Theory and practice of teaching regional history in higher education (A case study of the history of the tatars of Semirechye in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries)

Abstract

The article focuses on the development and experimental evaluation of a regionally oriented methodology for teaching history in higher education. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to integrate regional historical material into the study of broader Turkestan and imperial processes. The history of the Tatars of Semirechye was used as a case study within the elective course HРE 212 «Historical Stages of Jadid Educational Reform in Turkestan». The study employed a mixed-methods quasi-experimental design involving 49 third-year students enrolled in the «6B01601 – History» educational program: 25 students in the control group and 24 in the experimental group. The methodology was based on a progression from a regional historical example to source analysis, comparison, argumentation, and independent interpretation. The experimental group worked with regional archival and museum materials, periodicals, memoirs, biographical sources, the INSERT method, discussions, counterfactual modeling, and project-based activities. The results indicate higher learning outcomes in the regionally oriented model and a change in the nature of students’ learning activities. The study demonstrates the potential of regional history as a tool for improving the effectiveness and analytical orientation of history education in higher education.