Social studies in the 1980s must shift from a focus on citizenship and career education to an emphasis on conceptual knowledge, skills, and active learning. Student investigations of the urban environment would be an effective means of achieving this transition. (DC)

Presents an ethnomethodological study of how Australian high school geography teachers and students rely on common sense knowledge and reasoning to facilitate learning. Analyzes portions of transcripts from a class activity in which students built a scale model of a city. Explains location categorization devices, illustrating how learning involves…