Constructivist Methods in Social Studies
Kaiser, C. (2010, February). Redrawing the boundaries: A constructivist approach to combating student apathy in the secondary history classroom. The History Teacher, 43(2), 223-232.
Kaiser argues that there is really nothing terribly tidy or accurate about the divisions that teachers use to teach and study history. The author suggests that teachers need to know both why and how the divisions in the study of history occur -- this lends a level of self-consciousness to history as a discipline. Kaiser proposes using alternative perspectives for the study of history that capitalize on the individual interests of adolescent students. Kaiser suggests that each student should select a unique perspective -- a stand-alone thematic approach -- for the study of history for the duration of the coursework. Being able to unpack the traditional divisions in history will help me explain to my history students what my assignment is asking of them with regard to having a unique perspective for studying history -- I won't feel that I have violated anything sacrosanct by diverging from the traditional divisions used in the study of history.
The key to engaging more students in an active study of history, according to Kaiser (2010), is to guide them "to find relevance in the events of the past, and finally to analyze the effects of change over time" (p. 223). Kaiser concedes that this is not an easy task for a history teacher to accomplish. But the task is made easier through the influence of human physiology which suggests that the divisions in history support learning,...
This is true, in part, because "the adolescent brain…is developing, it prefers information in smaller pieces" (Kaiser, 2010, p). Listening to the presentations from their peers offers a more diverse view of past events, which can add to students' ability to synthesize and build on these new conceptual frameworks for the study of history.
Article Review
Scheuerell, S. (2010). Virtual Warrensburg: Using cooperative learning and the internet in the social studies classroom. The Social Studies, 101, 194-199.
Scheuerell's use of cooperative learning in his approach to the virtual Warrensburg project emphasizes the social negotiation of knowledge aspect of constructivist learning. Through dialog with other students in the learning group, negotiation and testing of knowledge could occur. Scheuerell's goal in the social studies project was to integrated use of the internet with a cooperative learning approach, the synthesis of which produces a superior learning experience for the students. The PIES cooperative learning structure is based on four linked components that together achieve an elegant balance between individual autonomous learning and collaboration with other learners. PIES is an acronym for "positive interdependence, individual accountability, equal participation, and simultaneous interaction among the group members" (Scheuerell, 2010, p. 194). A specific subtopic was given to each student to investigate; taken together, the collective topics all related to a broader historical investigation.…
