Suggests ways in which historians can make history meaningful to our future-oriented technological society. Suggestions include offering links of continuity between past and present, providing a sense of history to the general reading public, writing readable history, and attempting to clarify the past. (KC)

This article, discusses the rationale for using films, specifically docudramas, for teaching social studies and presents guidelines and resources for helping teachers to do so. Included are several Web resources that assist teachers in the selection and use of specific films to complement classroom instruction. The author has also incorporated the…

The author analyzes pedagogical exercises related to Native Americans in thirteen U.S. history textbooks currently used in grades three, four, five, eight, and eleven. The purpose of the research was to determine the extent to which U.S. history textbooks offer, or fail to offer, opportunities for students to engage in and develop higher-order…

Illustrates how the ideas of classical economists Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus, David Ricardo, and John Stewart Mill are excellent sources for the contemporary social studies teacher. Suggests classroom applications to be used in conjunction with explanation of the economic principles of each of the above-named theorists. (AEM)

Oral history was used extensively in writing a history of the Missouri School of Mines, now the University of Missouri-Rolla. The project is described. The process used in selecting candidates for interviews and the interview techniques are discussed. (RM)

The author shows how teachers can relate a period in American history which has been filled with conflicts over values and actions of a political, economic, or social nature to contemporary issues. The period chosen to illustrate this method is the ante bellum era between Jackson's incumbency and the Civil War. (SM)

History instruction should teach students about the processes through which history is made and understood. Students need to learn skills in historical analysis and interpretation, study people of the past and present involved in making history, and study historical principles that cultivate humane values. (AM)

Elementary children can be introduced to the historical processes of evaluating and interpreting materials within the existing curriculum. Activities for teachers and students are suggested. (AM)

One trend for social studies education in the 1980s is closing the gap between sociohistorical research and teaching. A sample social history lesson for secondary students on the "Nineteenth Century Concept of the 'Criminal"' is included. (AM)

It is becoming increasingly important to approach the study of the earth and its inhabitants with a global perspective. Several approaches can be used to teach global history. New global education programs and courses are being developed. (AM)

Attempts to get at some of the assumptions and definitions behind "America Revised" by Frances FitzGerald and, in addition, to investigate some of the conceptions of history held by critics who reviewed the book. (DB)

Everybody accepts that Americans celebrate the independence of the United States on the Fourth of July, in remembrance of that famous date in 1776. In this article, the author features a simple lesson designed for students to check the accuracy of this most basic of American historical facts. During the lesson, the students examine nine pieces of…

Historical inevitability, the result that accompanies the juxtaposition of various historical forces, should be recognized by the history teacher attempting to explain the immoral acts of the United States domestic and international policy. (JH)

This bibliographic review of books discussing the events involved in the loss of China to communism in the five years after World War II identifies basic resources on China, works mostly from the American point of view owing to the lack of availability of objective Chinese Scholarship. (JH)

The author humorously warns history teachers that lectures will be boring and alienating to students unless content and presentation are stimulating. (AV)