This study is to explore the effective use of the five basic protocols for oral discussion and debate as articulated by the National Council for the Social Studies, (NCSS, 1988), as a basis for promoting cooperative learning in Social Studies for grades three-six. Social Studies is especially suited to cooperative learning because it develops skills and processes for cooperative problem solving and the social participation skills. Children engage in discussion of social issues in the classrooms and in so doing grasp fully their social meaning and complexity. And, it is in this setting that cooperative learning is especially appropriate, since discussion is a prime means of developing and teaching thinking and analytical skills. This study was conducted in two stages: (1) Sixteen administrative interviews; and, (2) Nonparticipatory direct observations of 786 children. During these observations, every child observed the following five basic protocols as articulated by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS, 1988). They are: (1) Giving one's ideas; (2) Listening to the ideas of others; (3) Planning one's work with the group; (4) Presenting the group project; and, (5) Discussing how the group worked. Moreover, these rules were adhered to during the classroom meetings and small groups. This author concludes that during the discussions and debates, these elementary school children were in fact demonstrating the six classifications of cognitive development according to Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Knowledge, comprehension, analysis, application, synthesis, and evaluation as well as cooperative problem solving and metacognition. Furthermore, in this post-Cold War era, our world is becoming a world of increasing democratic nations, therefore, this author's general conclusions that cooperative learning in the Social Studies is "dress rehearsal" at the elementary school level for the children's adult community activism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-8757 |
| Date | 01 January 1993 |
| Creators | Allen-Heard, Charliemae Green |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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