In Chapter 2, we discussed a study of experts in the field of history and
learned that they regard the available evidence as more than lists of facts
(Wineburg, 1991). The study contrasted a group of gifted high school seniors
with a group of working historians. Both groups were given a test of
facts about the American Revolution taken from the chapter review section
of a popular United States history textbook. The historians who had backgrounds
in American history knew most of the items, while historians whose
specialties lay elsewhere knew only a third of the test facts. Several students
scored higher than some historians on the factual pretest. In addition to the
test of facts, however, the historians and students were presented with a set
of historical documents and asked to sort out competing claims and to formulate
reasoned interpretations. The historians excelled at this task. Most
students, on the other hand, were stymied. Despite the volume of historical
information the students possessed, they had little sense of how to use it
productively for forming interpretations of events or for reaching conclusions.