An analysis of definitions of multicultural education shows a patterning around three basic descriptors: (1) affective--e.g., awareness, sensitizing; (2) cognition--basic information on cultures; and (3) competencies/skills--social skills and behavioral competencies necessary to function in a pluralistic society. ERIC multicultural documents are…

As a result of participating in an American government course, 12th graders showed a marked improvement in citizenship knowledge and in their opinions toward political institutions and participation. These changes seem to be related to several factors, including teaching methods such as class discussion and simulation, and the use of newspapers.…

Presents a study that examined student knowledge of place-name geography in a Georgia school system that systematically included geography education at all grade levels. Findings indicated that these students identified correct locations more frequently than adults in any of the nine nations in the 1988 Gallup survey. Includes the test used in…

Explores the trade book-social studies connection, defining the relationship's terminology, analyzing its content, elaborating focus areas, clarifying perceptions of literature as a teaching tool, and describing trends in trade book advocacy. Concludes that the social studies field resists change and has been ill-served by reformers who ignore the…

Presents a study that examined the effects of critical attributes and a best example on the concept development of kindergartners. Concludes that subjects taught with critical attributes scored significantly higher on the achievement posttest and generated significantly more correct examples of the concept on the protocol retention test. (GEA)

Reviews William Cutler's plea for using oral history "to capture the education experiences of Americans." Explores the interactive possibilities of oral history with educational history, presenting contrasting views and methodological problems. Examines how experience, memory and events affect observation, interpretation and reporting of…

Reports a study examining concept acquisition through various combinations of teaching methods using definitions with best examples; definitions with critical attributes; and practice. Concludes that students who were taught with methods using definitions with critical attributes and practice have better concept acquisition. (KO)

Investigates cognitive strategies that Hispanic elementary school students use in critical thinking social studies problems. Describes a survey examining the use of 12 cognitive strategies and the analysis of task completion. Concludes that students need to learn specific cognitive strategies in higher level tasks. (KO)

Reports a study on how listening affects student comprehension of new social studies material. Describes the experimental and control groups that were tested after treatment in order to determine degree of listening awareness and content knowledge. Implication made from findings is that listening instruction can enhance comprehension of content.…

Describes a survey of 1000 teachers to determine their views relative to the content of the secondary social studies curriculum. States that a self reporting instrument revealed sufficient patterns to devise a proposed curriculum. Concludes that this curriculum is an indication of the valuable influence classroom teachers can exert on curriculum…

Tests of statistical significance are insufficient for generating sufficient grounds to infer the presence or absence of a phenomenon. To avoid misuse of observed statistical significance levels as measures of scientific and practical importance, effect size can be used to interpret the meaning of effects. (Author/RM)

Scores of slow learners on measures of closemindedness, critical thinking, self-esteem, and reading were found to be significantly related to their IQ scores. No relationships were found between self-esteem and reading, civil liberties and critical thinking, and self-esteem and interest in contemporary problems. (RM)

A national survey of 223 colleges and universities with undergraduate elementary teacher education programs showed that most required a course in social studies methods but required less than the 18 credit hours in social science content recommended by the National Council for the Social Studies Teacher Education guidelines. (Author/RM)

Teachers viewed discipline as a serious problem because it directly affects the learning process. The teachers also felt that there was no one cause of discipline problems but many complex causes. Many teachers felt that some of the problems stemmed from lack of parental supervision. (Author/RM)

One part of the Merrill and Tennyson model for concept teaching consists of expository presentations of the concept arranged from easy to difficult. This study showed that the presentation order, i.e., the order of difficulty, does not significantly affect student achievement. (Author/RM)