Business schools have a responsibility for educating global citizens capable of understanding and addressing the major societal challenges of the 21st century. However, working on complex societal problems within business school curricula remains a challenge. This teaching brief presents a learning project that helps instructors introduce…

Undergraduate chemistry majors should be encouraged to consider chemistry-based solutions to issues that impact their daily lives as well as the lives of poor and marginalized populations worldwide. Some issues that disproportionately influence historically disadvantaged populations are also directly related to or could be impacted by chemistry.…

This field note explores the use of art and creativity in social work field education as an innovative pedagogical method. We highlight the value of incorporating the arts in field instruction courses, such as field seminar, to illuminate both students' and clients' experiences, explore professionalism, and navigate social work practice tensions.…

Cultural Political Vignettes (CPVs) are hypothetical situations involving ethical or social dilemmas presented to students in the form of brief vignettes. They help students consider and discuss questions about ethics, society, and responsibility, and develop both skills (like critical thinking) and dispositions (like empathy) needed to be a…

A central aim of social studies curriculum is to prepare young people for making "informed and reasoned decisions for the public good" concerning consequential problems like global climate change. By developing students' "vision of a good society" and exploring what actions and policies move our society in this direction,…

Education for citizenship is more important than ever. The author describes a technology-supported curriculum that engages young teens in electronic discourse with peers on significant personal and societal issues and assists them in decision making on topics ranging from their personal futures to the futures of their communities, nation, and…

The purpose of this article is to provide teachers and students useful methods for utilizing the power of comic books as literacy sponsors in ELA classrooms. Given the continued boom in the popularity of comics in popular culture, this provides a relevant way to introduce students to visual and critical analysis. Engaging in meaningful analysis of…

People often make choices that go against their own best interests. In the controversial bestseller "Nudge," Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein argue that people can benefit from simple "nudges" to improve their decision-making. In an upper-level undergraduate course on political decision-making, I created a series of assignments around "Nudge." In…

Teaching geographic information systems (GIS) requires linking concepts with technical skills, which can be challenging, especially in standard lecture and laboratory-format courses. This paper reports on an introductory undergraduate GIS course that incorporated a community-driven problem-based learning exercise as a major component of the…

Young people are growing up at a time when issues of domestic and international conflict and a myriad of problems are increasingly intertwined. Rather than resorting to threats of retaliatory violent action, schools need to find ways to resolve conflicts peaceably. This article proposes that students be given specific opportunities to a)…

At one Wisconsin middle school, a successful student motivator is an improv troupe that develops and performs unscripted, improvisational skits about social issues affecting adolescents. Skits stop at a critical decision-making point or show the devastating effects of a negative choice. Discussion reinforces the message. (MLH)

Discusses emotional literacy, which combines emotions, intelligence, and literacy, and suggests ways to increase emotional intelligence in school libraries and classrooms. Emotional literacy skills include self-awareness, empathy, social problem solving, mood management, and the understanding of motivation. (LRW)

The Future Problem Solving Program has a noncompetitive Primary Division that challenges gifted children in grades K-4 to think creatively about society issues, develop research skills, interact as a team, develop oral and written communication skills, become interested in the future, think critically, and solve problems. (JDD)

Asserts that the social studies classroom is ideal for the development of students' civic decision-making skills explaining that decision making must include elements of group interaction and creative expression. Describes traditional decision-making models and decision making as a process and performance. Addresses group interaction, cooperative…

Discusses the value of role-play in developing interpersonal skills and presents a 10-step model to help performance technologists design effective role-plays. Highlights include training objectives; designing assessment instruments; task analysis; generality and demonstration; designing social-communicative problems for the content; practice; and…