Your learning journey
About this course
In this course, you’ll learn how to build a classroom centered on inquiry and authentic historical thinking. Instead of treating history like a set of facts to deliver, you’ll position students as investigators—asking questions, analyzing sources, and constructing evidence-based interpretations of the past. We define history not merely as the study of the past, but as the study of change, requiring a “historian’s mindset” that begins with educated questions rather than guesses.
Grounded in frameworks like the C3 Inquiry Arc and Inquiry Design Model (IDM), you’ll design learning experiences that start with compelling questions and lead to meaningful, standards-aligned outcomes. You will explore how to transition from teacher-led questioning to student-driven inquiry, utilizing questioning as a powerful content literacy strategy for reading nonfiction and primary sources. You will learn to use specific protocols to make expert thinking visible, such as the ARMD strategy for analyzing documents, images, artifacts, and maps.
Beyond the physical classroom, this course addresses the necessity of a historian’s mindset in the digital age. You will master strategies for media literacy, teaching students to navigate the internet through lateral reading, reverse image searching, and research refinement. Throughout the journey, you will encounter Think² Moments—strategic points of reflection that connect classroom practice to the science of scaffolding and Cognitive Load Theory, helping you manage the complexity of the research process for your students. You’ll walk away with a clear plan and ready-to-use tools to help students think more deeply, question more intentionally, and engage more authentically with the past.
This course is available at no cost to educators through the We the Teachers initiative, made possible by a U.S. Department of Education grant.
Details
Includes
Shareable PD Certificate
Aligned With
Assessment Types
Course accessibility
What you’ll learn
Master Core Concepts
- Define historical inquiry with a focus on classroom application.
- Explain the benefits of integrating structured inquiry into your teaching practice.
Develop Your Skills
- Evaluate a range of inquiry frameworks and protocols.
- Acquire hands-on experience through practical exercises designed for your classroom context.
Apply Your Skills in Context
- Design classroom lessons that elevate content literacy and media literacy through inquiry.
- Learn how to implement and assess inquiry-based lessons in line with curriculum goals and learning objectives.
Demonstrate Your Learning
- Complete assessments that demonstrate your new capabilities and document your progress.
- Leverage a diverse range of supplementary resources.
Skills you’ll gain
Strategies& Frameworks you’ll encounter
Reflection moments
Our moments echo our methodology—these are a ‘pause’, and take the focus temporarily away from the core content of the course to think deeply on the details—but are nevertheless connected to the subject matter.
Think²
A pause from the core content to reflect on a research-backed pedagogical strategy that you can use today to deepen student learning
Think² Shared
Consider your students’ perspectives and empower them to take charge of their own learning.
Ready to transform the way you use inquiry in the classroom?
Join educators building the skills to ask great questions and teach students how to think like historians.
Modules
This introductory module provides a roadmap for the course. You’ll meet your instructor- experienced social studies teach, Sam Futrell, and you’ll learn how to navigate the course and how it will be assessed.
In this module you will view history as the “study of change”, rather than just the past, and also consider the historian’s mindset, which focuses on starting research with educated questions. You will then analyze the difference between simple questioning and true inquiry while designing history-specific entry points for your students.
Here you will explore research-based frameworks for inquiry-based planning, such as the Inquiry Design Model (IDM) and the C3 Framework’s Inquiry Arc. This module guides teachers in evaluating these frameworks to develop an inquiry opportunity that fits their current course curriculum.
This module emphasizes the importance of students asking their own questions and provides strategies to help them craft meaningful inquiry. You will design a purpose-driven inquiry activity using provided anchor charts and teaching guides.
Learn to use questioning as a reading comprehension strategy for nonfiction and primary sources. This module introduces specific protocols, such as the ARMD strategy (for documents, images, artifacts, and maps) and the Right Question Institute’s QFT Protocol, to make expert thinking visible to students.
This module focuses on developing research and media literacy by applying a historian’s mindset to online environments. You will learn and practice strategies such as lateral reading, reverse image searching, and search refinement to help students navigate complex digital information.
The final module reflects on the broader civic value of historical inquiry and the role of social learning in the classroom. You will also prepare to complete a narrative assessment, where you will write about a specific strategy from the course to implement and evaluate in your own teaching. practice.
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A microcourse is a short, focused learning experience designed to be completed in manageable segments — so you can fit professional development into your actual schedule, not just your PD days.
Course length varies, but most microcourses are designed to be completed in five hours — and you can pause and return whenever it works for you.
All courses are developed by teachers in collaboration with William & Mary faculty researchers, museum professionals, and other experts. Courses are grounded in learning science and backed by William & Mary’s decades of leadership in civic education. Content is designed to be rigorous and immediately applicable in the classroom.
Five courses are available for free during the public beta:Artifact Analysis, Civil Discourse, History Inquiry, Nonfiction Reading Strategies, and Podcasting in the Classroom. More courses will be added soon.
When you complete a lilyPD course, you’ll receive a downloadable certificate worth 5 hours of professional development, accredited by William & Mary’s School of Education.
Discover more courses
Continue your professional development journey with these related courses.
The Horizon of Independence
As the first course in our three-part series on the American Revolution, the Horizon of Independence helps educators deepen their understanding of early America and the build up to the American Revolution (1607-1776) by exploring inquiry-driven, primary source-based strategies for teaching the complexities and enduring significance of the founding of the United States of America.
Artifact Analysis
Transform your classroom into a site of active, inquiry-driven discovery with this course on artifact analysis. Use artifacts as dynamic evidence that empowers students to question, interpret, and debate history. Through a focus on culturally responsive teaching and practical sourcing—including museum digital collections and 3D printing—you will gain the tools to make history feel tangible and engaging for every learner.
Civil Discourse in the Classroom
Transform your classroom into a microcosm of democracy with this course which positions civil discourse as a foundational teaching tool, proven to enhance content knowledge and literacy skills for all students. You will develop a diverse toolkit of strategies to guide students through complex conversations with academic rigor and emotional safety. In the processes, you will equip them with lifelong skills: the ability to listen deeply, reason together, and disagree constructively and respectfully.
Podcasting for Educators
You don’t need to be a technical wizard to run excellent podcast projects with your students. This course covers the basics — from using podcasts to deepen learning, to guiding students through creating their own — enhancing engagement, deepening learning, and developing your students’ listening skills along the way.
Historical Inquiry in the Classroom
This course provides social studies educators with the practical tools and structures needed to shift from delivering a set of information to facilitating deep, student-led investigation. You will walk away with a comprehensive plan and ready-to-use resources that make meaningful research a daily reality in your classroom, ensuring every student has the skills to analyze information and thoughtfully develop their own conclusions.
Nonfiction Reading Strategies
Pull back the curtain on the reading process by equipping your students with a permanent toolbox of practical strategies to navigate any text with purpose, confidence, and clarity. By turning invisible mental work into visible, repeatable routines, you will empower your students to move beyond literal retelling and start making real meaning from everything they read.
