Following the emergence of chatbots, especially ChatGPT, researchers have begun to examine their capabilities, credibility, and reliability in educational context. In this study, ChatGPT and Google Gemini are used as technological tools to create 7th-grade lesson plans for mathematics, science, literature, and social studies classes. Using…

This study examines how elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) develop the capacity to design inquiry-based lessons in social studies and how this capacity changes over time. Using convergent parallel mixed methods, the findings indicate that PSTs had inherent and varied content design approaches fitting their perception of lesson design as they…

Human dignity is a complex, though essential, concept for students to master. Inserting human dignity into existing curricula provides students with more opportunities to consider the problems of vulnerable classmates and the status of human dignity and rights in the United States and around the world. Using parts of the US modern Civil Rights…

In this paper, an application of open-ended textual feedback is presented as a tool to evaluate the perceptions and needs of teachers tasked with implementing computational thinking in the K-12 curriculum. Semantic analysis tools, including sentiment analysis and thematic analysis, facilitated the identification of common themes in openended…

In this article we outline the importance of centering Black women as critical historical actors within social studies curricula and teaching. We explored the ways in which Black women were represented throughout 38 secondary lesson plans within the fully online National Women's History Museum and discussed how traditional curricular content and…

Due to the introduction and rapid ubiquity of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-integrated programs that can be used by students and teachers, educational scholarship evaluating the capabilities of AI is needed. This study evaluates the abilities of three prominent AI programs--ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bing, and Google's Bard--to create high school…

One of the most effective methods for teaching social studies events, concepts, and issues incorporates the fine arts into lesson plans. The fine arts, such as photography, architecture, paintings, tapestries, and sculptures reflect the core cultural values, political ideals, and religious beliefs of a civilization and offer excellent…

This research explores the question of how students in a social studies methods course improve skills in analyzing and critiquing pre-existing lesson plans. It utilizes a pre-post authentic assessment tool to measure student growth in key skills of lesson plan critique over the course of one semester's methods instruction. The results support the…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of the Self-Regulatory Instructional Planning Approach (SR-IPA) on the lesson planning and self-regulatory development of a group of six preservice secondary social studies teachers (PSSST). Even though the benefits of self-regulated learning and inquiry-based instruction are well…

Pre-service teachers (PSTs) often struggle to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) content effectively due to lack of training on how to plan a STEM lesson in meaningful ways as well as which subjects to integrate. This dilemma often results in an avoidance of STEM methodology altogether. This paper describes a productive…

Authors discuss the relationship between social studies education and patriotism. The authors share two lesson plans (one elementary and one secondary) that examine the racialized and politicized experiences of three professional athletes, Gabby Douglas, Colin Kaepernick, and Megan Rapinoe. Drawing on tenets of critical race media literacy and…

This article is a qualitative investigation of teachers' pedagogical approaches to the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. The ten participants are regionally diverse in-service teachers who attended workshops conducted by the 9/11 Memorial Museum and Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York during June and July, 2019. Teachers…

The Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery is often presented as an exciting adventure story of discovery, friendship, and patriotism. However, this same period in U.S. history can be understood quite differently when viewed through an anticolonial lens and the Doctrine of Discovery. How might educators critically interrogate the assumptions that…

This practical resource will help K-5 teachers incorporate digitally supported disciplinary literacy practices into their classroom instruction. With an emphasis on reaching "all" learners, the authors present Planning for Elementary Digitally supported Disciplinary Literacy (PEDDL)--a six-phase framework that introduces readers to an…

As a Social Studies teacher and LGBTQ+ educator, the author has explored and critiqued the shortcomings of inclusion in education, especially by exposing curricular patterns that neglect or oversimplify the identities of queer individuals, if not erase them altogether. Through leading workshops, the author has learned about the challenges faced by…