This study produced an empirical description of environmental quality in reference to residential use by taking item responses of 2,541 residents of the San Francisco Bay Area and subjecting them to factor analysis. Twenty factors which provide a definition of environmental quality were produced. (BT)

Reviews a recent study on university-community tension and urban campus form. Finds that the use of physical and social indicators in evaluating form-related tensions to be insufficient and inconclusive. Contends that future such studies call for an interdisciplinary approach. (Author/JN)

Description of Vermont Academy's field study program in Jersey City, involving inner city scholarship students and regular (middle class) students working together on urban studies. (JB)

Focus is the measurement of power at the community level considering the social organizational context. (SE)

Outlines teaching strategies developed in an inservice program for elementary teachers in rural areas of Bolivia; notes the importance of developing children's oral language skills, using the local environment as the basis for language experience lessons, and including community study in the curriculum. Presents ideas useful to teachers in other…

Suggests creating transparencies of municipal plans and maps as an impetus for environmental studies of the local community. Six teaching activities are outlined. (SJL)

North Carolina State University offers a course designed to help students evaluate the community in which they are student teaching. In the first phase of the course, emphasis is on the understanding of and planning for the research. In phase two the student studies community life in detail. (LRA)

Reviews how census data are used every day to make decisions in businesses, government agencies, and community organizations. Identifies key tools used in demographic analysis, suggesting applications of demographic data at a local level. Concludes with ideas for student activities, including guidelines for creating a community profile. (LS)

Addresses three commonly cited justifications for historical study in considering the value of local history. Speaks to the idea that ignorance of the past condemns persons to the same mistakes, that history offers moral guidance, and that history should be studied for its own essence. Discusses the intrinsic and practical values of history. (KO)

Offers suggestions for a sociology course in extraordinary groups, utopian studies, or alternative communities to help broaden awareness and understanding of human behavior, past and present groups, and cultural pluralism. Includes ideas for field trips, projects, readings, and films and videos. Discusses basing lectures on commitment, conversion,…

Presents six position statements for developing a multicultural arts curriculum. Suggests strategies for implementing curricula and resources for gathering community information. Provides examples of implementation, including a sample interview to use with artists and sample questions to ask students when analyzing works of art. (KM)

Recommends the use of cemeteries as the focus of student research in secondary social studies. Presents methods for initiating such a project and guidance for appropriate student behavior. Includes a list of suggested activities for cemetery studies. (CFR)

Describes a year-long community research project used for the last seven years with the author's senior English class, part of the web-based student research collaboration project called "The Kansas Collaborative Research Network" (KanCRN). Describes teaching students how to research their community; four on-line research tutorials; structure of…

This article explores the global dimensions of citizenship. By way of contextualising the discussion, the authors describe a component of a course that was designed to introduce students to the lives of people they may otherwise never have had an opportunity to encounter. The authors' challenge, as they saw it, was to reveal the humanity,…