Scholarship & Research

My research interests have centered along two lines of inquiry; technology use within the Social Studies and Curriculum History.  My main line of research is the use of technology as a socio-constructivist tool within historical thinking.  Over the last three years I have conducted a two-year pilot study, followed by my dissertation study, of student participation in online discussion forums and their notions of what is important and how empathy and agency are expressed within the themes they find important.  This line of research has resulted in one publication in Social Education, and several CUFA presentations.  I currently have an article in progress that looks specifically at the expressions of historical empathy within student online discussions related to the class structure of the United States and the idea of the U.S. as a “land of opportunity.”  This piece will be presented at the 2010 CUFA meeting in Denver with submission for publication in Theory and Research in Social Education to follow. My future research in this area is aimed at further fleshing out the role of empathy and agency in students’ online discussions with particular attention to expressions of empathy and agency in their conversations. Within this line of inquiry I hope to come to a better understanding of how students from diverse backgrounds make sense of history (Seixas, 2006; Epstein 2009); what they see as important in history along with how their thinking influences their expressions of both historical/personal empathy and historical/personal agency (Barton & Levstik, 2004); and the role technology plays in this socio-constructivist process (Hicks, Friedman & Lee, 2009; Doolittle & Hicks, 2003).

My secondary line of inquiry is centered in curriculum history. Historical studies of curriculum are important to our understanding of the profession as a whole through the study of what came before (Davis, 1977); it informs the present as we evaluate current curricular objectives such as the use of technology in schools (Cuban, 1986; 2001).  It also provides insight into the role that education has played in the development of inequities within society (Siddle-Walker, 1996) which in turn illuminates our responses to inequities in education today.   My current research in curriculum history chronicles the development of the Victory Corps at Austin High School during World War II. As the sole “white” high school in Austin, Texas during World War II, AHS found itself surrounded in conflict during the introduction of the Victory Corps during World War II as part of pre-induction training. A number of conflicts between students of varying economic status emerge. Additionally, conflicts dealing with gender equality and allocation of resources between Austin High School and Anderson High School (the segregated African American High School also materialized.  This line of research has resulted in presentations at the annual conference for the Society for the Study of Curriculum History as well as AERA, Division F., along with a publication in Curriculum History, with a second in progress to be submitted to the History of Education Quarterly.

Recent Publications:
Articles:

Blankenship, W.G. (2009) Making connections: Using online discussion forums to engage students inhistorical inquiry. Social Education, (National Council for the Social Studies).

Blankenship, W.G. (2009)Education for Victory: Pre-Induction Training at Austin High School. Curriculum History, (Society for the Study of Curriculum History).

Social Studies Inquiry Research Collaborative (2013, TRSE) “Authentic Intellectual Challenge in Social StudiesClassrooms and Its Relationship to Student Performance on High Stakes Tests, “ (Member list: http://www.auburn.edu/ssirc/member.html)

In Press:
Blankenship, W.G. (2013, RCETJ) “Disrupting the Narrative: The Development of Historical Narratives in Online Discussion Forums.”

DeWitt, Scott, Nancy Patterson, Whitney Blankenship, Brooke Blevins, Lorrei DiCamillo, David Gerwin, Jill  M. Gradwell, John Gunn, Lammont Maddox, John Saye, Jeremy Stoddard, and Caroline C. Sullivan. (2012, TRSE)  "The Lower-Order Expectations of High Stakes Tests: A Six State Analysis."

In Review:

Blankenship, W.G. (In Review, 2011, Curriculum History) “True Believer: Willard Goslin & Progressive Education During the Cold War.”

In Progress:
Blankenship, W.G. (In Progress, 2013, The Social Studies) “Talking It Out: Online Discussion Forums in the Social Studies Classroom.”

Blankenship, W.G. (In Progress, 2013, History of Education Quarterly) “Breaking Down the Barriers: The Unintended Consequences of World War II and the Victory Corps at Austin High School.”

Blankenship, W.G. (In Progress, 2013, Curriculum History) "Social Studies Goes to War: The National Council for the Social Studies' Response to World War II."

Invited Presentations:

Blankenship, Whitney. "Talking it Out: Using Discussion Forums in Secondary Social Studies," Webinar, Presidential Timeline, April, 2012.

Blankenship, Whitney. "iPads in the Social Studies Classroom," Webinar, Presidential Timeline, April 2013.

Presentations:

Blankenship, Whitney, “So You Say You Want a Revolution: Students’ Conceptions of Historical Agency in a Revolution Narrative,” American Educational Research Association, 2011, New Orleans, LA. 

Blankenship, Whitney, Principle Investigator, Social Studies Inquiry Research Collaborative, “Authentic Pedagogy: Examining Intellectual  Challenge in a National Sample of Social Studies Classrooms,“ American Education Research Association, 2011, New Orleans, LA. 

Blankenship, Whitney, “Silences and the Power of Knowledge in the Land of Opportunity: Students’ Development of Empathy in an Online Discussion Forum”, College and University Faculty Association, 2010, Denver, CO.

Blankenship, Whitney, “Breaking Down the Barriers: The Unintended Consequences of World War II on Austin High School,” American Educational Research Association, 2010, Denver, CO.

Blankenship, Whitney, “True Believer: Willard Goslin & Progressive Education in the Cold War,” Society for the Study of Curriculum History, 2010, Denver Co.

    

Blankenship, Whitney, “Building Empathy and Agency through the Use of Online Discussion Forums in Social Studies,” College and University Faculty Association, 2009, Atlanta, GA