Construction of the "Three-Dimensional Linkage" Teaching Model in Senior High School History Under the Background of Educational Digitalization —— Practical Exploration Based on the Cultivation of Historical Evidence Literacy

Guo Yun 【China】

Abstract

Aiming at the three major pain points in senior high school history teaching, namely abstract historical materials (such as institutional evolution), weak spatial-temporal perception (such as global history connections), and a single evaluation method, this paper proposes a "Three-Dimensional Linkage" teaching model that reconstructs historical cognition with digital tools. Verified by a two-year practice in 12 schools across 3 provinces, this model has significantly improved students' ability to analyze historical materials (the score rate of college entrance examination history material questions in the experimental class increased by 18.3%) and spatial-temporal concept literacy (the participation rate of dynamic classroom modeling reached 95%), forming a closed-loop system of "resource development - situational construction - evaluation innovation", and providing a replicable path for the digital transformation of the history discipline.

Keywords: Educational Digitalization; Senior High School History; Historical Evidence; Spatial-Temporal Concept; Three-Dimensional Linkage; Integration of Teaching, Learning and Evaluation

 Introduction

The "General High School History Curriculum Standard (2017 Edition Revised in 2020)" clearly requires "using digital resources to deepen historical understanding". Current teaching is facing three major contradictions:

Contradiction between Static Historical Materials and Concrete Thinking: In traditional history teaching, textual historical materials (such as documentary records and archives) account for as high as 82%, while the application of dynamic historical materials such as images, audio and video is insufficient, making it difficult for students to understand the complex logic of historical institutional evolution and the context of event development through intuitive perception. For example, when learning "the evolution of centralization system in ancient China", students can hardly construct a clear spatial-temporal framework from the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers system to the Three Departments and Six Ministries system and then to the Cabinet system only through textual descriptions, and their understanding of the underlying reasons for changes in power structure is not in-depth.

Contradiction between Large-Class Teaching and Individual Cognitive Differences: Under the background of large-class teaching in general high schools (with an average class size of about 45 students), it is difficult for teachers to take into account the cognitive starting points and learning needs of different students. Studies have shown that there are significant differences in the reserve of historical background knowledge between urban and rural students. The average number of extracurricular history books mastered by urban students is 2.3 times that of rural students, and the difference in the ability of multi-dimensional interpretation of historical events reaches 47%[11]. This makes the unified teaching progress and content difficult to meet the in-depth learning needs of all students.

Contradiction between Paper-and-Pencil Tests and Literacy Evaluation: The current evaluation system of the history discipline still focuses on paper-and-pencil tests, which focuses on examining students' ability to memorize historical facts and conduct simple analysis, and it is difficult to effectively quantify and evaluate students' performance in core literacy such as historical evidence, historical interpretation, and spatial-temporal concepts. For example, for the process-oriented ability of "how to extract effective information from multiple historical materials of different positions and conduct cross-validation", traditional paper-and-pencil tests can only judge through result-oriented answers, and cannot reflect students' real process of historical material analysis and argumentation[4].

Based on constructivism theory, this study emphasizes that students construct new knowledge through active participation and interaction on the basis of existing knowledge and experience. Combining non-AI technologies such as sensor technology (such as physical parameter collection used to simulate the efficiency of ancient agricultural tools), dynamic modeling technology (such as using GeoGebra or H5P to construct flow charts of historical event development and institutional structure relationship diagrams), and database technology (such as establishing a localized historical document database for students to independently retrieve and compare), a digital teaching model with teachers as the leading role and students as the main body is constructed. This model aims to effectively resolve the above teaching contradictions and improve students' core literacy in the history discipline by creating immersive learning situations, providing personalized learning resources, and supporting collaborative inquiry activities.

Digital Reconstruction of Historical Resources: From Text to Multi-Dimensional Cognition

1. Visualization of Historical Materials: Dynamic Presentation of Institutional Evolution

Dynamic Modeling of Political Systems

Case: GIS Layer Analysis of the Enfeoffment System in the Western Zhou Dynasty

Students use tablet devices to mark the geographical coordinates of vassal states through an interactive GIS platform, superimpose multi-dimensional data layers such as population density, mineral resource distribution, and transportation routes, and intuitively observe the blood relationship between each vassal state and the royal family as well as the geographical control scope. Experimental data show that in the two-week teaching practice, 91% of students can accurately understand and elaborate on the ruling logic of the Western Zhou Dynasty of "combining blood ties with geographical control". The innovation lies in transforming abstract institutional texts into interactive geographical spatial correlation models, effectively replacing the one-way indoctrination of traditional textual narration, solving the problem of students' abstract and static understanding of ancient political systems, and making the process of institutional evolution perceptible and explorable.

Data Transformation of Economic Phenomena

Case: Database of the "Commercial Revolution" in the Song Dynasty

The research team integrated the types, quantities and distribution density of shops depicted in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", combined with the circulation volume, circulation scope and tax data of Jiaozi (the world's earliest paper money) recorded in documents such as "Song Hui Yao Ji Gao" and "Dong Jing Meng Hua Lu", and constructed a database of the "Commercial Revolution" in the Song Dynasty including time series, spatial distribution and economic indicators. A heat map of urban commercial activities in Bianjing was generated based on this database[2], clearly showing the degree of commercial prosperity along the Bian River, near the city gates and in busy blocks. Practical data show that in the experimental class using this database to assist teaching, the excellent rate of the unit test of "Ancient Chinese Economy" increased by 29% compared with the traditional teaching model, which was significantly higher than the 11% increase in the control class. This result responds to the doubt that "digital tools only increase learning interest without substantial effect", proving that data-driven visualization teaching can effectively deepen students' understanding of the essential laws of economic phenomena.

2. Dynamic Spatial-Temporalization: Construction of Global History Connections

A [Qin and Han Dynasties in China] --> B [Roman Empire]

B --> C [Statistics of Silk Road Trade Volume]

C --> D [Eurasian Civilization Interaction Model]

Case: Dynamic Map of the Age of Exploration

Students drag ship icons to simulate routes and generate a spatial-temporal distribution map of colonial outposts in real time[2], understanding the global impact of the "Columbian Exchange". For example, by simulating the navigation routes of European navigators from the late 15th century to the early 16th century, students can intuitively see how American crops such as potatoes and corn were introduced to Europe and Asia through Spanish colonies, thereby changing the global food structure and population growth model; at the same time, African slaves were forcibly transported to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade, a process presented in the dynamic map with dotted distributions of different colors and densities, strengthening the understanding of the cruelty of the "Triangular Trade". Data show that between 1500 and 1800, only through the Silk Road, the annual output of Chinese silk, porcelain and tea exported to the west reached hundreds of thousands of dan, while glassware, spices and other goods from the Roman Empire also poured into East Asia on a large scale. This two-way flow not only promoted material exchange, but also drove the spread of technologies (such as papermaking and iron smelting) and cultures (such as Buddhist art and calendars), providing a solid material foundation for the Eurasian civilization interaction model.

3. Embodiment of Historical Views: Multi-Perspective Resource Packages

Develop a cross-media resource package on "the Origin of the Cold War":

Audio Diaries of the Berlin Wall (Oral History of Citizens): Collect real recordings of ordinary citizens in East Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, including the pain of family separation, the longing for freedom and the reflection on the bipolar pattern. For example, an East German mother tells the story of her son who went missing while trying to cross the Berlin Wall, allowing students to understand the human cost of the Cold War from the perspective of individual destiny.

Animation of the Flow of Marshall Plan Funds: Through dynamic visualization technology, it shows that about 70% of the 13 billion US dollars in aid provided by the United States to Western Europe between 1948 and 1951 was used for industrial recovery and agricultural restoration, and 30% for infrastructure construction. In the animation, funds flow from the United States to various Western European countries in the form of streamline of different colors, with key projects marked (such as the reconstruction of the French Renault Automobile Factory and the restoration of the Italian railway network), intuitively showing how the plan contained the expansion of communism and consolidated the capitalist camp through economic means. In addition, the resource package also includes excerpts from documents and academic papers from the Soviet perspective, guiding students to compare the interpretations of the origin of the Cold War from different positions and cultivate critical thinking.

Innovation of Teaching Model: Construction of the Three-Dimensional Linkage System

1. Dimension 1: Historical Evidence — Driven by Digital Task Chains

Pre-Class: Push of Hierarchical Historical Material Packages

Design a pre-learning package for "The 1911 Revolution":

Micro-Lesson "Constitutionalists and Revolutionaries in the Late Qing Dynasty" (10min): This micro-lesson restores the core views and representative figures of constitutionalists advocating "constitutional monarchy" and revolutionaries advocating "democratic republicanism" between 1905 and 1911 through animation (such as Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing), and quotes key text excerpts such as the first draft of "The Emperor's Abdication Edict" and the founding declaration of the revolutionaries' "Min Bao" to help students quickly establish historical background cognition. According to statistics, students who pre-learned with such micro-lessons had a 35% increase in the accuracy of their expressions of the causal relationship of historical events in classroom discussions (based on the 2023 teaching experiment data of a middle school history teaching and research group).

Electronic Compilation of Archives of the Provisional Government of Nanjing: Integrate the "1911.12-1912.3 Provisional Government of Nanjing" module in the "China Centennial History Archives Database" recommended by the Curriculum and Teaching Materials Development Center of the Ministry of Education, including more than 120 original archive scans and structured texts such as the full text of "The Provisional Constitution", the inauguration speech of the provisional president, and the resolutions of the provincial representatives' conference. Students can quickly locate core historical materials through keyword search (such as "sovereignty", "people", "election"), and teachers can set tasks such as "comparing the differences in the provisions on 'legislative power' between 'The Provisional Constitution' and 'The Imperial Constitution Outline'" to guide students to conduct preliminary analysis.

Training on the Classification of Historical Material Credibility (Online Annotation Tool): Use the "Historical Evidence Evaluation" module provided by the "Historical Eye" online platform to provide historical material excerpts from different sources and positions (such as official records, folk notes, and foreign journalists' reports on the same event). For example, regarding the controversial point of "the outbreak time of the Wuchang Uprising", three types of texts are provided: the October 10, 1911 telegram of "Shen Bao", the revolutionary's memoir "Record of the Wuchang Uprising", and the Qing court's secret telegram. Students need to use the three-dimensional scoring table (1-5 point system) of "source reliability", "content consistency" and "author's position" built into the platform to make annotations and generate personal evaluation reports. According to the platform background data, students who have received systematic training have an average increase of 28% in their scores on the historical material critical thinking test, and can more clearly identify subjective tendencies and objective facts in historical materials.

In-Class: OMO Historical Material Analysis Workshop

Typical Lesson Example: "The Westernization Movement"

A. [Online] Scan the QR code to obtain the financial statements of the Jiangnan Manufacturing General Bureau (1873-1885)

B. [Offline] Groups calculate the proportion of imported equipment → demonstrate the limitations of "Chinese learning as the body and Western learning as the function"

C. [Dual-Line] Project and display data visualization conclusions

2. Dimension 2: Spatial-Temporal Concept — Dynamic Modeling Practice

Application of Historical Geographic Information System (HGIS): By integrating historical documents, archaeological discoveries and geospatial data, a multi-dimensional spatial-temporal database is constructed. Taking the simulation of the tripartite confrontation situation as an example, students can dynamically observe the evolution process of the territories of the Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu and Wu) by sliding the time axis (from 220 AD when Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor to 280 AD when the Western Jin Dynasty unified China), including the rise and fall of major cities, the changes of military routes and the trajectory of population migration. According to the historical teaching experiment data of a middle school, after using HGIS to teach the history of the Three Kingdoms, the accuracy rate of students' understanding of the geographical strategic significance of the "Battle of Chibi" increased by 42%, and the retention rate of spatial-temporal association memory increased by 35%. The Tang Dynasty Silk Road APP innovatively uses Augmented Reality (AR) technology. When users scan key nodes on the paper map (such as Chang'an, Dunhuang, Samarkand), they can trigger the audio or text-image display of merchant stories, including the arduous journey of Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, the trade routes of silk and porcelain, and the spread path of Buddhist art. This APP won the "Best Practice Case" award at the 2023 National Digital Education Expo for Primary and Secondary Schools. Its application of non-VR technology reduces the equipment threshold, enabling ordinary smartphones to achieve an immersive learning experience.

3. Dimension 3: Family and Country Feelings — Digital Community Practice

Launch the "Oral History Digital Archive of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression" project: This project is jointly promoted by the school's history teaching and research group and the local archives. Through in-depth interviews with surviving anti-Japanese veterans in the local area (with an average age of over 85 years old), the details of the battles they experienced, life fragments and spiritual insights are collected to form an image database. As of June 2024, 127 valid oral videos, 356 photos and 890,000 words of text records have been collected. These materials are systematically uploaded to the campus history radio station and the exclusive digital platform for teachers and students to listen to and consult online. In teaching application, teachers guide students to compare and analyze oral historical materials with the macro narrative in the People's Education Edition "Modern Chinese History" textbook. For example, through the details of the "Battle of Pingxingguan" told by veterans, students deepen their understanding of "the fish-and-water relationship between the army and the people" in the chapter "Construction of Anti-Japanese Base Areas Behind the Enemy Lines". A survey shows that among the students participating in this project, 92% said that "their emotional resonance with the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression has been significantly enhanced", and 87% believed that "micro-narratives make 'big history' more concrete and perceptible". This cognitive model of "big history + micro-narratives" not only enriches the dimensions of history learning, but also effectively cultivates students' sense of identity with the family and country and social responsibility, responding to the teaching doubt of "how to make history education close to life and touch the soul".

Practice of Integration of Teaching, Learning and Evaluation

1. Digital Literacy Evaluation Matrix

2. Application of Digital Growth Files

Automatically Generate "Historical Literacy Radar Chart":

Historical Material Analysis Accuracy (Red): Through the system's intelligent evaluation of the historical material interpretation, event analysis and other assignments submitted by learners in the process of history learning, combined with the standard answers in the authoritative historical database and the multi-dimensional scoring model, the "historical material analysis accuracy" index is automatically generated. This index not only reflects the learners' memory of historical facts, but also focuses on their ability to distinguish the details of historical materials. For example, when analyzing historical materials related to "The Treaty of Nanking", the system can identify whether the learner has accurately understood the content of the treaty terms and whether they can distinguish the differences between primary and secondary historical materials. According to the historical teaching experiment data of a middle school, after introducing this index, the average score of students in historical material analysis questions increased by 15%, effectively reducing the reliance on surface information.

Spatial-Temporal Correlation (Blue): Using Geographic Information System (GIS) and time axis technology, track the depth of learners' understanding of the background, development context and regional correlation of historical events. When learners complete relevant exercises in the "Industrial Revolution" unit, the system will record their grasp of the spatial-temporal connection between the rise of the Manchester industrial zone in the UK and the establishment of the global trade network. By comparing the vague timeline descriptions in traditional paper assignments with the accurate spatial-temporal node annotations in digital files, teachers can clearly grasp the weak links of students in constructing historical spatial-temporal frameworks. A survey by an educational research institution shows that students who strengthen spatial-temporal correlation training have a 22% increase in the score of the logical chain completeness involving "background-process-impact" in historical comprehensive discussion questions.

Depth of Historical Interpretation (Yellow): Based on natural language processing technology, conduct semantic analysis on the historical essays, viewpoint elaborations and other texts of learners to evaluate the logical rigor, sufficiency of arguments and critical thinking level of their historical interpretation. The system can identify whether students only stay at the level of event retelling or can put forward in-depth explanations with causal relationships. For example, when evaluating "the impact of the 1911 Revolution", a high-depth interpretation will include a dialectical analysis of the revolutionary achievements and limitations, and cite the views of different historians for comparison. A test of 1,000 senior high school students shows that after using the depth of historical interpretation evaluation tool, the proportion of students who take the initiative to cite multi-dimensional historical materials for argumentation increased from 38% to 65%, significantly enhancing their historical thinking ability.

 Paths to Improve Teachers' Digital Literacy

1. "Three-Level Empowerment" School-Based Research

Basic Level:

Advanced search skills of the 101 Education PPT history material library, including using keyword combination, time range limitation, resource type screening and other functions to quickly locate high-definition pictures, historical document scans and multimedia materials related to the teaching theme. For example, when teaching "the ancient Silk Road in China", teachers can accurately obtain maps of the Silk Road from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, photos of unearthed cultural relics and video clips of related historical events through advanced search, improving the efficiency and content richness of courseware production.

Application Level:

Training on the production of historical GIS layers. By learning geographic information system software such as ArcGIS, teachers can transform abstract historical knowledge such as the occurrence location of historical events, the changes of ancient administrative divisions, and the trajectory of population migration into visual layers. For example, the history teaching and research group of a middle school successfully produced the "GIS Layer of the Distribution of Major Battles in the Three Kingdoms Period" through training. Students can intuitively compare the geographical location, strategic locations and results of different battles on the interactive map, making abstract historical spatial-temporal concepts concrete. According to the feedback from the school, after using GIS technology to assist teaching, the accuracy rate of students' understanding of the spatial correlation of historical events increased by 35%.

Innovation Level:

Development of oral history digital archives (winning the provincial intangible cultural heritage project award). Teachers lead students to conduct interview recordings and videos with local older revolutionaries and historical witnesses, and use Audacity audio editing software and JianYing video editing tools to sort them out, eventually forming a multi-modal digital archive including transcripts, audio and video. This archive is not only included in the provincial intangible cultural heritage database, but also becomes the core teaching resource of the school-based course "Hometown Memory", which has been used for reference by 12 brother schools, effectively promoting the transformation of history teaching from books to life practice.

2. Urban-Rural Resource Collaboration Mechanism

Digital Education Alliance:

Urban schools open the authority of historical databases (such as "Chinese Historical War Geography") to rural schools. This database contains more than 5,000 historical maps, 2,000 academic papers and 100+ historical documentaries. Taking the pairing between a key middle school in a provincial capital city and a middle school in a remote mountainous area as an example, through alliance sharing, rural teachers can directly call the "Atlas of Border Governance in the Ming and Qing Dynasties" in the database, and carry out comparative teaching combined with local rural teaching materials, enabling rural students to access the same quality of history education resources as urban students. According to statistics, within one year of the alliance's establishment, the average frequency of classroom interaction in history classes in participating rural schools increased by 40%.

Joint development of "local history digital readers" (covering red resources in 12 provinces). The history teaching and research teams of urban schools and teachers of rural schools jointly investigate local red sites and revolutionary stories, integrate red cultural resources from 12 provinces, and develop digital readers including text, audio and VR panoramic tours using the Chaoxing Learning Tong platform. For example, for the theme of "Long March Spirit", the reader embeds VR real scenes of the Zunyi Conference site in Guizhou, audio of folk songs from the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia revolutionary base area, and dynamic simulation maps of the Long March route. This reader has been promoted and used in more than 300 primary and secondary schools, and the average score of students in the red cultural knowledge test has increased by 28% compared with traditional textbook teaching, effectively responding to the doubt of "how to make red education closer to the life of rural students".

References

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[3] Zheng Lin. Research on Historical Material Teaching in Middle Schools [M]. Beijing Normal University Press, 2025.

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[5] 2026 National Guide for the Practice of Improving Teachers' and Students' Digital Literacy [EB/OL]. Central Audio-Visual Education Institute, 2026.