Rethinking History Pedagogy: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) as a Framework for Developing Historical Literacy in High Schools

Abstract

Background: History education in Indonesia has long been dominated by rote memorisation and teacher-centred practices, limiting students’ capacity to engage in critical historical inquiry.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a SoTL-informed pedagogy in enhancing high school students’ historical literacy, to compare its outcomes with case method learning, and to examine how teachers and students experienced and navigated the challenges during the implementation process in real classroom settings.

Methodology: A mixed-methods quasi-experimental design was employed, with 250 pupils recruited from high schools in Bandung, Yogyakarta, and the former Surakarta Residency. The students were divided into two groups: experimental and control. The experimental group received instruction informed by SoTL, while the control group received instruction using the case-method learning approach. Quantitative data were collected using a Historical Literacy Test (HLT) that included short constructed-response items and multiple-choice questions. The test was designed to ensure reliability, with a Cronbach's α value of at least 70. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 students and 10 instructors to gather qualitative data. Quantitative analysis was conducted using ANCOVA and effect size estimation, while qualitative data were thematically analysed and triangulated with statistical findings.

Results: The experimental group demonstrated considerably greater improvements in historical literacy than the control group, resulting in a very large overall effect size (d = 1.89). The most significant enhancements were observed in contextualisation, corroboration, and sourcing, while narrative construction did not exhibit any significant changes. Teachers emphasised the importance of think-aloud protocols and guiding questions in overcoming learning constraints, and qualitative insights confirmed that SoTL strategies improved student engagement, self-efficacy, and critical awareness.

Conclusion: The study demonstrates that SoTL-informed pedagogy is a robust approach to fostering critical and reflective historical literacy, positioning students as active constructors of knowledge while supporting curriculum reform aligned with the Merdeka Belajar framework.

Unique Contribution: In addition to providing a methodically tried-and-true, evidence-based pedagogical approach that can be modified and duplicated in various educational situations, this study makes a theoretical contribution by reaffirming the conceptual link between SoTL and historical literacy.

Key Recommendation: Future studies should adopt longitudinal designs with broader samples to explore the long-term development of historical literacy, particularly in narrative construction, and to further investigate the integration of digital resources within SoTL frameworks.