Criticizes Benjamin Stein's 1983 article on the historical and geographical ignorance of U.S. teenagers. States that Stein's conception of "social studies as socialization" is flawed. Opposing the simple memorization of facts and dates, Mahood argues for education which teaches students to become questioners who are able to critically examine the…

Presents a brief history of John Dickinson, Charles Nisbet, Benjamin Rush and educational philosophies of the late eighteenth century. Discusses the traditional "classical" education of Dickinson and Nisbet and the more practical theories of Rush, who advocated "instruction in the useful arts and sciences" in order to facilitate settlement of the…

Discusses the post-Civil War movement for democratic and social reform in U.S. colleges, particularly those in Pennsylvania. Focuses on the efforts of James P. Wickersham to increase state control of universities and high schools in order to develop a centralized educational bureaucracy. Concludes that Wickersham's ideas provided a foundation for…

States that local history can be effective in helping students better understand the broader scope of history. Identifies four ERIC documents which will help social studies teachers incorporate local history in their classrooms. Provides bibliographic citations and ordering information. (GEA)

States that social studies education must teach caring as a socialization skill in order to equip students for a lifetime of good personal mental health, and to enable them to make a more meaningful contribution to the solution of national and world-wide problems. (GEA)

Discusses a method to motivate low level students in which a reading specialist attended class regularly as a "student." By questioning the teacher, comparing notes with students, and acting as a role model, the reading specialist helped these students improve their grades, their class behavior, and increase their self-esteem. (GEA)

Describes four activities designed to require each individual student to think about a topic and make an informed choice or decision. Discusses the teacher's role in these participation activities and stresses the importance of helping students to think independently and critically. (GEA)

Describes a community service project in which prospective teachers planned activities and performed community services to test assumptions about the need for relevance and real-world applications in social studies education. Includes student observations on the project and provides suggestions for the implementation of the service project idea.…

Summarizes impressions and insights gained during a United States-Australia professorial exchange program. Discusses passports, visas, immigration procedures, travel tips, foreign cultures, banking, insurance, driving, prescriptions, and protection of possessions left behind such as a house and cars. Provides addresses for more information on…

Explored the adoption of 17 projects by industry and whether the origin of the research ideas was a significant factor. Projects were either initiated by industry alone, by universities alone, or by universities with input from industry from the earliest stages of the research. (JN)

Outlines arguments for and reviews related literature suggesting that the study of science and technology can benefit from each other. Also discusses the Empirical Program of Relativism and social constructivist approaches to the study of technology, illustrating the parallels between the two approaches. Directions for the future are addressed.…

Discusses the findings of educational research dealing with the developmental stages of children and the teaching of geography, student achievement in geography, and techniques and procedures that can be applied to the traditional geography curriculum. (RM)

A survey of 59 Northeastern California high schools revealed that less than 40 percent have a required world geography course. Most of the high schools are offering some type of world view course; however, these courses are not meeting the new California state guidelines. They lack an interdisciplinary perspective. (RM)

Students in an honors urban class collected architectural data on all residential buildings constructed prior to 1950 in the city of La Puente, California and made recommendations regarding the preservation of certain structures. The project is described. (RM)

Six geography lessons which teach a global perspective to fifth graders are discussed. The lessons include examining maps made in countries other than the United States, brainstorming about another culture, taking an imaginary trip over a region just studied, participating in a simulation, and researching the making of a pencil. (RM)