Integrating local history with national or even global history can help students to find social studies more meaningful, to make connections between course content and their own lives and surroundings. In this article, we describe a project in which seventh grade students in Istanbul, Turkey, located centuries-old trees still living in their urban…

The Social Studies course covers many opportunities for students to actively learn-by-doing and learn-by-living outside of the school and classroom environments. In this context, the present study aims to identify how the Social Studies Curriculum in Turkey (Ministry of National Education [MoNE], 2018) supports learning in environments outside of…

Lessons in community building and cultural understanding are important aspects of a 21st-century education. Through such lessons, students gain the keys to societal understanding as they gain knowledge about their cultural and historical contexts, and use that understanding as a setting for exploration of deeper values, emotional experiences, and…

History learning is many times considered dull and demotivating by young students. Probably this is due because the learning process is disconnected from these students' reality and experience. One possible way to overcome this state of matters is to use technology like mobile devices with georeferencing software and local history and heritage…

Service-learning projects help students make connections to their community and help them to think about civic participation. The projects can range from very simple short-term philanthropy to very complex direct involvement by the students across multiple years. Students learn both social problem-solving skills and academic knowledge through…