Students often report that social studies is their most boring and least favorite subject. As a child, Woodrow Wilson was bored by history, later describing his early studies as "one damn fact after another." Of course, Wilson went on to become an eminent historian, but only after he learned to reach beyond the "closed catechism" of "questions…

Teaching and learning, especially in higher education, appear to consist of complex analytic and synthetic processes which create concepts and relate them to one another. Sixteen model courses from the natural sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities were examined to establish some general characteristics of university course…

Results are presented from a study that implemented and assessed the effectiveness of a research-based model for training preservice secondary teaching trainees (N=97) in a complex teaching skill: clarity of explanation. Extensive discussion is presented on the study design and implementation. (IAH)

This paper analyzes a study designed to determine if students understand the concept of democracy and can apply democratic principles. It also compares the study with related investigations conducted in Europe and calls for improved teaching to make the concept of democracy comprehensible. In 1974, 1,000 high school seniors in Pennsylvania…