Tests the validity of a teaching strategy designed to help students learn to think historically. The method offers a rationale for understanding why historians may arrive at differing conclusions. Results of the study (n = 39) indicate a significant improvement in the experimental group concept of history. (TRS)

The process of teaching history is influenced not only by the theorists and writers working from the top down, but also by the changing nature and characteristics of the students who work their changes on the historical process from the bottom up. Techniques for making history relevant to students are discussed. (RM)

Using Psychological Abstracts as the original sample source ("first level"), characteristics of the educational psychology literature were compared with those of "second level" literature (literature cited by the first level). The scatter (dispersion) of periodical articles over periodical titles was examined at both levels.…

One measure of a nation's historical, sociological, and cultural endeavors, including oral histories, is revealed by the expressed needs of its librarians and archivists who acquire, maintain, and provide access to the products of such activities. The oral history movement and access to oral history products in Pacific countries are discussed. (RM)

Presents a thematic approach to French culture education which stresses active student participation and use of primary sources. (AM)

"Bridging World History" is a multimedia course for secondary school and college teachers that looks at global patterns through time--seeing history as an integrated whole. Topics are studied in a general chronological order, but each is examined through a thematic lens, showing how people and societies experience both integration and differences.…

This lesson plan can help teachers and students understand what happened on December 7, 1941, beginning with the first U.S. treaty with Japan in 1854 through the attacks in 1941. Students use primary sources to synthesize information and draw conclusions about the role of the U.S. Navy in foreign policy and to understand how people in 1941 reacted…

The theme for 2004's National History Day is "Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History." This is a broad theme, so topics should be carefully selected and developed in ways that best reflect student talents and abilities. Studies should include an investigation into available primary and secondary sources, analysis of the evidence,…

Julia West was 14 years old when she viewed the carnage and destruction of the battle field at Prairie Grove, Arkansas. She was not the only young spectator at the battle, but she had one of the best views of the conflict. From her home on West Hill (AK), Julia beheld the horror and splendor of battle when the men of the Union Army of the Frontier…

The origins of the idea for the Peace Corps are numerous and occurred well before the Kennedy era, but the founding of the Peace Corps is one of President John Kennedy's most enduring legacies. Since the Peace Corps founding in 1961 more than 150,000 citizens of all ages and backgrounds have worked in more than 130 countries throughout the world…

The U.S. has always had regional differences. Today the regions may be difficult to distinguish, but from 1800 to 1860, those lines clearly existed. While each region, North, South, and West, remained dedicated to the American Dream, each attempted to reach the dream in significantly different ways. This lesson, which revolves around an 1839…

Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park is important because of its diversity of life on the surface and underground. Some of the plants in the park include trees such as oaks, hickories, tulip poplars, sycamores, and many types of bushes. The animal population is also very diverse and includes bats, squirrels, deer, raccoons, opossums, chipmunks,…

This lesson describes and discusses the submerged remains of the battleship USS Arizona which rests on the silt of Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), just as it had settled on December 7, 1941, the day Japan attacked the U.S. fleet and began the Pacific battles of World War II. The lesson is based on the National Register of Historic Places registration file,…

The last 30 years of U.S. political history have seen dramatic strides in the impact that minorities play in U.S. politics. This second volume of a two-volume set addresses the historical and contemporary impact of two of the largest minority groups in the United States. Divided into two sections, the encyclopedia addresses the political struggles…

During the age of agriculturally based empires, various conquerors from the western Mediterranean to East Asia brought large population areas under their own centralized authority. Gradually many of these conquerors came to realize that, although military might was necessary to gain control over an area, sheer force of arms was not sufficient to…