This module and the associated activities are designed to assist the student teacher in recognizing and in implementing three different instructional strategies. The competencies to be acquired are in lecture-recitation, guided discussion, and inquiry. Readings and activities are directed in such a way as to assist students to understand the…

The writings of 33 authors in either curriculum theory or social studies are analyzed to determine whether each author supports structure-discovery views, reflective-inquiry views, or expresses views that tend to reflect both positions or neither position regarding the new approaches to teaching social studies. The structure-discovery method is…

The introduction to this suggested resource unit discusses several different approaches to the study of urbanization and its impact in Africa south of the Sahara. Part I of this unit includes an annotated bibliography of selected sources. The brief descriptions of selected materials should prove useful in classroom study, and in the development of…

This guide gives parents answers to seven questions: (1) What are the social studies? (2) How are the social studies taught? (3) Why do social studies educators say that knowing information is not enough? (4) Why are there so many social studies courses? (5) What is happening to the language of the social studies? (6) What issues are discussed in…

Project CREATES, an open school within the framework of a public school system, has been an attempt to develop a unique educational program with emphasis on role development of personnel and curriculum development. It is seen by parents and children as an important alternative to the self-contained classroom concept of education. Its goals have…

During the past decade interest in developing thinking skills has continued to be high and particular attention has been given to basic inquiry of the cognitive processes that are used in investigating topics and problems in the social studies. The central purpose of this study is to identify a set of processes that may be used to plan instruction…

The purpose of this packet is to assist teachers as they individualize instruction to meet the needs, interests, and abilities of seventh grade students. The activities in this unit are mostly inquiry and social science oriented. There are three major ideas behind the packet: 1) The first generation immigrants closely observed the customs of the…

The Public Law enacted in 1971 requires that fundamental subject matter areas taught in Wisconsin's public schools be assessed. It is proposed in this paper that assessment of the State's social studies programs needs to focus its attention on the school environment, which educators can and should control, change, and improve, rather than…

A rationale for the social studies k-12 program in Baltimore County is presented in this report designed to help teachers review a philosophy of social studies education. Accompanying the rationale are a series of related position papers which elaborate important aspects of social studies education. Also included is a Board of Education Policy…

This book discusses modern scientific inquiry and examines the procedures of inquiry into human behavior used in the behavioral science disciplines. Psychologists look at the individual's adjustive procedures and the evolution of those adjustments within a species. Anthropologists inquire into the behavioral similarities and differences of human…

Presents perspectives on creating new technology-based supports for science learning. Reviews current philosophies concerning the interpretative nature of scientific inquiry and discusses the difficulties of students and teachers in science education. Describes a prototype software system for supporting scientific inquiry processes in students.…

Presents five activities for grades 3-6 which show how to harness the fun of Halloween to achieve social studies goals such as values clarification, critical thinking, personal decision making, and inquiry. States that Halloween's rich history, contemporary customs, ancient rituals, and myths provide a high-interest background of common experience…

Recognizing that knowledge will enable the world's people to cope with worldwide relationships, Alger criticizes the social sciences for inhibiting needed research that would increase awareness of the linkages between human settlements and worldwide phenomena. Presents a progress report on the effort to identify islands of inquiry into the…

Presents study findings which explored the effect of teacher reasoning level and teaching style preference on improvement in student-reasoning ability. Reports that students of concrete operational teachers and of inquiry teachers showed greater gains in reasoning ability than students of formal operational teachers and of expository teachers. (ML)

Reports on effectiveness of an elementary school science program comparing attitudes toward science of Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) students and teachers with those of students and teachers in non-SCIS classes. Students (N=456) indicate preference for SCIS process-approach science, and SCIS teachers (N=109) spend more time teaching…