Cases on Historical Thinking and Gamification in Social Studies and Humanities Education

Research on history education and historical thinking is becoming increasingly relevant internationally. The need for a renewal of history education is not only justified by the epistemology of history itself, but also by the demand for a methodological change in education in general, making students active protagonists in the construction of their learning and based on the development of competencies. Further study on the potential use of gamification within social studies and humanities education is required to understand its benefits and challenges. Cases on Historical Thinking and Gamification in Social Studies and Humanities Education proposes and analyzes gamification as a pedagogical innovation that can enable the renewal of the teaching and learning process of history, facilitating the active learning of historical thinking concepts while influencing students’ conceptions of history as a discipline and as a school subject. Covering key topics such as historical thinking, social sciences, video games, and mobile learning, this reference work is ideal for historians, policymakers, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

María Martínez-Hita has a PhD (2022) by University of Murcia (Spain). Master's degree in Research and Innovation in Preschool and Primary School Education (2016). Bachelor’s degree in Primary Education with Mention in English as a foreign language (2015). Primary school teacher since 2016. Winner of the XXIV Congress of Young Researchers (2011) and representative of Spain in the XXIV European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) (2012). Main research interests focus on teaching and learning of social sciences, gamification, history education, historical thinking, primary education, and teaching method innovations. Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0341-6795

Cosme Jesús Gómez Carrasco is Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences Teaching at University of Murcia (Spain). He is PhD in History from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), and he has been postdoctoral researcher at the EHESS (Paris, France) and at the University Carlos III of Madrid (Spain). Also, he has been visiting professor at the Centre de Recherches Historiques (EHESS, France) and Honorary Researcher Associate at University College of London - Institute of Education (United Kingdom). He is the coordinator of the DICSO research group (University of Murcia). He has coordinated national R&D&i project and European project (ERASMUS + KA220). He has published more than 100 articles and book chapters in publishers and journals of high national and international impact. He has collaborated with evaluation agencies (State Research Agency, Andalusian Knowledge Agency), with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, and has been selected for the group of experts of Observatory of History Teaching in Europe (Council of Europe).

Pedro Miralles-Martínez has been a Teacher and Professor for 39 years in all levels of education: adult education; primary education; geography and history teacher and professor in secondary education; Senior Lecturer and Full Professor in the Teaching of the Social Sciences at University. He has worked in permanent teacher training in two Teacher and Resources Centers. He has directed or participated in thirty research and innovation projects on the teaching and learning of the social sciences, history education, historical thinking, assessment, competencies, teacher training, textbooks and citizenship education in pre-school, primary and secondary education. He is the author of more than two hundred publications and been an invited speaker at more than a hundred conferences and scientific meetings. As far as management is concerned, he has performed the following roles: head of studies and principal at a public school, principal at a secondary school, secretary and director of a University Department. He was the coordinator of the first PhD program in Social Sciences Teaching; he has coordinated the Pedagogical Aptitude Course in Geography and History, the master’s and doctorate programs in Research and Innovation in Primary Education, as well as the master’s degree ‘Teaching Innovation in Infant and Primary Education’ and the Doctorate program ‘Teaching and Educational Innovation’. He was also the Principal Investigator of the research group 'Teaching of Social Sciences' (2009-2022). In addition, he has been vice-rector of Training and Innovation of the University of Murcia (2014-2018).