Describes an applied community development course at a junior college, which involves a comprehensive social analysis of the community to determine leadership patterns, organizational structures, and community needs, and which involves students in the practical application of sociological theories and research methods. Provides a course outline.…

Architecture can be a topic in high school community studies. A program in Boulder, Colorado, is described as a case study. Learning activities include walking tours, library and city archive research, and slide shows. Tips for teachers and an annotated bibliography are included. (Author/DB)

Describes a college-level course in psychology in which students study community issues and problems. Outlines how students work in community program internships and participate in individual and group research projects. Includes course objectives, recommended instructional resources, and evaluation strategies. (CFR)

In this paper, a college economics professor shares his ideas and experiences related to teaching a regional economics course for seniors at Bucknell University. In an attempt to depart from the traditional content and the passive teaching procedures prevalent in such courses, the professor implemented a course in a regional, political, economic…

This resource unit, developed by University of Minnesota's Project Social Studies as part of a course on Our Political System, introduces eighth graders to decision making at the local level. This unit, much shorter than the others in the course, attempts to have pupils use concepts learned earlier to analyze one or more crucial problems in their…

Considering that the lower ability student in the seventh and eighth grades faces problems of emotion, identity, and self-motivation, there is a need for a more activity-based, exploratory curriculum that gives students responsibility for their learning and living. An interdisciplinary local studies approach was adopted for this six-week unit…

This secondary social studies unit, part two of a series of four, contains classroom activities that involve students in discovering ethnicity in the community, nation, and world. The activities also help students to recognize physical and psychological transnational linkages between ethnic groups in the United States and the cultures of their…

This final report is an assessment of an experimental class designed to determine whether students, grades nine through twelve with diverse backgrounds, could do field research on community problems. The course description and outline of the course define goals and methods of meeting these goals. Samples of materials used are included in the text…

This guide is intended to help social studies educators in Nova Scotia develop a junior-senior high school program for students who have had a history of learning difficulties and whose acquisition of skills has been slower than average. The first part of the guide contains a definition of the student for whom the program is intended, guidelines…