The key purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how the social science education subject for the intermediate phase of schooling was conceptualised as a distance education learning material and what learning was intended through this learning process. The process of data collection was presented thematically within three sections. The first section presented data produced through the interview with the author of the learning material for the social science (SS) NPDE module. The second section presented a global analysis of the SS distance learning material. The third section presented a fine-grained analysis of a unit of learning within the history section of the distance learning material for the social science education. The findings of the study revealed that there was an error in the conceptualisation of the social science curriculum as an integration of history and geography. The learning material clearly shows that the construction of the social science distance learning material has clear and distinctive sections of history and geography with no indication of the integration. This study reveals a lack of alignment between curriculum intentions and the conceptualisation and construction of learning materials to support teacher learning. The analysis clearly indicated that pedagogical content knowledge development through distance learning material is minimal. On this basis the researcher proposes that should the intention of the learning programme be on developing teaching skills, then the content of learning materials need to be supported by other appropriate forms of learning. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

This qualitative, interpretive research inquiry presents a multiple case study design that aims to describe, understand, and explain two primary teachers' pedagogical strategies for teaching social studies and their implementation of literacy events, in a Montreal French school (L1) and in a French immersion school (L2). Two teachers and their students were observed during all the 1992--1993 school year, as they taught social studies lessons. The contexts for the study are one grade 3--4 French classroom and one grade 3 French immersion classroom. We used ethnographic tools of inquiry such as participant observation, fieldnotes, audiotaped lessons, official documents, formal and informal interviews during our data collection phases. A qualitative analysis of the teaching strategies and the literacy events relates to the role and importance of writing in French in social studies within the context French as L1 and French as L2. Findings show that in their practice, both teachers are generally more preoccupied with the content of teaching than aspects related to the language of instruction. The analysis also reveals that writing in the social studies consists of simulated tasks in which students are asked to regularly fill out worksheets. / Implications of this study could be used to increase teachers' awareness of the language of instruction, the role of the writing process in learning a L2 through the social studies. This study allowed us: (1) to describe the characteristics of teaching French in L1 and L2 social studies; (2) to identify and explain the similarities and the differences related to integration of the language and content within two learning contexts; to determine the importance and the role of writing in the teaching-learning of social studies content within two learning contexts.

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xiii, 139 p. : ill. (some col.) / The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of training in decision-making on U.S. history content knowledge and on decision-making competence. All sophomores (<italic>n</italic> = 387) in one Pacific Northwest high school were randomly assigned for two trimesters to one of two groups: (a) U.S. history instruction integrated with decision training or (b) traditional U.S. history instruction. During the study, Experimental Group participants were trained to use a decision-making tool to sort, process, and analyze the facts, events, and concepts of history in the context of solving a historically relevant problem. By applying the decision-making tool to problems and decisions of the past, students utilized a schema for critical, analytical, and creative thinking about U.S. history content. Students also analyzed current problems and decisions they face. Dependent measures were (a) NAEP U.S. History questions, (b) Decision-Making Competence Index (DMC), (c) NAEP item analysis using knowledge forms and intellectual operations, and (d) Experimental Group follow-up interviews. Results indicated statistically significant differences between groups favoring the Experimental on both the NAEP U.S. History test and on the DMC. Experimental Group participants scored higher on NAEP items requiring concept or principle knowledge forms and on items requiring summarization or illustration. Follow-up interview scores positively correlated with DMC posttest scores. Results are discussed in terms of (a) the application of NAEP and DMC scores to curricular interventions and (b) item analysis and interviews in relation to the environmental and physical constraints of the current high school structure. / Committee in charge: Dr. Gerald Tindal, Chairperson; Dr. Keith Hollenbeck, Member; Dr. Paul Yovanoff, Member; Dr. Jean Stockard, Outside Member

Formal curricula, official curriculum documents and recommended resources, are revised periodically and have the opportunity to reflect feminist scholarship available at the time of writing. This feminist project analyzes the treatment of women's history in British Columbia's Social Studies 8-10 Integrated Resource Package 1997, the Social Studies 11 Integrated Resouces Package 1997, and the History 12 Integrated Resource Package 1997, all of which are due to be implemented in September, 1999. Informed by feminist historiography and pedagogy, the above curricula are analyzed using the following thematic organizers: degree of representation; segregation versus integration; experience, diversity and voice; and the construction and deconstruction of gender knowledge. A sampling of recommended learning resources found in the above Integrated Resource Packages are also examined for their treatment of women's history. The outcome of the research suggests that while limited gains have been made in the degree to which women are addressed in the new curricula, the manner of representation largely reflects her-story approaches that have been considered problematic by most feminist historians since the mid-1970s. Recommendations for future revisions are also included. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

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Creative dynamics and literature.