No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Increasing significance of social studies: A multi-dimensional contextual analysis of social studies engagement and achievement during high school The social studies data of the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) highlighted some alarming results. These results highlight a trend in the learning of social studies related content within today’s secondary schools. Students are mastering and retaining less social studies knowledge while other content areas are slowly improving. Prior research within the field of school engagement postulates that low levels of student academic engagement negatively influence academic student achievement. This study explored the relationship between social studies engagement and social studies academic achievement throughout the semester within the context of a social studies classroom. In particular, measures of students’ levels of engagement included behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects. The study utilized quantitative data from a 27-question longitudinal semester survey of 75 students from a central Pennsylvania high school. The study included demographic information ranging from prior social studies achievement, overall school academic achievement, to gender and age. The assumptions were that the distinct components of engagement are bi-directionally related and share reciprocal relationships. Additionally, the type of class and the students’ year of schooling were investigated to amplify these relationships. The results indicated that engagement has only a weak relationship to academic achievement in the social studies classrooms used for the research. As might be expected, the strongest predictor of grades was the student’s cumulative GPA, including past grades in social studies. The implications for this finding in terms of engagement theory and educational practices were discussed. Once researchers can ascertain the intensity and directional relationship between social studies engagement and social studies achievement, teachers will be able to focus on the component(s) of engagement that fosters social studies academic achievement. / Educational Psychology

The Blacksburg Electronic Village (BEV) project was established as a partnership between C&P Telephone of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and the town of Blacksburg. In this thesis, I describe the formation of this partnership and the evolution of the project from early 1991 to the spring of 1996. The focus of this thesis is on the technical and policy decisions made in building BEV and on the involvement of the Blacksburg community. Several understandings, or visions, shaped and influenced how builders designed BEV and how the local community learned about it. These visions were described in the press conferences and media descriptions of the BEV project. The BEV Vision Statement included images of the project as a new marketplace, a place for electronic collaboration, a futuristic town, and a way for citizens to reconnect to their community. While the partnership is no longer the defining aspect of the project, the original partners were able to generate enthusiasm for the project and to create a market for information services in Blacksburg. They created the electronic village first and then asked residents to come rather than involving the villagers initially in the construction. The BEV project has now entered a new phase where villagers, volunteers and local companies play a greater role in BEV’s direction. This story of the BEV project provides some observations about envisioning, building, and participating in an electronic village. / Master of Science

This study looks at social studies teachers' perceptions of Malawi's national identity as it is promoted through Malawi's primary school social studies education. The following research questions were posed: 1) What are teachers' perceptions of national identity in Malawi? 2) What are teachers' perceptions of Malawi's primary school social studies curriculum? and 3) What are teachers' perceptions of the practice of constructing national identity through primary school social studies curriculum in Malawi? The recent revision of Malawi's social studies curriculum allows for a new analysis on the relationship between Western neocolonialism and its affect on the shaping of Malawian national identity, as exampled by Malawi's social studies program. This study will therefore contribute to existing literature regarding the role of social studies education and the construction of national identity as well as the impact the West has on the maintenance of African national identity. Using semi-structured interviews with ten practicing primary school social studies teachers and one social studies curriculum specialist in the Domasi district, Southern Region of Malawi, I found that Malawi's social studies currciulum is promoting Malawian national identity as perceived by the interviewees. However, the interviewees illuminated contextual factors that hinder the implementation of the new curriculum. / Master of Science

The problem of this study is to determine what is recommended for fourth-grade social studies. An evaluation of these findings will be made in order to make suggestions for a program for this grade level.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze some of the current objectives and recommended teaching procedures in the social studies at the adolescent level to determine the relationship, if any, existing between them.

The specific purpose of this study is to endeavor to find a method of teaching social studies in order for it to contribute to intelligent problem solving in democratic living. To meet this challenge, the method must be democratically, psychologically, and sociologically sound. The purpose is to select and test some type of courses of study most commonly used or suggested by the helpful educators in the social studies field.