This study examines the effects of including interactive graphic organizers into a whole-class PowerPoint lesson as an instructional approach intended to improve student engagement and generative learning in schools. A software application was developed and integrated into PowerPoint that makes it possible for the instructor to fill in empty…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of four training procedures in changing translation behaviors of intern teachers and their pupils in secondary school social studies classes. The four training procedures or treatments (applied to four randomly assigned groups of intern teachers) were: an unstructured discussion of…

This report summarizes the results of seven observation studies concerning teacher behavior, learning activities, verbal communication, the effect of teacher behavior on pupil achievement, training programs in interaction analysis, and children's interest in elementary social studies. Discussions and recommendations based on the research data are…

The Social Studies Committee of the New England Educational Assessment Project conducted this assessment over a period of two years. The general objectives of this study were: 1) to identify the teaching intentions and cultural orientations of 3,631 secondary social studies teachers and the value orientations of their pupils; 2) to obtain teachers…

The purpose of the study was to find out if and how the subject matter of a remedial high school classroom interacted with the social organization of that classroom and the differences it made. Two classrooms with different subject matter (mathematics and social studies) were observed over the course of a school year. The multiple awarenesses and…

Using simulations developed by the High School Geography Project and films recording the use of the simulations, teachers learn to: (1) use simulation exercises in class; (2) provide a classroom atmosphere conducive to free interaction and expression among students; (3) analyze simulation in terms of problems considered, alternative choices,…

To test the hypothesis that if given a curriculum designed to develop cognitive functioning and taught by strategies designed to develop cognitive skills, students would then master more sophisticated symbolic thought earlier and more systematically than could be expected if this development had been left to the accidents of experience or if…

Reading and social studies instruction in 39 third- through sixth-grade classrooms in central Illinois was observed in a study designed to determine whether elementary school classrooms provide comprehension instruction. Among the findings were that practically no comprehension instruction was seen but that comprehension assessment, usually…

The paper discusses high school students' attitudes towards teachers' verbal questioning behavior and assesses the relevance of students' preferences to test score gains. Data were sought for several questions. What cognitive levels of teacher verbal questioning behavior do social studies students prefer? What is the relationship between students'…

The study evaluates the effectiveness of a set of social studies activities in promoting cooperative interaction among junior high school students. A field experiment was designed to test three hypotheses: (1) groups which have previously worked together structure tasks more cooperatively than a newly formed group: (2) groups which have…