This dissertation is devoted to the theoretical substantiation, development, and experimental verification of a digital history teaching methodology for future professionals.The research addresses the scientific problem of developing a methodology for teaching digital history in education institutions that ensures the formation of digital competencies and critical thinking skills.
The scientific novelty of the obtained results lies in the fact that:
• for the first time:
- a systematic review of digital history pedagogy was conducted (46 Scopus records, 6 included), establishing the field as nascent;
- a systematic review of gamification in history education synthesised 74 studies, revealing definitional ambiguity (14.9% explicit definitions), predominantly high risk of bias (83.8% per MRQS), and positive but uncertain effects on engagement (70.3%) and learning (51.4%; d = 0.28-0.61);
- LLM-assisted MRQS quality assessment was validated, establishing the boundaries of automation (к = ‒ 0.04 to 0.21 for risk-of-bias; 82-97% for factual data);
- a digital history methodology model was proposed and empirically instantiated, simultaneously operationalising all four digital history approach types within a single course;
- the concept of reward-bridged learning (RBL) was proposed as a distinct position on the game integration spectrum, where educational micro-tasks are embedded within entertainment games as optional reward-driven pathways, extending Deterding et al.’s taxonomy by reversing the directionality of game-education integration;
• improved:
- the content and methods of history teaching using digital tools, through an integrated system combining 156 Google Forms quizzes, 7 modular controls, and HistoryLikeGame (62 modules, 13 game types, 9 periods, 10 AR scenes) within a TPACK and constructivist framework;
• further developed:
- the theoretical foundations for digital history pedagogy;
- the iterative DBR methodology through the documented v1 >v2 HistoryLikeGame trajectory (23 >62 modules; 3 > 13 game types);
- the five-layer wartime resilience architecture for technology-enhanced education in conflict-affected settings, validated across 7 months of active armed conflict.
The practical significance of the obtained results lies in the development of:
1) a seven-month pedagogical experiment under active armed conflict combined all five DigComp 2.0 competence areas, a four-type digital history taxonomy, and a five-layer wartime resilience architecture (https://github.com/AstraFreeman/ Children-s-preparation/);
2) HistoryLikeGame platform, a publicly accessible, offline-capable interactive platform for Ukrainian History NMT preparation, comprising 62 modules across 13 game types (quiz, card solitaire, cafe simulator, A-Frame AR, Three.js 3D, Canvas physics, and others) and 9 historical periods (https://astrafreeman.github.io/HistoryLikeGame/);
3) 156 Google Forms quizzes covering the complete Ukrainian History NMT curriculum from ancient times to contemporary Ukraine;
4) reproducible Python analysis pipeline (6 modules: chat parsing, assessment extraction, score analysis, attendance tracking, gamification cataloguing, figure generation) enabling transparent, deterministic processing of educational data from group chats, Google Forms responses, and HTML game module catalogues (https://github.com/AstraFreeman/Children-s-preparation/tree/main/analysis).
