingen meer uitgedaagd worden en gemotiveerd kunnen raken. De bedoeling is dat de lessenreeksen zullen bestaan uit uitdagende groepsopdrachten voor de hele klas. Het lesmateriaal zal aansluiten op bestaande methoden en de lessen zullen ingepast worden in het bestaande curriculum. Door verschillende metingen onderzoeken we de effecten van de experimentele lessenreeksen op de motivatie, het zelf gereguleerd leren en prestaties van potentieel excellente leerlingen.

Tijdpad
Het onderzoek is op 1 januari 2013 van start gegaan en loop tot en met december 2015. Gedurende het schooljaar 2013-2014 worden de lessenreeksen uitgevoerd in alle scholen die aan het onderzoek meedoen en de metingen zijn afgenomen. Ter voorbereiding van de lessenreeks worden twee docentenbijeenkomsten gepland in het voorjaar 2013. Er zullen later, in de loop van het onderzoek, nog twee docentenbijeenkomsten plaats vinden.

Onderzoeks team
 Het onderzoeksteam bestaat uit experts op het gebied van geschiedenisdidactiek, wiskundedidactiek, motivatie en zelfregulering.

mevr. dr. C.A.M. (Carla) van Boxtel
mevr. dr. T.T.D. (Thea) Peetsma
dhr. dr. J.A. (Jaap) Schuitema
mevr. drs. S. (Sonia) Abrantes Garcêz Palha

Contact
Voor meer informatie kunt u contact opnemen met Jaap Schuitema (J.A.Schuitema@uva.nl ) en Sonia Palha (S.AbrantesGarcezPalha@uva.nl). Tel. 020-5251261/ 020-5251595

• Fontys Lerarenopleiding Tilburg
  Lid Wet. Adviescie Masterprogramma's Fontys Lerarenopleiding Tilburg
• Vereniging Cultuur Profiel Scholen
  Lid Commissie van Aanbeveling en Advies
• Koninklijk Ned. Historisch Genootschap
  Bestuurslid
• Reinwardt Academie
  Lid Adviescommissie
• Geen nevenwerkzaamheden