Prevalent models of secondary education in the United States have tended to privilege the acquisition of knowledge of scientific disciplines that is often peripheral to the experiences of students. My Advanced Placement Government classes were no different, and this caused me to wonder whether my classes were meeting the often-stated goal of the…

This case study examined the relationships between the programmatic features of service learning and student willingness to participate in and development during a service learning opportunity in the secondary, Social Studies classroom. The sample included two sections of Advanced Placement Psychology which consisted of 58 junior and senior…

This publication for educators offers in-depth articles on anthropological research, teaching activities, reviews of new resources, and summer fieldwork opportunities. The document aims to disseminate recent research in anthropology; to help those teaching anthropology utilize new materials, approaches, and community resources, as well as…

A brief review of the objectives of MACOS, and published reports of its success, is followed by the author's own evaluations based on his group's experience in teaching highly diversified inner-city students. (JB)

The procedures for the selection of a test population to use and evaluate the short units developed by the Sociological Resources for the Social Studies Project (SRSS), "Episodes in Social Inquiry Series," are considered. They wanted to assess the effectiveness of the materials under a variety of circumstances: classes from different…

This book aims to provide a foundational understanding of the writing processes associated with innovative forms of ethnographic writing. Interdisciplinary in approach, the book offers advice, examples, and exercises for every step in the ethnographic writing process, including field observation, field notes, narrative development, and editing. It…

Fieldwork provides an opportunity to reinforce previous class-based learning and presents students with an opportunity to encounter new ideas and practice new skills. In the K-12 classroom, however, the rhetoric-reality gap between the declared need for fieldwork and doing fieldwork is striking. This project seeks to narrow the gap between…

Discusses the five steps involved in conducting risk assessment for fieldwork using two examples of typical student projects: (1) identity the hazards; (2) identify who might be harmed; (3) evaluate the risks; (4) record the findings; and (5) review the assessment periodically. Addresses expeditions and work overseas. (CMK)

A qualitative, interpretive case study utilized ethnographic techniques to discover what happens, and what preservice teachers think about what happens, within a credited community service learning component for a multicultural education course. Subjects were 24 preservice teachers studied as one case. Three roles and perspectives that emerged…

Studies teacher and student attitudes toward computer assisted instruction in Mobile, Alabama. High school and middle school teachers and students were given a knowledge/attitude survey before and after a simulation exercise on the microcomputer. Results show that attitudes toward computer assisted instruction improved after the simulation. (JJD)

Describes a project based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) that offers students a chance to design and implement a mini-research program to prepare them for an undergraduate research project. Discusses the context of the GPS exercise, teaching and learning outcomes, and advantages and evaluation of the exercise. (CMK)

This manual is intended to provide museum staff throughout the world with basic information needed in organizing field work and adding to their collections, to help museums by stimulating research, and to encourage research personnel to bring a rigorously scientific approach to their investigations. Various specialists in archaeology, ethnography,…

"How interesting did you find the material in the unit which you just completed?" This and other questions were asked in a student questionnaire during the field testing and evaluation of twelve short units, "Episodes in Social Inquiry Series", developed by the Sociological Resources for the Social Studies Project. By assigning…

Describes introductory social studies unit which involves fifth grade Adams (Nebraska) students in concrete experiences (scavenger hunt) with their local environment to enable them to relate difficult social science concepts with familiar points of reference, reverse student negativism toward social studies, and motivate students to view social…