Hypothesis for History

Hypothesis empowers students and educators to highlight and comment on digital course materials, helping to develop reading comprehension and critical thinking skills, increase student engagement, and create community in online, hybrid, and in-person courses.

Social annotation works right on top of existing course content to:

Develop close reading skills for the comprehension and analysis of primary sources
Cultivate disciplinary literacy in the reading and writing of academic research
Encourage peer-to-peer learning and collaborative knowledge production
Facilitate purposeful asynchronous communication outside of the classroom

What teachers are saying

“Hypothesis was valuable in helping students delve more deeply into content than ever before. I’ve noticed more student participation throughout our use of the tool. In particular, it has provided a way for students who would not usually feel comfortable speaking in class to express themselves in written form.”

Liz Skilton, History Professor, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

“Hypothesis provides a user-friendly way for you and your students to have conversations about primary and secondary sources through digital annotation.”

Jessica Dauterive, History PhD Candidate, George Mason University

“Our use of Hypothesis has helped students to read more carefully and more deeply. They are helping each other make sense of the readings so they already have an idea of how others are thinking and discussion in class ends up being an extension of those ongoing conversations.”

Jasmine Ma, Education Professor, New York University

Resources

Explore our collection of conversations with teachers, example assignments, and grading rubrics to get ideas about how to add social annotation to your courses.

Videos

A video discussion including Alicia Maggard from Auburn University and Mary Klann from UC San Diego about using collaborative annotation to engage students in active, visible, social discussion on history texts.
A video discussion including Associate Professor of History at Trent University Olga Andriewsky and Trent University Department of Psychology Associate Professor Fergal O’Hagan about using the pedagogical practice of social annotation.

Assignments

Primary Source Annotation: This assignment probably represents one of the first uses of Hypothesis in an educational context. University of Mary Washington History professor Jeff McClurken has been experimenting with Hypothesis in the classroom since the app’s early days. Most recently Jeff has used the assignment in a US Women’s History to 1870 class.
Ongoing Assignment: An annotation assignment could be a one-off exercise in close reading or it could be a daily practice for students throughout their course readings. This assignment imagines Hypothesis as a go-to reading and collaborating tool for an entire course.

Rubrics

Social Annotation Marking Rubric and Checklist: A descriptive, four level rubric from Vanier College.
Annotations Rubric: A descriptive, three level rubric from Katherine D. Harris at San Jose State University.