Democratic theorists argue that democratic institutions thrive when the citizens of the society robustly participate in governance (Galston, 2004; Barber, 2001). A traditional indicator of democratic participation is voting in elections or referendums. However, democratic apologetics posit that humans need to be trained in democratic processes in order to be democratic citizens (Dewey, 1916; Gutmann, 1990; Sehr, 1997; Goodlad, 2001). Citizens need to know not only the protocol of participation, they also need to be trained in the processes of mind (Dewey, 1916; 1927). Educational systems in this country have been the traditional place where democratic training has been vested (Spring, 2001). It seems, though, that the methods that educators are using to train young people fail to meet this challenge as voting rates among the youngest citizens (under 30) have never been higher than slightly more than half of eligible voters in the age group. To remedy this situation, Congress and several private civic-education organizations have called for changing curricular approaches to engage more youth. One such method that may hold promise is the use of video game technology. The current generation of youth has grown up in a digital world where they have been labeled "Digital Natives" (Prensky, 2001a). They are "tech savvy" and comfortable with their lives being integrated with various forms of digital technology. Significantly, industry research suggests that over 90% of "Digital Natives" have played a video game in the last 30 days, and business is booming to the level that video games pulled in more money than the movie industry did in 2008 (ESA, 2009). As early as the 1970s, educational researchers have looked at the use of video game technology to engage student learning; however, this research has been limited at best. More recently, educational scholars such as James Gee (2003; 2007) and Kurt Squire (2002; iii 2003; 2006) have sought to make the academic conversation more mature with regard to using video games as a classroom supplement. This study continues that conversation by using quantitative methods to investigate whether or not different groups of middle school students self-report a greater propensity to be civically engaged as a result of civic-themed video gameplay. The investigator collected data from middle school students who were given access to civic-themed video games to see if there were statistically significant differences in self-reported civic-engagement scores as a result of gameplay. This investigation was conducted at a large, urban middle school in the Southeast region of the United States.

The purpose of this research investigation was to explore the experiences of eighth-grade Latina/o students in a large, urban school in the Southeastern United States. Overall, the study uncovered the essence of the Latino/a student experience in social studies and furthermore revealed that social studies is not meeting the needs of Latino students. Using phenomenology as a method of research, two interviews were conducted with twelve research participants who were selected through purposive sampling. In addition to the interviews, students wrote narratives and drew images as a form of data triangulation. The goal was to give students various methods for relaying their experiences. Data were analyzed using suggested methods of analysis by Moustakas (1994) and Creswell (2007). Using Critical Race Theory and Latino Critical Race Theory as a framework, results revealed that students experienced middle school social studies through the lens of race. Students felt oppressed by the curriculum and textbook due to the fact that culturally responsive teaching practices were primarily absent, diversity was presented only through a Black-White dichotomy, and the social studies curriculum was dominated by notions of White supremacy. Latina/o students experienced a curriculum that was boring as a result of teachers who were boring. Students validated the use of Critical Race Theory and Latino Critical Race Theory as a framework for educational research at the middle school level. In all, this research investigation fills a void in social studies research. The voices and experiences of Latino learners in social studies have been absent in social studies research. iv Educators can use this research study to alter the approaches to the social studies curriculum for the betterment of our culturally diverse learners.

Problem. This study was conducted to identify the incidence of specific Iranian middle-class social and moral values in the content of children's story books. Four questions were used as research guides: (1) To what extent are Iranian middle-class social and moral values present in the content of the selected story books? (2) To what degree of frequency and level of intensity are the values presented? (3) What additional values, if any, are not presented in the list of the specific values? (4) How do the findings of this study compare with those of a previous study of social and moral values in the textbooks used for the elementary level in Iran? Purpose. The purpose of this study was to gather data related to the presence of specific values from nineteen of the most popular children's story books for ages seven to eleven in Iran. Procedures. In collecting the data, a coding form was used for each of the books, as adopted by Ghandi, in her study. The form consisted of sixteen major Iranian middle-class social and moral values which were selected by six Iranian sociologists. The values were: Marriage, Religion, Country, Family, Authority, Education, Cleanliness, Kindness, Work, Thrift, Honesty, Boy as favored sex, Justice, Charity, Friends, and Hospitality. With the assistance of five Iranian students as coders the validity and reliability of the coding procedures were validated. Findings and Conclusions. There was no balance in the presentation of the sixteen major values in story books. Three values: Honesty, Justice, and Work received strong attention (42%). Two values: Boy as a Favored Sex, and Cleanliness received the lowest attention (2%). Five additional values: Prudence, Cleverness, Conservativeness, Being greatful, and Bravery were identified in the content of the story books. The results of comparing the two studies indicated that three values: Work, Education, and Religion received the major emphases, while the value Boy as a Favored Sex actually was not observed in either study. Implications and Recommendations. The findings may help Iranian children's writers to be aware of the value content in story books and create stories appropriate for young readers' moral development. The findings may help parents, teachers, and librarians and other interested persons in identifying and/or selecting books emphasizing specific social and moral values. The findings may assist the children's writers to follow a consistent pattern in presenting values in story and textbooks. Further studies should be done in the following areas: a study similar to this for ages other than seven to eleven; indepth studies to explore the manner in which social and moral values are internalized by children; studies to compare findings of this study and those story books translated from other languages into Farsi.

The purpose of this study was to examine the external barriers that limit or impede the occupational achievements of professional Black women working in predominately White organizations. The basic tenet of the study looked at the impact of the beliefs and attitudes of the larger society and how these beliefs manifest themselves in organizations and act as determinants in the equitable distribution of resources in terms of recruitment, selection and promotions for Black women. Two research questions were developed which provided the design of the study. A set of 15 interview questions was asked of 15 professional Black women working in five major work categories, i.e., education, health care, media, and public and private industries. Responses were examined within the concept of InGroup/OutGroup. The frequency of response to the interview questions concentrated themselves in ten areas. The findings revealed exclusionary treatment in the form of discriminatory practices in the workplace. Implications of these findings for future research are also discussed.

A qualitative case study traced the evolution of a family-run entrepreneurial organization through six periods of development. The company, with approximately fifty employees, manufactures custom molded rubber parts. The development of the organization was analyzed using two models: Noel Tichy's (1983) technical, political, cultural framework and Cameron and Whetten's (1983) summary model. Tichy's open system model was used as the structure upon which data were collected on eight organizational dimensions. Those data were analyzed using both Tichy's (1983) and Cameron and Whetten's (1983) schema's. Tichy's (1983) framework was used to describe and explain the organization's three subsystems (technical, political, cultural) and their adjustments to uncertainties in the external and internal environments. Cameron and Whetten's (1983) model was used to trace the organization's evolution through four distinct stages of development. Both models were then combined in an integrated format to describe and explain JRW's evolution. This research study found that JRW did evolve through four stages of development from 1975 to 1989. The findings also confirmed that the organization's subsystems (Technical, Political, Cultural) adjusted to events in and outside of the organization during that period. The dissertation concluded with a discussion of the significance of the study and suggestions for future research.

Artifical intelligence is a part of the progress of the digitalization in the society. Language models such as ChatGPT have the ability to answer questions posed by the user as well as to produce texts that resemble human writing. However, the use of language models is not without risk. They can be used as a tool to encourage cheating on school assignments or to contribute to disinformation. A consequence of the development of AI is that knowledge is obtained in different ways compared to the past, which has to come to transform the traditional teaching methods in schools. The purpose of the study is to investigate how AI affects the tuition in social studies and also what experience social studies teachers have of AI in connection with teaching. The study focuses in upper secondary school in Sweden. The empirical material has been collected through semi-structured interviews. The results of the study show that the teachers see both opportunities and challenges with AI in teaching. AI can be used as a resource by both teachers and students according to the teachers participating in this study. However the result shows that AI also can have an negative impact on the students learning process. Regardless, teachers have been forced to make changes in their teaching.

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