“When I’m drawing, I see pictures in my head.”: secondary school students constructing an image of the past by means of a drawing task and a writing task

The past is not in the classroom to observe and study. Thus, creating a lively and understandable image of a past period or situation is an achievement to be learned. A variety of tasks can be used to stimulate students to create an image of the past. In this experimental study, 151 grade 9 students (14–16 years old) participated by completing a drawing task or a writing task on the Roman Forum in Ancient Rome. Their products were compared. Additionally, the students’ perceptions of the tasks were explored by means of a questionnaire and an interview. The findings show that the written products contained more information elements than the drawings. However, in terms of the historical plausibility of the product, the drawn products and written products were comparable. Students who made a drawing reported higher situational interest than students who wrote a text.