Purpose: The learning environment is not a vacuum, but rather is rich in social contexts with innumerable points, interests, and beliefs. This takes one of the concepts of "social learning" which is not just a natural occurring phenomenon but also a way of organizing learning and communities of learners. Social Learning (SL) tends to…

Behavioral economics concepts can advance understanding, predicting, and controlling complex human behavior. Although there have been numerous attempts to apply behavioral economics concepts to applied settings, there are a limited number of experiments conducted in educational settings. The purpose of the studies in this paper is a to apply…

This economics simulation game complements the third grade Gold Mining Unit developed by Project Social Studies at the University of Minnesota. The simulation is designed for three purposes: 1) to reinforce the prior learning which occurs in the gold mining camp unit; 2) to involve eight-year-olds in the process of solving simulated economic…

In this survey a sample was taken of kindergarten students, third graders, and sixth graders of both sexes and of varying socioeconomic backgrounds for the purpose of exploring their attitudes toward television commercials. Questions concerning the child's mother's attitude towards commercials, the child's cognition of commercials, and the child's…

Teachers who wish to enrich the present social studies curriculum with economic education will find this a useful guide. Learning activities and multi-media resources are suggested which help to illucidate major and supporting concepts in economics for the third grade level. Fundamental concepts for this grade are: 1) a land-use map shows where…

Designed for third grade language arts students, this learning capsule contains student materials and a teacher's guide for a unit on budgeting. Objectives are to discriminate between wants and needs, distinguish parts of a budget, and construct a budget. The unit requires four to six hours of instructional time and is designed for use with a…

This unit, designed for elementary school social studies classes, contains student materials and teacher's guide for exploring different means of exchanging goods and services. The unit is divided into two parts and designed around a learning center approach. In Part I the student uses pictures, games, and activity sheets to distinguish between…

This unit introduces the American tax system to elementary school students in grades 3-5. It is presented in three sections, all of which are built around the story of Tex Tax leaving the ranch and going to the city for the first time. Section one centers on taxation at federal, state, and local levels. The student learns to distinguish between…