This article describes a research study on the appropriateness for social studies classrooms of "CNN Student News," a free online news program specifically aimed at middle and high school students. The author conducted a content analysis of "CNN Student News" during October 2012 and evaluated the program's content for…

There is a debate in Political Science concerning how best to teach American Government courses. We investigate whether students learn more effectively with texts from the great tradition or from textbooks and other secondary sources. Which medium better guides students toward becoming better citizens? We examine how teaching "The Great…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that many US students are deficient in core knowledge in geography, civics and current events. In this paper, a professor of social studies methods describes an action research project developed to assess and improve teacher candidates' knowledge in these areas. The article explains how…

This article is based on an action-oriented study of 13 community-engaged courses at 11 institutions of higher education in Israel. These courses were not part of peace education programs but rather accredited academic courses in various disciplines, all of which included practice and theory. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how these…

The authors describe their experience with integrating a semester-long economic analysis project into an intermediate macroeconomic theory course. Students work in teams of "economic advisors" to write a series of nested reports that analyze the current state of the economy, and propose and evaluate policies for a decision-maker. The…

This article reports findings from a 3-year study on preservice middle and secondary social studies teachers' common content knowledge of politics and current events. Surveys showed that both groups were generally uninformed about these issues, and on almost all measures, the middle-grades preservice teachers performed worse than those in the…

This article describes an activity in which students will be able to apply rhetorical theory effectively and critically from specific theorists throughout history to modern-day issues. Through a simulated trial of a current figure, this activity makes connections between rhetorical theories to current affairs, thereby inviting students to consider…

"The New York Times" is known for its slogan ''All the News That's Fit to Print.'' But how do gatekeepers decide which events meet this criterion? Although some individuals might believe that the news constitutes an undistorted reflection of the social reality, students in communication courses have the…

Every day, news relevant to Extension clientele is posted to the Internet from a variety of sources such as the popular press, scientific journals, and government agency press releases. In order to stay current with the information being published, an end-user must be following all of the possible sources of information. That task can be…

This NCSS position statement is intended for all audiences who are committed to preparing students for active and engaged citizenship in the 21st century. This includes the general public, the elementary, middle, and high school communities, social studies supervisors and directors, higher education, and all educators, pre-Kindergarten through…

We describe a short (less than 50 minutes) activity using news articles from sources such as "Science Daily" to teach students the steps of the scientific method and the difference between primary and secondary literature sources. The flexibility in choosing news articles to examine allowed us to tailor the activity to the specific interests of…

Have you ever avoided discussing controversial issues in the classroom? Teachers report often avoiding these types of discussions due to concerns about the unpredictability of student reactions, accusations of trying to push a political agenda, and insufficient knowledge or skills to work through complex issues. Debates, however, have been shown…

Many students enroll in video production courses in high school as part of a vocational, career, or technical program. While there has been an explosion of scholarly work in digital literacy in informal settings, less is known about how digital and media literacy competencies are developed through school-based video production courses. This study…

President Barack Obama used his first State of the Union address since winning re-election to put education at the center of his broader strategy to bolster the nation's economic prospects. He is proposing to dramatically expand preschool access for low- and middle-income children and to create a new competitive program aimed at helping high…

For three years, a flagship university-school partnership program developed a multifaceted approach to integrate news and current events into in-school and after-school instruction in K-6 schools. Three case studies detailing the program's impact on an undergraduate novice instructor, an in-school technology mentor, and an experienced classroom…