Many students live in a constantly changing, fast-paced, technological world that includes instant access to music, videos, images, information, and friends. The hours they spend in school, however, most often do not reflect a similar environment. Rather, they are often subjected to obsolete...

A significant number of inventions and innovations appeared during the time known as the Industrial Revolution. Changes in technology quickly transformed American life in the past and continue to impact businesses, communities, and schools today. Technologies like Skype™, Prezi ® , and Poll...

This paper presents case studies of three student teachers negotiating the demands of the National Council of the Social Studies' (NCSS) five characteristics of powerful teaching and learning (meaningful, integrative, value-based, challenging, and active instruction) while engaged in the...

This study examines how a social studies methods course, with an emphasis in civic education, is taught and carried through from its original implementation within a teacher education social studies course to practicing teachers’ classrooms. Findings suggest that by implementing social action...

This paper focuses on how one Student Teacher (ST) shifted his planning from teacher activities to student learning during a semester-long student-teaching practicum course in social studies. The study of this shift provides a glimpse of the enormity of the ST’s task and the ways in which he...

Turkey is located in one of the most significant active seismic regions in the world. The country also is subject to many other natural and manmade disasters. In 2004, the Turkish Primary Education curriculum was revised radically with hazard education being included in social studies programs....

In working with pre-service and beginning middle grades social studies teachers, the authors have found that those teachers often struggle to organize and sequence content in meaningful ways. Although many national and state curriculum writing bodies have provided organizational frameworks to...

Challenging students to create digital documentary films in history courses engages students in both mastery of content knowledge and higher order thinking experiences. Teachers considering this type of work must contend with the focus on standards-based testing, a wide breadth of content to be...

The purpose of this study was to use the inquiry process to engage fifth grade students in a community-based project that would educate them about what it means to be a civic-minded citizen. While the unique nature of any community-based project prevents exact replication of the project in...

This article examines ways in which graduates of an online teacher certification program integrate technology into social studies instruction. With dramatic growth in the number of online teacher certification programs, educators are faced with how to ensure their graduates incorporate effective...