Recommends the adoption of cooperative learning techniques in history courses. Argues that cooperative learning facilitates critical thinking, democratic values, student participation, and improved retention. Illustrates this with examples from European, United States, and African American survey courses. (MJP)

A Mount Holyoke College (Massachusetts) class on computer applications in history and the humanities, entitled "Frankenstein Meets Multimedia," uses topics from the 1818 novel as the basis for students to develop multimedia compact disks about it. The novel is used because its author was heavily influenced by the philosophy of the…

Examined the influence of college students' expertise on use of multiple documents about a historical controversy. Found that strategies did not differ significantly across the groups of expert and non-expert students. However, evaluation of usefulness varied as a function of document type and students' expertise. Furthermore, novices and experts…

Presents a brief but fascinating discussion of a high school junior's use of primary sources for her presentation at History Day in California. She contacted black athletes who gave the black power salute at the 1968 Olympics and conducted several hours of interviews. These interviews were incorporated into a paper. (MJP)

Provides background information on the development of and work performed by the Navajo code talkers during World War II. Includes teaching activities for classroom use as well as examples from the code. Includes the Navajo dictionary and words with the English and Navajo meaning. (CMK)

Judy Bluehorse Skelton is an herbalist of Native American descent who conducts field trips to identify plants and classroom activities to demonstrate their uses. She also works with Portland (Oregon) schools developing culturally appropriate strategies for presenting Native American content. She encourages students to look at events such as the…

Describes a lesson that integrates U.S. history and economics to teach students about hyperinflation in the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War. States that the students analyze primary documents, examine graphs, and participate in a role playing exercise. Includes copies of the primary sources and information on assessment. (CMK)

Finds that the National Commission on Social Studies in the Schools' report, "Charting a Course: Social Studies for the 21st Century," emphasis on multiethnic perspectives is sparse and sporadic. Observes that its chronological approach to history and textbook emphasis discourages understanding of ethnicity. Criticizes teacher education…

Illustrates a method to introduce students to foreign countries and cultures by having students choose a country in which they would like to live and give a class presentation about it. As a result, students become resource persons, research skills are refined, cross-cultural information reservoir is created, and history and geography become real.…

Reviews the state of the American Historical Association, urging that the organization take a more active interest in the current debate over social studies in the public schools. Proposes that historians spend more time with elementary and secondary teachers, talking about the latest developments in the field. (SLM)

Advocates teaching history through children's fictional and nonfictional literature in elementary social studies. Offers seven criteria for selecting books for elementary history units. Provides activities for teaching about American Indians, communities, and U.S. history based on award-winning children's books. (CH)

Reviews 10 children's books for history instruction in elementary social studies. Topics range from the history of chimney sweeps, to Vietnam War stories, to writers' autobiographies. Lists bibliographical resources for locating other books that teach history through literature. Suggests student autobiographical and research projects. (CH)

Describes several ways of using journals, diaries, historical documents, and photographs found in attics or closets to provide stimulating classroom activities. Suggests ways of using the accounts and experiences of real people (preferably the ancestors of students) to enliven history and create interest in historical topics. (GEA)

Provides a strategy to enhance student understanding of the ambience of a decade by having them research the relationship between events of the 1970s; society's attitudes; and the country's mood in general. Student groups prepare and present research papers, which are used as discussion topics. (LS)

Reviews a college freshmen history seminar project in which students wrote, illustrated, and prepared a U.S. history textbook on the 1950s and 1960s. Reflecting on the resulting text, Ramsay questions whether students succumbed to the didactic fallacy; and cites a lack of cohesiveness, but praises the project's value as a teaching exercise. (LS)