Content Knowledge In Social Studies Research Articles

A mixed methods study of teachers’ use of feedback within middle school social studies classrooms to promote reading comprehension

BackgroundAlthough feedback is consistently shown to have a positive effect on student achievement, there is also large heterogeneity in effect based on a variety of factors including how teachers use it in the classroom. Understanding how teachers use feedback as part of their content area literacy instruction in inclusive middle school social studies classrooms is therefore a worthy object of investigation. AimsThis paper applies an explanatory-sequential mixed-methods design to an existing dataset. We leverage this dataset to first understand whether teachers' feedback use improved students' ability to read social studies texts with understanding and acquire social studies content knowledge from text. It then characterizes the feedback teachers used and draws conclusions on how feedback's form may have influenced its effect. SamplesQuantitative analysis included 8865 min of audio recorded classroom instruction from 28 teachers in the United States. Additionally, social studies knowledge acquisition and reading comprehension achievement measures were collected from 893 students. Qualitative analysis included 37 transcripts of audio recorded lessons (38–65 min each) from five randomly selected teachers. MethodsQuantitative analysis preceded qualitative. Quantitative analyses included coding of all 8865 min to determine presence of feedback found effective by Hattie and Timperley (2007). This coding was used in a fixed effects model to investigate the effect teacher feedback use had on student reading comprehension and knowledge acquisition outcomes. Qualitative analysis included a collective case study of patterns of feedback use. ResultsFeedback did not have a substantial association with scores on the content knowledge or reading comprehension measures. Teachers’ feedback patterns suggest they frequently missed opportunities to help students understand goals and self-regulate their behavior as they moved toward them. ConclusionsThe ineffective forms of feedback displayed by teachers likely reduced feedback's effect on student outcomes.

Teachers’ Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge in the Junior High School Social Studies Curriculum

Knowledge of the content alone is no guarantee for effective teaching and learning, there is the need for teachers to demonstrate high level of technological and pedagogical power. The study examined the technological pedagogical content knowledge of Social Studies teachers’ in Junior High Schools in Aowin municipality in the Western North Region of Ghana. The descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population for the study included all Social Studies teachers in the public Junior High Schools in the Aowin Municipality. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select the Seventy-four (74) Junior High Schools and Seventy-four (74) the Social Studies teachers for the study. The main instrument for data collection was questionnaire. The study revealed that, teachers have adequate content knowledge to teach Social Studies but there are doubts as to whether their knowledge is current. The study also concluded that, teachers were not confident about their technological, pedagogical and content knowledge in Social Studies and this resulted in their negative attitude towards the integration of technology in classroom activities. It is recommended that, the Ghana Education Service should organize In-Service Training and refresher courses for teachers to keep them current and up-to-date their content knowledge in Social Studies. It is also recommended that, teachers should adopt positive attitudes towards learning and using technology in their day-to-day activities.

A Systematic Review of Evidence-Based Practices for Students with Learning Disabilities in Social Studies Classrooms

Progressing through schools may be challenging for some students, especially those with learning disabilities (LD). In social studies, for example, students grapple with increasingly complex texts, independent work, direct instruction, critical thinking, analysis, and other learning demands. As students transition from elementary schools where generalist educators have strong literacy experience but typically poor social studies content knowledge to the secondary level where teachers are content specialists who may lack literacy pedagogical knowledge, learners may experience difficulty adjusting to expectations for independent learning and reading of expository textbooks, which is particularly difficult for students with LD. There is a continuing need to identify strategies to help struggling learners in the content area. The growing move to place students with LD in general education social studies classes warrants a closer look at learners’ experiences and teachers’ ability to meet their students’ needs. Evidence indicates that students with LD can achieve success through use of appropriate strategies; but social studies teachers do not feel equipped to successfully aid struggling learners. This study provides a systematic review of the literature to explore best practices for teaching students with LD in K-12 social studies classrooms.

A Transdisciplinary Approach to Teacher Preparation: Providing Equitable Access for All Students to Learn Social Studies Content, Skills, and Processes

Contextualized in the critical pedagogies of universal design for learning (UDL) and social justice education, our study aimed to equip teacher candidates (TCs) to provide students with equitable access to learning social studies content knowledge, skills, and processes as a way to equally empower all students to be civically engaged, and thus to disrupt the social reproduction of empowering privileged students and disempowering marginalized ones in the public schools. An earlier study indicated that our TCs did not transfer or generalize the UDL framework from foundation courses to subsequent classes or in practice. This case study describes how and in what ways elementary education faculty used a transdisciplinary approach, integrating the UDL framework taught in the foundation’s course into a social studies methods course to facilitate TCs’ continued learning and application of theory into practice. The results of this case study suggest that TCs that TCs had not yet internalized the UDL framework or critical consciousness and that these must be intentionally transferred and generalized to new coursework by the faculty on a consistent, ongoing basis.

Social Studies Content Knowledge Interventions for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: A Meta-Analysis.

The importance of social studies and civics education is increasing, as evidenced by the growing number of states requiring coursework in this area for graduation and its growing presence in school accountability frameworks. Social studies instruction is critical for all students so that they may understand their roles, rights, and responsibilities as citizens and how their actions can influence their communities. Students who exhibit antisocial behaviors, such as those with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), may especially benefit from social studies and civics education as it promotes college and career readiness and provides opportunities to engage in social problem solving and perspective taking. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the social studies and civics intervention research for students with EBD. We sought to describe and evaluate the extant literature, identify promising practices, and suggest areas for future research. A total of 17 intervention studies were identified. Overall, 10 out of the 17 studies met What Works Clearinghouse Design Standards with or without reservations. Eight of the 10 studies were eligible for effect size calculation, resulting in an overall large effect (g = 0.83). Study limitations, implications for school practice, and directions for research are discussed.

Improving Content Knowledge in Social Studies for Upper Elementary Students

Improving Content Knowledge in Social Studies for Upper Elementary Students

예비유아교사의 사회과 내용교수지식(PCK)향상을 위한 유아사회교육 수업 모형 개발

예비유아교사의 사회과 내용교수지식(PCK)향상을 위한 유아사회교육 수업 모형 개발

Text Reading Supports in Social Studies Content Instruction and Their Relationship to Student Knowledge Acquisition

ABSTRACTWe examined social studies teachers’ use of text and supports for reading text during their instruction as well as how their practices related to students’ content acquisition. A total of 37 social studies teachers and their students (n = 572) participated and recorded their instruction during 3 instructional units. We documented the amount of time teachers engaged in text reading and text reading support. We assessed students on social studies content knowledge. We noted text reading activities in about 10% of the class instruction. The total numbers of minutes spent in text reading and providing support in reading comprehension strategies were significantly related to student content acquisition. Examination of differences in this relationship by student pretest demonstrated that increases in text reading during instruction were associated with increased scores on content acquisition for lower level students. There were no significant associations between text reading practices and content acquisition for higher performing students.

Brother, Can You Paradigm? Toward a Theory of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Social Studies

Although research on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has accelerated in recent years, social studies educators have not generally been part of the conversation. This article explores why a theory of PCK for social studies has been so difficult to elaborate, focusing on the field’s inability to come to consensus on its aims and purposes and on a pervasive distrust of traditional academic disciplines and scholarship they produce. These factors have helped make the effective preparation of social studies teachers, something researchers studying PCK hope to improve, exceptionally difficult. This article proposes that if the field can resolve its relationship to the disciplines, a more coherent conceptualization of teacher education in social studies could come into focus. Such a reconceptualization could help position social studies teacher educators to contribute to the knowledge base on PCK, particularly with regard to the transformation of disciplinary content into school curriculum.

Anthropology, Dance, and Education: Integrated Curriculum in Social Studies

ABSTRACTThe integration of dance into K–12 curriculum can help students to learn better, encouraging deeper exploration and active engagement with content knowledge. The purpose of this intervention study was to determine how the integration of dance and social studies with an anthropological framework affects student learning of content knowledge in social studies, as well as student attitude toward the topic. An anthropological framework was implemented to foster respectful investigation of culture. As a supplement to a sixth-grade unit on Ancient Egypt, the experimental group received four intervention lessons, incorporating creative dance. Results show that at posttest the intervention group had significantly higher content knowledge than the control group, and qualitative student responses from the intervention group suggest extremely positive feelings toward experiences in the program. This suggests that incorporating dance into sixth-grade social studies with an anthropological framework can encourage student exploration and increase understanding of content.

A Study of State Social Studies Standards for American Indian Education

In this study the author surveys social studies standards from 14 U.S. states seeking to answer: (a) what social studies knowledge about American Indians is deemed essential by those states mandating the development of American Indian Education curricula for all public K–12 students? and (b) at what grade levels is this social studies content knowledge mandated in public K–12 schools? Document analysis, open-coding, and constant comparison revealed that the knowledge states standards require can be organized into six themes: identification/classification of tribes, distinct tribal cultures, contributions to mainstream U.S. culture, tribal government, connection to environment, and economics/occupations. The findings also revealed that the majority of standards relating to American Indians are directed to elementary grade levels. Standards in only two states, Maine and Montana, cover a breadth of curricular content and require that content coverage to continue K–12.

Analyzing the Trend and Discourse of the Research on Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Social Studies

Analyzing the Trend and Discourse of the Research on Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Social Studies

Influence of Motivation Theory and Supplemental Workshops on First-Time Passing Rates of HBCU Teacher Candidates

The action research methodology for this study reports descriptive statistical findings from the performance of 19 Early Childhood Education African American teacher candidates matriculating through a state-approved program at an HBCU. Researcher–moderators provided a treatment plan of focused summer workshops, conceptualized based upon the findings of low first-time passing rates on the Early Childhood Education Exam, predominately content knowledge in social studies and reading. The action researchers suggest that continued research and a larger sample size is needed to provided empirical evidence of the causal variables and factors that affect candidate performance on the examination, but the observed phenomena and semistructured follow-up reflections of the first-time passers may promote evidence of Maslow’s motivation theory in practice and the intrinsic love for teaching by the candidates who participated in the treatment and successfully passed the test.

Beyond the Teacher Certification Program Debate

This theme issue of the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) considers the impact of various program and policy features on teacher education and professional development. In publishing this issue, the editorial team aims to challenge the field to shift attention from general debates about traditional versus alternative certification programs toward more nuanced conversations about specific features of programs (whether traditional or alternative, preservice or inservice) that appear to hold particular promise. Of the four articles that comprise the issue, two articles (Conklin; Kennedy & Archambault) explore the impact of aspects of initial certification programs on pre-service and beginning teachers' development. Two additional articles (Atkinson; Matsumura, Gamier, & Spybrook) investigate relationships between characteristics of professional development programs or policies and teacher-participants' thinking and practice. In the first article, Company Men: Tracing Learning from Divergent Teacher Education Pathways Into Practice in Middle Grades Classrooms, Hilary Conklin compares two models for middle school social studies teacher education, one that focuses on social studies content knowledge and another that focuses on knowledge of young adolescents. Through longitudinal case studies of beginning teachers from each kind of program, this study identifies characteristics of the teachers' practice and, where feasible, tracks differences back to specific features of the teachers' preparation programs. Conklin's conclusion is that neither model adequately prepared the teachers to engage students in challenging, meaningful work. By focusing on either subject matter or adolescent development, she argues that the programs missed opportunities to help beginning teachers integrate these areas of knowledge and develop practices that were rich in content and appropriately flamed for adolescent learners. Kathryn Kennedy and Leanna Archambault explore the preparation of teachers for K-12 online learning environments in the second article, Offering Preservice Teachers Field Experiences in K-12 Online Learning: A National Survey of Teacher Education Programs. Although several states now require K-12 students to complete an online experience before graduating from high school, and it is projected that 50% of high school classes will be offered online by 2020, the authors found that very few teacher education programs in the United States have field placements for teacher education candidates in virtual schools or online learning environments. They argue that teacher candidates who plan to work in online contexts will need to understand the pedagogy of online learning, instructional design for online learning, and online learning theory to engage learners successfully in these environments. The third article in this issue examines the assumption that teachers' use of student test data will result in improved instructional practices and yield higher test scores. In Target Practice: Reader Response Theory and Teachers' Interpretations of Students' SAT 10 Scores in Data-Based Professional Development, Becky Atkinson reports an analysis of how elementary teachers read, interpret, and make decisions based on test score data. …

The Six Remaining Facts: Social Studies Content Knowledge and Elementary Preservice Teachers

This article explores and examines the social studies content knowledge that preservice teachers have about commonly studies historical figures. The data indicate that preservice teachers often have shallow and decontextualized understandings of historical individuals such as Christopher Columbus and Helen Keller, despite their being repeatedly studied in the preservice teachers' educational careers. The content knowledge gaps are not the significant finding, however; rather, it is the process of critical inquiry that speaks to the notion of human citizenship.

Preschool Teachers` Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Social Studies

Preschool Teachers` Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Social Studies

Ways of seeing are ways of knowing. The pedagogical content knowledge of an expert English teacher

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsSigrun GudmundsdottirSigrun Gudmundsdottir is a Research Associate, Pedagogisk institutt, Universitetet i Trondheim, N‐705S Dragvoll, Norway. She is the principal investigator in a three‐year project focusing on subject teaching in two Norwegian high schools. Her research interests centre on the knowledge base of teaching and qualitative methodology. Her recent publications include ‘Pedagogical content knowledge in social studies’ in J. Lowyck and C. Clark (eds) Studia Pedagogica: Teacher Thinking and Professional Action.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Social Studies

Abstract: Gudmundsdottir, S. & Shulman, L. 1987. Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Social Studies. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 31, 59‐70. The role of teacher's pedagogical content knowledge in social studies is addressed through two case studies: a novice and a veteran teacher. We demonstrate that the important difference between the novice and the expert is manifested in a special kind of knowledge that is neither content nor pedagogy per se. It rests instead in pedagogical content knowledge, a form of teacher understanding that combines content, pedagogy and learner characteristics in a unique way.