The Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, North Carolina) uses public history to educate people about southern Appalachian history and culture. The Mountain Heritage Center is a museum and research center established to collect, interpret, and disseminate knowledge about the southern Appalachian region. The Center…

A framework for curriculum design and a set of guidelines for curriculum development in gifted education are presented. The major dimensions guiding curriculum development for gifted students are: content, process, product, and learning environment. Curriculum content should be developed in such a way that it becomes more abstract, complex,…

Fifteen grade 8 and 16 grade 10 U.S. history textbooks, all published in 1986, are reviewed. Eight criteria were used in evaluating the texts: (1) authority; (2) interpretation; (3) significance; (4) context; (5) representativeness; (6) perspective; (7) engagement; and (8) appropriateness. The results of the review show that most of the texts are…

Teaching history with original documents is a stimulus for the inquiry method of learning. A curriculum packet produced by the Oregon State Archives contains 24 historical document facsimiles with an accompanying instructors manual. Selected from the state archives with an explanation of each document and questions for discussion provided, the…

Part of an international series of amply illustrated, colorful, small size books for children ages 5 to 10, this volume is designed to enhance learning and serve as an educational resource. The text describes aspects of the lives and customs of the people of ancient Egypt. The topics covered include the family, food, clothing, homes, agriculture,…

A sensible and exciting introduction to history in the various levels of public education is needed. Such an introduction should begin with personal family history, then move on to various aspects of local history, and finally, to national and world history. To be able to teach family and local history, history teachers must know: (1) how to use…

To determine whether revisions incorporating features of a Time-Life style would improve students' recall of text, a writer and an editor revised two expository passages from a high school history textbook. They added action verbs, created a sense of drama, made explicit transitions, provided background information, and inserted "nuggets"--vivid…

One of a series of curriculum materials in U.S. history designed to teach critical thinking skills systematically, this teacher's guide presents high school students with supplementary lessons on the Reconstruction period, industrialism, labor and immigration, and progressivism and populism. The student booklet begins with a guide to critical…

A collection of seven essays about current topics involving social studies curriculum is presented in this document. "Priorities in the Social Studies" considers curriculum-related issues and social problems that need to be addressed. "The Student and the Psychology of Learning" suggests criteria that should be considered by teachers when…

In order to address the significant gap between the ideas emerging from the new economic history and the economics actually taught in secondary school classes, successful strategies from a series of summer institutes are described. Each topic begins with a discussion of basic concepts and recent developments in the economic theory of that…

This issue of the "Goldfinch" is devoted to Iowa folklife. The first article explores what "folklife" is and provides several examples. The second article is about artwork and poetry done by Mesquakie Indian children from the Sac and Fox Settlement School near Tama, Iowa. Dome-shaped structures, called "wickiups," in…

Since 1980, an increasing number of state and local education agencies have reintroduced a world history requirement into their secondary curricula. This ERIC Digest examines five key questions related to that trend. Questions raised, together with some salient points made in the discussion of each, are as follows: (1) What is the background to…

This paper reports on a research study which attempted to determine whether competition could generate the same enthusiasm in the classroom (for learning) as it does on the playing field (in sports). Ninth grade world cultures students at Concord-Carlisle High School, Concord, Massachusetts were led to believe that they were competing in an…

This review of a 1981 interim report on the United States' and the Soviet Union's distortion of events in history and geography textbooks is intended to encourage educators in both countries to depict the other side more honestly, less aggressively, and more appreciative of each other's virtues and flaws. Organized into two major sections,…

A research study was undertaken to determine how U.S. history is taught and what is learned in Indiana public high schools. The objectives of the study included: (1) to ascertain the status of U.S. history in Indiana public schools; (2) to compare results of data with national literature; (3) to identify what is actually taught; (4) to ascertain…