Scott M. Waring

The Impact of a Technology Coordinator's Belief System upon Using Technology to Create a Community's History

As it has been shown that teachers of social studies content are less likely than teachers of other content areas to utilize technology in their classroom, this study focuses on one instructional technology coordinators’ beliefs towards technology, instruction, and students and how these beliefs impacted how technology was utilized during a technology-enriched community history project with a group of fourth-grade students. It was determined that the instructional technology coordinators’ beliefs included the following: (a) technology should serve as a tool and should be seamlessly integrated into the curriculum; (b) the teacher should construct meaningful experiences that allow students to become engaged in the learning process; however, before guiding student discovery, the teacher needs to explicitly teach basic technological skills; (c) and all students are able to learn and are capable of engaging in independent problem solving and critical thinking at some level. Her beliefs manifested themselves daily, particularly in the way that she approached instruction and integrated technology seamlessly into the curriculum. Through this study, it was found that the technology coordinators beliefs toward technology, instruction, and her students directly impacted how technology was used in her classroom.

The social studies methods course: what do teacher candidates know and want to know about teaching social studies?

During the past decade, there has been more than an adequate amount of research addressing issues regarding social studies methods courses. However, the apparent void is that there is no clear understanding of what pedagogical content knowledge or understanding of pedagogical approaches teacher candidates bring with them to social studies methods courses or what they expect from their time in social studies methods courses. The purpose of this study is to determine the mentality of the typical social studies methods course student, as he or she enters a social studies methods course. Employing analytic induction (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Erikson, 1986; Patton, 2002) and content analysis (Patton, 2002) to analyze and interpret the data, 9 categories for what the students know and 8 for what the students wanted to know were constructed.

Examining the Conditions of Andersonville Prison Through the Use of SOURCES

Using primary sources to teach students about the past helps them to improve crucial analytical skills and gives them an opportunity to evaluate a variety of sources and to construct evidence-based narratives. These are skills that all students need for success throughout their educational process, career, and civic life (NCSS 2013). Examining the conditions of Andersonville prison is a topic for which students are able to use primary sources to apply disciplinary skills, think critically, consider multiple perspectives, and create evidence-based narratives. Using the SOURCES framework (Waring 2013; Waring 2014; Waring and Scheiner-Fisher 2014), students are given an opportunity to navigate through a set of primary sources in an organized and structured fashion and to express their thoughts, while using evidence and a process that replicates that which is done by professionals in the field of history.

Using SOURCES to Examine the Nadir of Race Relations (1890–1920)

Abstract The “nadir of race relations” is a term used by historians to describe the time period after Reconstruction, 1890–1920. During this time, African Americans were free; some argue, however, that it was a worse time than when these individuals were enslaved (Brundage 1990; Woodward 2002). There is a debate whether this time period ultimately had a positive or negative effect on the newly freed slaves (Gilmore 2008). In this article, the authors outline a method for using a variety of primary sources from the Library of Congress to focus on the question: “To what extent did the end of slavery improve the lives of African Americans in the South?”

Global Mindedness As the “Goal”: Soccer As a Pedagogical Tool in the Social Studies

As evidenced by the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the World Cup, sports is a major part of global society, as millions of people throughout the world tune in to view renowned sporting events each and every week. This is especially true for soccer, which is the worlds most popular and global sport. Because soccer is played in nearly every country throughout the world, its impact extends far beyond the dimensions of the soccer field or stadium. This article discusses how soccer can be used as a pedagogical tool to create global-mindedness among students. The implications of incorporating soccer into the classroom are far-reaching and vital to equipping students with the ability to think globally.

Using Online Auctions to Invigorate the Social Studies Curriculum

As social studies continues to be increasingly marginalized, educators find themselves looking for new ways to creatively and effectively bolster social studies content knowledge with less financial support. The author focuses on online auctions—a resource social studies teachers often neglect—and how they can enhance instruction. Many educators have used online auctions for purchasing items for their own consumption, but few have discovered the ways in which they can enhance classroom teaching. The author discusses some of the ways in which these sites may be used.