Driving Force Institute

Where History Meets the Future of Education

Making American History Content Interesting, Relevant for Today's Learners

About Us

The Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement

The Driving Force Institute is now one of the nation's largest producers of American history education films, having produced more than 500 films since its founding in 2020. Today, DFI content is reaching more than 43 million users across the globe.

The work began in 2020, as tens of millions of students across the country shifted to virtual learning overnight and as their teachers sought new, engaging learning materials to hold their students‘ interest. The Driving Force Institute leveraged its expertise to respond to the unmet need of teaching in a digital learning environment. This unprecedented situation further solidified our commitment to transform the teaching and learning of American history, a mission we still follow today.

Increasingly, young people are engaging with and influenced by news from alternate sources. Many teens are digesting important conversations from social media. Much of their learning does not occur in the classroom, from a history textbook, or lecture. Today's learners are getting their news from platforms like YouTube and TikTok. And that's where they get their history education now as well, thanks to DFI.

Driving Force Institute is transforming how American history is taught and learned by exploring untold narratives, bringing inclusive history to students and classrooms, and resonating with teenage audiences.

Guided by our belief that history is a question, not a statement, we produce and distribute accurate, balanced, and accessible videos on American history at no cost to our audience, two minutes at a time.

The Three Legs of the History Learning Stool

To begin this work, we propose an integrated set of efforts designed to get at the three legs of the history instruction stool:

· Support instruction for current K-12 American history teachers, designed to both improve their own understanding of American history and to empower them to better connect with their students and make history an exciting and worthwhile pursuit of study;

· Curriculum design for both traditional classrooms and OST environments, changing the very way American history is taught in communities across the nation; and

Direct-to-learner engagement, providing interesting and dynamic learning opportunities to students (and by extension their families) through a digital platform.

Supporting Classroom Teachers

As we have learned from previous work, today’s American history teachers are hungry for resources, support, and professional development to help them improve instruction in their classrooms. Beginning with an online platform, the Driving Force Institute began providing source materials, mini content courses, and mini pedagogy courses to current classroom teachers.

The Driving Force Institute also ensures teachers know what to do with everything we provide—how to use it effectively immediately as it comes out of the virtual box, how to modify it if they want to, how to differentiate instruction, and how to incorporate various components like cultural competency. We train teachers in how to navigate current classroom constraints, such as English-language learners, special education students, lack of Internet access, etc. In doing so, we equip teachers with the know-how to not only improve American history instruction, but also to improve teaching itself in classrooms and schools in dire need of improvement. As incentive, teachers who successfully participate in DFI receive microcredentials and badges that signify they are part of a national network committed to improving American history instruction.

DFI Film Initiative

Why films?

In order to ensure that young people embrace American history, we are committing to create and distribute a comprehensive American history short film series that focuses on:

1) what is relevant and interesting to the average high school junior;

2) what is attractive to learners who will vary widely in both interest in history and knowledge of history;

3) what is adaptable based on changes in learner preferences; and

4) what can be developed quickly and marketed at scale.

From our ongoing work researching the deficiencies in how American history is taught in K-12 classrooms today, as well as our work analyzing learner preferences on the types of content that is most interesting and relevant to them, the Driving Force Institute has determined that video content, accessed by students both in the classroom and virtually, is the most effective, underutilized tool available.

Untold History

To date, the Driving Force Institute has produced more than 500 films as part of "Untold History," a DFI initiative produced and distributed by Makematic and DoGoodery. New American history education films are now posted weekly at: https://untoldhistory.org .

About Our Founder

Patrick Riccards

Patrick Riccards is the founder and chief executive officer of the Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement.

After leading the American History Initiative for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, Patrick saw a clear and driving need for interesting, relevant, and provocative American history video content. Patrick's polling for AHI found that fewer than four in 10 Americans could pass a basic survey of American history questions, while a growing majority of high school students found American history boring or irrelevant to their futures.

DFI was created to ensure a stream of short, relevant, and provocative American history content for today's learners. To improve the teaching and learning of history, today's learners need to "think like historians." That only comes through explaining the "untold" moments and people in American history.

Prior to launching DFI, Patrick served as the chief communications and strategy officer at the Woodrow, helping build many of its signature initiatives, including the WW Graduate School of Teaching and Learning and the WW Higher Education Policy Fellowship.

He previously served as CEO of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, executive director at the American Institutes for Research, a university vice president, and CEO and chief strategist for Exemplar Strategic Communications. Patrick began his career working on Capitol Hill.

Currently on the Board of Directors for the Center for the Collaborative Classroom and the advisory board for the Education Writers Association, Patrick also was former local school board chairman. An award-winning author, he writes and tweets under the handle Eduflack.

Patrick is the author of two award-winning books - Dadprovement and Dad in a Cheer Bow. He is also the editor of Why Kids Can't Read: Continuing to Challenge the Status Quo in Education and the recently published, Why History Matters: American History Educators Speak Out, a volume of essays from award-winning social studies teachers on the importance of learning U.S. history.

Patrick lives in Florence, SC with his wife, Jennifer, and children, Michael and Anna.

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Driving Force Institute

Where History Meets the Future of Education

About Us

The Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement

The Three Legs of the History Learning Stool

Supporting Classroom Teachers

DFI Film Initiative

Why films?

Untold History

Select DFI American History Media

About Our Founder

Patrick Riccards

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Suppport the Driving Force Institute

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Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement