This document addresses the importance of teaching contemporary history. The failure to teach contemporary history leaves students ill equipped to deal with the present and the future, and also ensures that they will have little interest in the history of other times. Because memory is the central organizing principle in peoples minds, the…

An English professor used science fiction to introduce his students to a range of questions about alternative sexualities. While a course proposal for a science fiction class being taught as a "diversity offering" with an emphasis on gender and sexual orientation was working its way through the bureaucracy at Pennsylvania State…

The design of a methods course offered at Georgia State University to prepare social studies teachers for dealing with controversial issues in the middle school or secondary social studies classroom is presented. The course focuses on identification, selection, an analysis of an issue as well as the requirement that the student develop some method…

The relationship among teaching methods, student personality traits, and learning outcomes was investigated in this study involving 125 7th and 8th grade students who were being taught to think critically about public controversy. While background material was presented to all students uniformly, students were assigned to two different types of…

Seventeen student worksheets form a secondary school unit which focuses on the challenge of shared usage of water resources. Pressure currently exists for a more balanced approach in which all legitimate interests in a water source are served. The worksheets include readings which focus on enough water for all, the water cycle (including a…

This ERIC Digest examines the nature of peace and nuclear war education, rationales for its inclusion in public school programs, and ways to deal with the controversial nature of the topics. A distinction between peace education and nuclear war education is followed by a description of four basic themes offered as a rationale for peace and nuclear…

Recently, there has been a movement to put religion and its influence on history back into the social studies curriculum. This ERIC Digest discusses: (1) reasons for including religion in the curriculum; (2) how religion is currently treated in the school curriculum; (3) guidelines for teaching religion in the classroom; and (4) resources…

The Career and Life Management Program was prescribed within the Secondary Education in Alberta policy statement as a core course for senior high school students to provide students with opportunities to develop and practice communicating and thinking skills in situations that will help them to build confidence in their ability to cope with the…

These action oriented activity cards dealing with conflict situations are for use with secondary students. The cards are intended to supplement any course dealing with conflict, including U.S. history, sociology, English, literature, economics, area studies, or political science. The cards are organized by color into certain broad categories which…

This booklet, one of a series intended to apply economic principles to major social and political issues of the day, starts from the premise that Marxism is a threat to our way of life and offers a critique of fundamental components of the social movement Marx created. The first of six subsections focuses on sources of influence on Karl Marx…

In this booklet, one of a series intended to apply economic principles to major social and political issues of the day, the position is taken that questions of fairness have little meaning when discussing economic issues like prices, wages, and profits. It is argued that one reason for the frequent use of terms like fair and fairness is ignorance…

This 10-chapter guidebook, designed to supplement a basic textbook in biology, provides lessons that demonstrate the application of biological principles and concepts. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapters 2 to 5, organized around the key concept of homeostasis, discuss the evolution of the external environment of earth compared to the internal…

Five secondary school biology textbooks were selected for this study: the 1973 edition of the BSCS Blue Version, "Biological Science, Molecules to Man"; the 1973 edition of the BSCS Green Version, "Biological Science, An Ecological Approach"; the 1973 edition of the BSCS Yellow Version, "An Inquiry into Life"; the…

Questions the value of including death education in compulsory high school courses. The topic impinges on personal religious beliefs and may create anxiety among teenagers if they are required to participate in field trips and attitude surveys. (AV)

One type of conflict is controversy (disagreement), which is discussed as a teaching technique that can be used in the classroom. Five possible procedures are suggested for introducing it to students. For journal availability, see SO 504 878. (ND)