Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social sciences and history Education Social science teachers History teachers'

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007.
Title from file title page. Chara H. Bohan, committee chair; John K. Lee, Susan Talburt, Joyce E. Many, committee members. Electronic text (151 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Oct. 25, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-138).

This study focuses on teachers in civics and history in Swedish upper secondary schools. The study aims partly to examine how the teachers use film as a teaching method and how they motivate film as an educational tool in their classes. The study also assesses the thoughts of teachers regarding the optimal usage of film as an educational method. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with six different teachers, all currently working in two different schools in the Southern parts of Sweden. To analyze and process the interviews we used didactics as our main theoretical focus, but also a hermeneutical perspective to interpret the outcome of our research. Furthermore, we’ve presented previous research about the usage of film in schools and how teachers use it as a teaching method. The results show that all teachers in our study use film as a source of education and that they all can motivate why they’re using film in their classes. The results also show that teachers are bound to the Swedish curriculum and limited time when they work with film in school, so even if they want to work with film more or differently, most feel that it’s hard to do so at the moment. Lastly the results show that film can and should be used in school as an educational tool, as long as it’s done properly and with a clear thought process from the teacher.

In southern California school districts, 8th grade students in history-social science (H-SS) classes did not perform well on the California Standards Test (CST). To improve student performance, middle school H-SS teachers in some districts received staff development in the use of authentic assessment, the understanding and application of multiple intelligences theory, and the application of a student centered focus in lesson design and instruction. The purpose of this comparative pretest/posttest study was to determine if there was significant achievement difference between 2 8th-grade U.S. H-SS classes taught in 2 districts. The research question addressed a significant difference in CST H-SS achievement scores between 8th-grade students taught using multiple intelligences strategies and authentic assessments (n = 28) and those who were taught using traditional strategies and curriculum assessments (n = 31). The theoretical foundation for this study was constructivism. Post-data from archived student scores on the CST H-SS test were collected and analyzed using an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), controlling for varying differences in CST pre-test H-SS scores. There was a statistically significant difference in posttest CST H-SS scores between the 2 groups (F = 10.491, p < .002), with the nontraditional group scoring higher. Based on the findings, it is recommended that district leaders provide professional development opportunities for teachers in nontraditional constructivist instructional strategies that support student-centered instruction. These endeavors may lead to positive social change if H-SS teachers change instruction and assessment methods to improve student achievement, thus, meeting graduation requirements and enhancing citizenship development.

Ancré dans la didactique curriculaire et dans le champ de recherche essentiellement développé dans les pays anglo-saxons désigné par l'acronyme NoS (Nature of Science), ce travail examine la possibilité d'introduire l'histoire des sciences dans les cours de physique de l'enseignement secondaire tunisien afin de modifier l'image de la nature des sciences et de l'activité scientifique des élèves. Ces conditions portent sur la nature de l'innovation à expérimenter en classe et son impact sur les élèves, sur sa généralisabilité et donc sur le rapport à l'enseignement de la physique et à l'innovation des enseignants. Une partie des études théoriques a été consacrée à une revue de la littérature traitant de la culture scientifique (scientific literacy), de la nature des sciences et de l'histoire des sciences dans l'enseignement (NoS), l'autre à l'élaboration d'un cadre de référence épistémologico-historique. Nous y présentons les sciences comme une entreprise humaine réalisée dans un contexte socio-culturel, technique et politique d'une époque donnée et esquissons un panorama de l'histoire de la dioptrique orientée par les objectifs d'apprentissage épistémologique retenus pour la séquence d'enseignement innovante : montrer la diversité des enjeux de la physique et des démarches du physicien. Les études empiriques ont été conduites en Tunisie. Deux séquences d'investigation documentaires ont été expérimentées en classe à un an d'intervalle par le même enseignant auprès de deux groupes d'élèves, le premier de 20, le second de 25. Elles se distinguent par le fait que l'une vise uniquement l'acquisition de savoirs épistémologiques et que l'autre vise aussi l'acquisition de savoirs scientifiques sur la loi de la réfraction. Le suivi de ces ingénieries a été réalisé essentiellement à l'aide de questionnaires ouverts ou fermés. Un film et deux entretiens sous forme de questionnaires les complètent. La transmission de l'innovation pédagogique a été réalisée dans le cadre de la formation continue des enseignants et a donné lieu à une ingénierie qui a touché 50 enseignants du secondaire. Ceux-ci ont eu à réaliser le même travail que les élèves. Trente d'entre eux ont répondu aux mêmes questionnaires que les élèves ainsi qu'à deux autres questionnaires élaborés pour déterminer leur rapport à l'enseignement de la physique et à l'innovation. Les résultats obtenus confirment les hypothèses de recherche à propos de l'existence d'une vision empiriste et réaliste naïve des sciences chez les élèves et enseignants et d'une tendance des enseignants à privilégier les expériences dans l'enseignement de la physique. Ils sont encourageants quant à la possibilité de faire évoluer l'image de la nature de l'activité scientifique des élèves grâce à l'introduction de l'histoire des sciences relativement aux objectifs épistémologiques considérés. Nous terminons par la discussion des apports et limites du travail réalisé et présentons quelques pistes ultérieures de recherche.

The purpose of this study was to explore what happened when literature and literature discussions were added to an eighth-grade history curriculum. I examined what occurred in the process of change as the teacher and researcher negotiated a new curriculum with the students, and what the effects of literature were on the historical understandings of middle school students. The theoretical framework of this study is embodied in the social constructivist theory of learning and the transactive theory of reading as explained by a reader-response perspective. It rests on the premise that approaching history through literature and encouraging an aesthetic stance toward the response to historical literature will enable students to enter into the process of historical inquiry. During this year-long classroom study the researcher, acting as a participant observer, gathered a variety of data including field notes, student journals, audio tapes of the small group literature discussions, student self-evaluations, and teacher interviews. The data were analyzed by developing and describing initial coding categories from the data, refining or adding to the categories as the analysis process continued, and counting frequencies for the various categories which emerged. The findings suggest that change is challenging and complex. There was a creative tension in the process with some factors that promoted teacher and curriculum change and other factors that acted as obstacles to change. Although each factor played an important role in the change process, the key to change was in the collaboration between teacher and researcher. It was in the conversations and collaboration between teacher and researcher that change was invented. In addition, the findings suggest that reading the historical literature, writing in their journals, and working out their understandings in small groups was well-received by students. They enjoyed this way of doing history and used the different activities to work their way into meaningful engagements with history. Student responses included: (1) purposeful retellings, (2) numerous connections among books, movies, historical themes, and life experiences, (3) thematic statements, (4) wonderings and wanderings, and (5) historical understandings that integrated facts and stories.

Master of Arts
Department of Geography
John A. Harrington Jr
Analysis of polling documents indicates how little most Americans know about the world. Geography education is the key to offsetting geographic illiteracy. Fortunately programs designed to improve K-12 geography education are growing in number and strength. How can we teach more and better geography within the school system? Given the dominant role of history in the K-12 social studies curriculum, use of the psychological theory of dual-encoding to integrate geography and history lesson planning is one approach to bring more geography into the classroom. As part of Kansas Geographic Alliance programmatic activity, Kansas history and geography standards, with emphasis on the tested standards, were assessed to identify candidate themes for development of dual-encoded educational units and associated lesson plans. Three workshops were delivered to share these dual-encoded units and lesson plans. The workshops were for education faculty, teachers getting in-service professional development, and for a group of pre-service teachers in a social studies methods class. Attendees at the workshops provided assessment and feedback of the material. Based on informal comments and written responses from the workshop attendees, it is concluded that dual-encoding will enable considerable progress in geography education. Not only will the knowledge provided demonstrate the impact and significance of geography to history teachers and their students, but dual-encoded lessons will advance teacher content and pedagogical knowledge, and most importantly students will learn both geography and history better.

La présente recherche a retracé les parcours scolaires mais également professionnels des étudiant-e-s des classes préparatoires littéraires du Lycée de garçons du Parc et du Lycée de jeunes filles de Lyon. Les bornes chronologiques s’étendent de 1924 et du décret Bérard ouvrant, entre autre, le baccalauréat aux filles, à la veille de 1968 et des bouleversements des événements du mois de mai. L’étude s’attache à mettre en relief l’évolution de la formation des élites intellectuelles françaises sur plus de 40 ans. Plusieurs axes sont abordés, tous étudiés sous l’angle du genre : les origines sociales, les études secondaires, le concours d’entrée aux différentes Écoles Normales Supérieures (Ulm et Sèvres), les études universitaires et les débouchés professionnels. Au-delà de cette comparaison genrée des élèves des deux établissements, deux pistes se distinguent avec d’un côté les reçu-e-s aux ENS et de l’autre, les recalé-e-s, qui poursuivent leurs études au sein de l’université
This research has traced the school careers of professionals but also students of the preparatory classes of the Lycee du Parc and Lycee de jeunes filles de Lyon. Our study starts from 1924 and the Berard Decree opening – among other things – bachelor’s door to girls and stops on the eve of 1968 and the mutations originated from the events of May. The study aims to highlight the evolution of the French intellectual elite education over 40 years. Several areas are illustrated, all studied in a gender perspective: the social origins, the secondary school, the entrance to the different Ecole Normale Supérieure (Ulm and Sevres), academic studies and career opportunities. Beyond this gendered comparison students of both schools, two tracks stand out with one hand the receipt to ENS and the other, flunked, who are studying in the university

El tema d’estudi de la investigació s’emmarca en el camp de la didàctica de les ciències socials i el patrimoni. L’objecte d’estudi és la didàctica del patrimoni arquitectònic i, tanmateix, el comportament i desenvolupament de la professionalitat dels docents. El cos central de la tesi te dos eixos vertebradors: 1. La conceptualització i construcció de nous coneixements que puguin millorar la didàctica del patrimoni arquitectònic com a font històrica. 2. La descripció i anàlisi de les competències del professorat: els seus coneixements, les seves opinions i idees, i també les seves pràctiques professionals. És una investigació descriptiva i empírica que fa servir instruments de tipus qualitatiu (grup de discussió) com de tipus quantitatiu (qüestionari). El patrimoni arquitectònic és un testimoni viu del passat humà. Quan el professor el fa servir com a font històrica, hauria de tenir en compte una sèrie de factors que són inherents a l’objecte arquitectònic, entenent aquest com una realitat viva i un document de la història. La font arquitectònica és diferent al document escrit i per tant cal fer un ús adequat a la seva naturalesa. La complexitat de l’obra arquitectònica, la dificultat per a interpretar-la i els problemes didàctics que se’n deriven segons els diferents criteris emprats en la restauració, són elements a tenir em compte quan es fa ús del patrimoni arquitectònic com a font de coneixement històric i social. La investigació es formula tres preguntes sobre les competències dels docents: 1. Quin tipus de coneixements tenen els professors sobre el patrimoni arquitectònic 2. Quin és el pensament i concepcions dels professors 3. Quina és la pràctica docent dels professors La tesi està estructurada en tres apartats: 1. Primera part. Marc teòric-conceptual: en primer lloc es formula l’objecte d’estudi, les preguntes, objectius i hipòtesi. Es fa una revissió de l’estat de la qüestió sobre la didàctica del patrimoni arquitectònic. Es revisen els estudis i investigacions que precedeixen la investigació. Es plantegen les bases conceptuals i disciplinars de la didàctica del patrimoni arquitectònic com a font històrica. Les disciplines de referència són l’arquitectura, la història i la didàctica. 2. Segona part. Marc empíric: per poder conèixer la realitat dels docents en matèria de competències patrimonials s’ha definit com a població d’estudi, els professors de Secundària dels centres públics de Catalunya que tenen l’especialitat de Ciències Socials. Els instruments d’observació indirecta que s’han dissenyat són el grup de discussió i el qüestionari. La mostra participant ha sigut d’un 10% dels professorat d’aquests centres. Una vegada recollits, mesurats i processats els resultats, la investigació descriu i analitza les respostes dels professors. 3. Tercera part. Conclusions: Es presenten els resultats obtinguts. Fan referència als tres àmbits que defineixen les competències docents: sobre els coneixements, les idees i concepcions, i les pràctiques docents. La investigació adjunta, com a apèndix, uns suggeriments sobre el tractament didàctic del patrimoni arquitectònic com a font històrica. Proposa en primer lloc la manera de fer la crítica de la font i en segon lloc, unes orientacions per realitzar visites i itineraris patrimonials. Al final de la investigació es presenten uns annexos. Cal destacar l’annex fotogràfic que aporta contingut visual al discurs en presentar imatges d’abans i desprès de les actuacions de restauració efectuades.
The subject of academic study of this investigation resides in the area of the didactics in social sciences and heritage. The study topic is the didactics of architectural heritage, including the behaviour and development of teachers’ expertise. The main body of the thesis is comprised of two supporting axis: 1. The conceptualisation and construction of new knowledge that helps the improvement of the didactics of architectural heritage as a historical source. 2. The description and analysis of teachers’ competences: their knowledge, opinions and ideas, and their professional teaching practices. This is a descriptive and empirical research that uses both qualitative tools (group discussion) and quantitative tools (questionnaire.) The investigation formulates three questions about teachers’ competences: 1. What is the type of knowledge that teachers have got on architectural heritage? 2. What is the knowledge and conception of teachers? 3. What is the teaching practice of teachers? The thesis is structured on three parts: 1. Theoretical-conceptual framework. The study topic, questions and hypothesis are formulated. A revision of the state of the question on the didactics of architectural heritage is implemented. 2. Empirical framework. The teachers of Secondary Education in Catalonia form the study population of the thesis. The indirect observation tools designed for the investigation are the group discussion and the questionnaire. The range of participation was a 10% of the teachers in these education centres. Once the results have been obtained, measured and processed, the investigation describes and analyses teachers’ answers. 3. Conclusions: the results obtained in the investigation are presented. They cover the three areas that describe teaching competences: knowledge, ideas and conceptions, and teaching practices. The research attaches, as an appendix, suggestions for didactic treatment of heritage as a historical source. At the end of the investigation the annexes are shown. It is important to emphasise the photographic annex that provides the discourse with visual content as it presents images before and after the restoration.

Les bouleversements politiques et intellectuels provoqués par l’avènement du principat augustéen entraînent sous le Haut Empire une redéfinition des buts et des fonctions assignés à la formation intellectuelle de l’élite romaine et occidentale. Le développement de l’éloquence judiciaire et épidictique au détriment de l’éloquence politique modifie l’enseignement traditionnel de la rhétorique, tandis que la pratique philosophique prend de plus en plus de place au sein de la société et favorise le développement de son enseignement. Ces changements suscitent chez plusieurs auteurs des Ier et IIe siècles apr. J. C. des réflexions sur la manière d’améliorer l’enseignement rhétorique et philosophique alors que diverses initiatives sont prises pour organiser à l’échelle de l’Empire la diffusion de ces savoirs. Notre travail se propose d’examiner, en se concentrant sur les acteurs du système éducatif – professeurs et étudiants –, la façon dont cette formation intellectuelle se développe sous le Haut Empire dans les régions latinophones et de dresser une cartographie de l’enseignement de la rhétorique et de la philosophie en acquérant une connaissance concrète de ces personnages, par l’examen de leurs origines géographique et sociale et de leurs mobilités. Cette dimension réaliste se double d’une étude de la représentation de ces deux groupes dans la littérature impériale. Une attention particulière est portée à la question de la formation des futurs empereurs, dont la vie est richement documentée, afin de déterminer si la description de leur éducation est altérée par le souvenir qu’ils ont laissé de leur règne
The political and intellectual upheavals caused by the advent of Augustus’ Principate result, in the Early Empire, in a new definition of the aims and functions assigned to the intellectual training of the Roman and Western elite. The development of judiciary and epidictic eloquence at the expense of political eloquence modifies traditional rhetorical teaching whereas philosophical learning is gaining importance within society thus favouring the teaching itself of philosophy. These changes bring several 100 and 200 A.D. authors to reflect upon the way of improving rhetorical and philosophical teaching. Meanwhile various initiatives are taken to spread these forms of knowledge throughout the Empire. By focusing on those who are in charge of the educational system – teachers and students – our research offers to examine how intellectual training develops in the Latin speaking regions in the Early Empire and to draw a map of rhetorical and philosophical teaching while getting to know these characters concretely through the study of their geographical and social backgrounds together with their mobility. Such realistic aspect goes with a survey of the representations of the two groups in imperial literature. Emphasis is laid in particular on the question of the education of the future emperors the documentation of whose lives is rich in order to examine whether the description of their education is altered by the memory that remains of their reign

In response to the current educational reform movement that has ensued as a result of the publication of A Nation at Risk (1983), the Massachusetts legislature passed the Educational Reform Act in 1993. From this Act, an educational reform plan was developed for all public schools, and curriculum frameworks were written for the major academic areas. The frameworks recommend what should be taught, and they encourage teachers to align their curriculum with the frameworks. This dissertation describes a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with 15 teachers throughout the state of Massachusetts, from the fall of 1999 through the fall of 2001. The study investigated the experiences these teachers had with the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum framework . The teachers who were interviewed represent a cross-section of teachers diverse in geographic location, number of years teaching, gender, ethnicity, and experience with curriculum development. The extensive responses to the interviews were analyzed in light of the research questions in this study. Through the literature review, documents, and the interviews, I was able to analyze teachers' experiences working specifically with the history and social science framework, and to assess the impact that the framework was having on their teaching, curriculum development, and student learning. This analysis revealed consistent patterns and themes. These included teachers' common school experiences of not having an organized school curriculum prior to the framework; their perception of the lack of multiculturalism in the framework; and their concerns about the exclusion of teachers from the framework process. The information analyzed from the interviews can be used to guide school systems in the development of educational policies, as well as in the creation of curriculum. This study has the potential to assist those interested in both professional development and teacher education.

Globally oriented content and perspectives are urgently needed in United States secondary classrooms as the world continues to become more interconnected. U.S. secondary students are typically exposed to global topics in world history courses. There is limited research on the intersection of global education and world history, particularly within empirical studies concerning teachers’ positionalities and practice. This qualitative study explores this gap by asking: How do self-identified globally oriented world history teachers’ positionalities influence their curricular and pedagogical decisions? The sub-questions are: What identities, experiences, and surrounding social structures shape teachers’ understanding of themselves as global educators? Where/when/how do world history teachers position themselves within the knowledge, material, and teaching about the world? This study, utilizing interviews, elicitation tasks (concept mapping, identity card sort, global image ranking), and observations of teaching, investigated eight globally oriented New York City public school world history teachers. Findings suggest reconceptualizing teacher positionalities to include worldviews and place-based experiences abroad in addition to identities, subjectivities, and contexts. These intertwining aspects of world history teachers’ positionalities influenced their practice to teach with a global orientation in a world history classroom. Four worldviews were significant in how these teachers framed the world for themselves and their students: interconnectedness, justice-orientations, cosmopolitanism, and critical perspectives. Place-based experiences abroad were significant aspects to their positionalities in that they gained content knowledge of the place while confronting their social positions and privileges. These engagements contributed to the ways in which they approached their knowledge construction of the world in their approaches to curriculum and teaching. I suggest these aspects of teacher positionalities be integrated into future research in global education and social studies teacher education programs.

Since the advent of democracy in 1994, there have been several turning points in South African education. One of the key changes has been the conception of Social Sciences (SS) – a learning area under the National Curriculum Statement of 2002. The structure of SS has undergone a significant change with regard to evolving from Human and Social Sciences (HSS) to its current state – SS. The DoE claims that the SS curriculum is the result of integration – a concept which has been widely accepted in the international community. The aim of this study was to investigate the views and pedagogy of SS teachers with reference to the concept of integration. I engaged in qualitative research and employed the interpretivist paradigm when analysing my data. Research instruments included semi-structured interviews, a picture identification session and a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of key SS policy documents which inform SS pedagogy. Data were analysed through the method of open-coding. The study concluded that integration has a multitude of meanings, and the conceptualisation and implementation of it differs from teacher to teacher. Integration has now become a generic concept which can be applied to socio-political, economic, educational and environmental spheres of the SS curriculum. For this reason I argue that the SS curriculum may not be foregrounded by the concept of integration, but rather an alternate disciplinary collaboration/s such as interdisciplinarity, pluridisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity. The different disciplinary collaborations has been investigated and applied to the SS curriculum within the South African educational context.
Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a popular curricular approach in medical education. This thesis asks the question: How does PBL teach medical students about what matters in medicine using qualitative methods. The research demonstrates that PBL contributes to the on-going marginalisation of social issues in medical education.