Presents results of a study of student attitudes toward United States history 10-week minicourses. Course titles include America's West, Roaring Twenties and Desperate Thirties, Nuclear Age, and Popular American Image. Concludes that minicourses allow students to choose among a variety of offerings and to determine which subjects are relevant and…

Presents a method of using the Consumer Price Index to give students an understanding of the meanings of price levels in different historical periods. Demonstrates how to figure the actual price of items in the 1920s and 1930s by converting prices to present value. Argues that consumer goods were not cheaper in the past. (DK)

Elementary students can learn how to take an interpretive approach to learning history so that they can construct knowledge about collective past experience in ways that provide a meaningful context for understanding present experience. Like historians, children communicate their interpretations to others by telling or writing stories in which…

Lewis, Clark, and the Corps of Discovery traveled westward from 1803 to 1806; therefore, the bicentennial of the expedition is being celebrated from 2003 until 2006. Students and teachers celebrating the bicentennial and Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase in 1803 can use social studies classes to help them connect with their community and to reach a…

Teaching students about the former Yugoslavia can be difficult--so much diversity, so much conflict, so much culture. Yet, teaching students about the country matters for two reasons: (1) because the former Yugoslavia is an essential part of understanding World War I and the reemergence of nationalism in a postwar era, and (2) because a study of…

In this article, the author examines how the idea (and ideal) of nation continues to serve as a directive for social studies education. He proposes discussing what a critical approach to understanding nation (and the historical narratives that define nation) might look like in the classrooms and what the stakes are for social studies educators,…

Hollywood films based in history are inevitably a blend of historical record, fiction, and a film-maker's perspective. If films are not perfect representations of the past, then how can and should we interpret their images and messages? How might teachers talk about or show historically based films during lessons in a way that promotes students'…

Some interesting relationships between food and history -- working women and convenience food, exploration and the importation of new vegetables, reliance on potatoes and Irish emigration -- are suggested to indicate the usefulness of exploring history through eating habits. (JH)

An alternative to the survey approach for teaching history is the team-taught humanities course, that has enjoyed considerable success at Illinois State University, in which history is integrated with art, music, and literature. (Author/ND)

Defines new directions that immigration history has taken in the 1980s, and indicates areas in which further work should be done. A variety of subjects are discussed - from recent immigration arrivals to new methods of historical data collection. (BSR)

Presents a scheme for teaching about Australia which uses the similarities and differences between that country and the United States as an organizational structure. Identifies Australian literature, which is appropriate for supplementing text material, and includes a chart of concepts that can be used for comparing and contrasting the countries.…

Individuals who question the value of studying history as being irrelevant to the present are reminded that all institutions, groups, and human practices exist in the time dimension and that the study of history serves to stimulate and deepen one's sense of the dimension of time. (Author/AV)

Two problems in teaching modern Asian history--using source materials and communicating ethnocentrism of the West toward Asian cultures -- are dealt with through the use of a British newspaper published in Shanghai. (Author/KM)

A time capsule, a sketch of events during the pre-Revolutionary War period of 1771-1776, a list of leading characters and a bibliography are offered as the basis for a re-enactment, role playing, simulation, and in-depth studies. (KM)

The historian must investigate every possible means for communicating scholarly findings. History must be written not for other historians but for the great bulk of mankind. (Author/JB)