The study aimed at exploring whether a "Science-Technology-Social Change" course improved pre-service social studies teachers' (PST) scientific habits of mind and attitudes towards socio-scientific issues. Within a pre- and post-course experimental design, the study was conducted with 135 second-year PST (68 males and 67 females) from…

Students in this post-industrial technological age require opportunities for the acquisition of new skills, especially in the marketplace of innovation. A pedagogical strategy that is becoming more and more popular within social studies classrooms is the use of computer and video games as enhancements to everyday lesson plans. Computer/video games…

This research explores the emergence of student creativity in classroom settings, specifically within two content areas: science and social studies. Fourteen classrooms in three elementary schools in Korea were observed, and the teachers and students were interviewed. The three types of student creativity emerging in the teaching and learning…

Loyola University Chicago's Teaching, Learning, and Leading With Schools and Communities (TLLSC) program is an ambitious break from traditional university-based teacher preparation models. This clinically based initial teacher preparation program, fully embedded in local schools and community organizations, takes an ecological perspective on the…

In the advent of the development and mass adoption of the common core state standards for English language arts and mathematics, state and local agencies have now expressed a need to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO or the Council) for assistance as they upgrade existing social studies standards to meet the practical goal of…

Identifies kinds of thinking that fit naturally into elementary social studies curricula, using models of thinking that are not complex. Models include general problem solving skills and skills pertaining to specific types of intellectual tasks, such as comprehending information, solving specific problems, researching topics, and making decisions.…

Discusses three areas of concern in social studies education for elementary through secondary levels. Areas are (1) the development of thinking skills, (2) the development of articulated K-12 social studies programs, and (3) the need to protect academic freedom while addressing community concerns. (RKM)

Shows how to use common topics within area studies to develop important social studies skills. The example provided illustrates how to develop data analysis, data evaluation, problem solving, and map skills using the topics of bamboo and the Bhopal, India, chemical disaster. (JDH)

Describes a "treasure hunt" exercise designed to encourage elementary students to think reflectively. Using compasses and maps, student groups find prehidden objects. Group discussion and oral reports follow the field experience. (KC)

Defines skills used in the reasoning process: problem solving, classification and organization, making reasoned judgments, and researching a subject. Lists Vermont's basic competencies in reasoning and notes that teachers and the community must accept the competencies of reasoning as legitimate educational concerns. (KC)

The likelihood that students will make a successful transition to the college environment is often a function of their readiness--the degree to which previous educational and personal experiences have equipped them for the expectations and demands they will encounter in college. A key problem is that the current measures of college preparation are…

This social studies unit uses conflicting eyewitness and secondary accounts of what happened in Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775, to illustrate the nature and methods of history and to encourage the student to function as an historian. Sections of the unit (1) introduce problems faced by historians by focusing on documentary materials…

This book provides student activities organized around a class science project with the Gorilla Foundation. The gorillas featured in the project have been taught American Sign Language. Many of the activities involve the use of the story "Koko's Kitten" by Francine Patterson (New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1985). Sections of the book include: (1) "To…

Investigates the relationship between student talk in cooperative learning groups and the learning of complex cognitive tasks. Studies 2 classrooms of 51 students in which a social studies unit designed to assess the development of problem-solving skills in a cooperative learning environment was administered. Reports a strong correlation between…