Discusses the following five myths and suggests ways of using them to teach about the Constitution: (1) the Bill of Rights is the Constitution's heart; (2) reactionary commercial interests created the Constitution to maintain the status quo; (3) the structure is antidemocratic; (4) it sanctioned slavery; and (5) it made the legislature supreme.…

Analyzes the economic and political responses to the Great Depression of the 1930s in Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Britain. States that economic policies had little direct effect on the survivability of governments during the 1930s. Concludes that processes of national consensus formation determined the survival or…

Reviews several definitions of material culture and material culture research. Identifies the special characteristics and pitfalls of material culture research appraising how such research can be useful in historical explanation. Forecasts expectations for materials culture research over the next decade. (JDH)

Presents activity ideas for using the 11th century Bayeux tapestry in middle and senior high schools. Suggestions for obtaining a reproduction of the tapestry and integrating writing activities are included. (JDH)

Argues that pupils' beliefs about what counts as historical explanation, usually the actions--and particularly the motives--of individuals, is an obstacle to their history learning. Superseding this personal level, and getting pupils to analyze a historical event as a whole, is where the mutual understanding between teacher and pupil collapses.…

Discusses how psychohistory and psychobiography can be used in graduate and undergraduate history classes to help students grasp the motives for individual and mass actions throughout history, e.g., Why did the British military men make certain tactical decisions in World War I? (RM)

Provides an overview of a unit on the American Revolutionary War. Presents the text of a slide lecture used to illustrate the involvement of the area around Collegeville, Pennsylvania in the military history of the United States. (JDH)

Interpreting statistical data from the past is difficult. Because of dissimilarities between past and present, numbers are often difficult to compare. Discusses how teachers can use ratios to convert population statistics to equivalent values so that a comparison can be made. (RM)

An historical account of how television has improved the quality of its historical programming over the last 30 years is presented. Teachers are no longer hostile toward the medium; they now believe that television is a potential source for profitable learning experiences. (RM)

Unusual insights, presented in college freshmen papers, concerning events from the Middle Ages to the present are the focus of this essay. (RM)

Makes a plea for what the author considers an endangered species: historical studies. (Author/RK)

This paper is a conceptual analysis that examines some of the main features of cultural psychology and its attendant methodological requirement of ecological validity as they apply to student learning of history. The paper abstracts an ideal type of ecological validity from several versions of the requirement in the literature and applies it to…

"America's Story for America's Children" is a graded series of readers intended to prepare for the regular study of history and to supplement it. Care has been taken to give prominence to the elements of life and personality and picturesqueness, so as to develop centres of interest which more advanced and systematic study will bring into…

Identification of the tasks of a historian are outlined and emphasis is placed on the need for students to understand his objectives, processes, limitations, techniques, and goals. (JB)