Conference papers reviewing the role of decision making in social studies education since 1960 are presented. The focus of the discussion was a paper by Shirley Engle published in 1960 entitled "Decision Making: The Heart of Social Studies Instruction." The first part of the booklet contains the text of that paper. Engle maintained that the…

A problem solving course designed to expose the student to the wide range of alternative problem solving techniques and to enable the student to use these methods in practical applications was developed at the University of California at Los Angeles. The course also exposes the humanities student to objective tools such as numerical models, while…

The document describes a practicum which developed a unit on critical thinking that applied Jerome Bruner's discovery-learning method and also incorporated the unit within the curricular requirements of elementary education majors at Castleton State College in Vermont. It is presented in five sections and an appendix. Section I provides…

The bulletin probes the debate over the nature of social studies and considers the role of social studies in the curriculum. It is intended to be a clarification of the field of social studies for textbook authors, curriculum developers, and educators. The bulletin is presented in five chapters. Chapter I discusses the confusion which has resulted…

A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT OVER A PERIOD OF 3 YEARS TO FIND MEANS FOR DESCRIBING INQUIRY BEHAVIOR IN GRADE SCHOOL STUDENTS AND TO TEST THE EFFECT OF TEACHING METHODS AND ENVIRONMENT ON THIS BEHAVIOR. INQUIRY ACTIVITY WAS TESTED BY HAVING CHILDREN PLAY THE ROLE OF A SMALL CITY MAYOR USING SPECIALLY DEVELOPED MATERIALS. THREE…

Four combinations of two types of television lessons and two methods of classroom teacher follow-up were studied in order to identify how combinations of treatment affected pupil achievement and interest in science and how television instruction motivated learning in elementary schools. Pupils who were presented with unanswered questions designed…

The document provides instruction on developing learning packages for classroom use in social studies. The rationale is that learning packages provide a workable means of individualizing classroom instruction. The document is presented in 12 chapters. Chapter I offers an overview of learning packages, suggests ideas necessary to package…

This teacher-oriented guide presents information and resources for use in increasing political literacy of K-12 social studies students. The main objective of the guide is to further civic literacy through increased knowledge and understanding of political structures and processes and of effective citizen participation. Emphasis is on helping…

An instructional module designed to help librarians learn to identify and negotiate reference questions is presented and discussed. The instructional module consists of an essay on performance of negotiation as a decision-making step in the reference process, and exercises for identification of queries that should be negotiated. A videotape which…

This study was designed to assess the teacher verbal role behavior of Guided Discovery/Inquiry before and after an in-service workshop. The sample consisted of 24 junior school teachers, who were teaching Introductory Physical Science (IPS) materials and traditional materials (non-IPS). Three IPS and five traditional teachers were randomly…

The growing number of value clarification curriculum materials is an indication that moral education is becoming a major focal point of curriculum. This study looks at one social studies course that includes both a moral development component and an inquiry approach. The hypotheses of the study are that students will show significant growth in (1)…

This curriculum guide, developed by the Association of Teachers of Latin American Studies, provides an interdisciplinary, inquiry-oriented approach to Mexican-American and Puerto Rican Studies. Unit one contains a list of cognitive and affective objectives and evaluation suggestions. Units two through six provide content materials and include a…

The major reason for using the outdoor history museum as a field laboratory is to provide for small in depth studies of "real life" problems relevant for today's students. An authentic New England village of 1790-1840 provides the background for the sequential development of various concepts in the social studies learning unit. Concepts are…

This unit package offers the primary social studies teacher structured materials in geography. The primary objective of this unit is to develop the concepts labeled place and environment. Material organization and teaching strategy involve a two-fold emphasis on concept acquisition and concept use. The materials require the student to make…

A set of instructional materials and methods, designated Inquiry Development Program, was designed to teach children how to learn independently. The student was presented with an event which had an outcome that ran counter to his expectations. Motivated by his curiousity, he then searched for an explanation to the discrepancy between what he…