In this manuscript, the authors discuss a seven-day research project that occurred within the Birmingham metropolitan area where fourth graders researched the role that public issues played in the creation of two suburban school systems in their city. We coded student work samples to look for themes. Emergent themes from student work samples are…

Middle school students learned about their community when they created documentaries as part of a state bicentennial celebration. Students gathered multiple primary and secondary resources and worked with community members to interview them for their perspectives through video presentations as part of the inquiry process. Students work with local…

Currency is a powerful cultural artifact; the imagery portrayed on bills and coins depict a nation's values and ideals. The process of selecting an American woman to appear on a U.S. Treasury bill began when a nine-year-old girl wrote to President Obama about her concern that no women were depicted on U.S. paper bills. The Treasury announcement to…

New research points to the future of education as online, student-centered, collaborative, and community-based--all largely absent from today's educational landscape. This timely guide shows middle, high school, and college students how to undertake research to address challenges in their curriculum and communities. The approach is deliberately…

Argues that students should do hands-on work with original primary sources that are within archival collections. Gives students an opportunity to interact in an unfamiliar environment, learn new techniques for discovery, and develop a connection with people from the past. Offers examples of how students can work with archival materials. (CMK)

Describes how secondary teachers can design oral history research projects: (1) assess availability of materials; (2) select a project theme; (3) establish a project outcome/skills checklist; (4) preliminary research; (5) mock interviews; (6) pre-interview proposal and scheduling an interview; (7) developing interview schedule; (8) the interview;…

Describes the Southwest Texas State University course "History Practicum: Researching, Writing, and Publishing Local History" that stresses computer proficiency, teamwork, and active learning. Students create and publish a guidebook for a town, city, or historic site in central Texas. Discusses the publication process of "San Marcos: A Guide to a…

Describes a lesson where students conduct an attitude survey on energy conservation in order to learn about survey research and scales in handling survey data. Explains that the understanding of survey research and energy conservation is relevant to ones civic life. Provides the energy attitude survey the students used for data collection. (CMK)

You (the student) have been selected to be the school librarian's helper today. You are going to help her shelve books about moose. But you will have to read the books before you shelve them to decide if they are fictional storybooks about moose or nonfictional books about moose. You will decide if the books are real (nonfiction) or make believe…

This brief paper describes a school class project in which students "write" their own history books, based upon extensive research and writing activities. The guide advocates this as a way to create more interest in the subject area and allow students to become more involved in their own learning. Sections include: rationale; who could use; goals;…

Reports on a middle school project that created a living history environment focused on the Civil War. For three months the students "became" students at the Hopewell Conservatory in Virginia during the 1860s. They corresponded with Civil War soldiers and immersed themselves in the culture of the period. (MJP)

Maintains that one challenge in teaching social sciences is finding ways to help students design, implement, and analyze their own social science research project. Describes a seventh-grade anthropology course in which students conducted research projects on gender issues. Includes an observations chart and two figures. (CFR)