LAI 522SEM - Digital technology for Social Studies

While understanding history and social science disciplines, and how they are constructed, is important for social studies teachers, they are not sufficient. In LAI 522, we spend considerable time reading, thinking, and talking about the subject of history and other social sciences. But we also push ourselves to consider pedagogical implications. The pedagogical component of each unit, then, features one of the commonplaces of education–subject matter/curriculum, learners/learning, teachers/teaching, and milieu/classroom environment. In each instance, we look at current research on teaching social studies and case studies of wise practice. Our focus is on big questions of teaching and learning: What ideas shall we teach, from whose perspective(s), and why? What about social events do we want learners to read, think about, experience, and know? How shall we represent social studies concepts and events and what instructional approaches shall we use? What can we do to create a vigorous learning environment where analysis, conjecture, debate, and playfulness can occur?

Credits: 3