SSE 6385 Syllabus Spring 2005 Dr. C. C. Carter

Candidate dispositions for the development and demonstration of
ethical and professional attitudes and beliefs.
On-going, active reflection on professional practice.
Multiculturalism through educators who value diversity and advocate
for the success of all students within diverse learning communities.
Professional growth of pre-service and experienced educators and
other helping professionals.
Academic programs that are rigorous, standards-based, and model and
apply innovative and enduring ideas about teaching and learning.
Scholarship for advancement of the professional knowledge base.
Service to the University, P-12 schools, the profession, and the
community.

In consonance with the conceptual framework of COEHS, this course involves advanced analysis of the instructional methods, materials, curriculum, and research related to teaching secondary level social studies.

As indicated within the COEHS Conceptual Framework, a key knowledge base of teaching is one that engages students in active and problem-based learning as opposed to the more traditional transmission-based approaches. This course is designed for active learning about, and practice with, the components of social studies through student research with diverse populations, resources, and perspectives. Research in the context of instruction enables preparation of relevant, integrated, and experiential curricula (Dewey, 1956) with which learners construct their knowledge, skills, and dispositions. This course will also support social studies instruction that is meaningful, integrative, value-based, challenging, and active, according to the guidelines of the National Council for the Social Studies.

1. augment your knowledge of diverse cultures and their histories.
2. expand your perspectives of history and current social issues.
3. know and demonstrate competencies of social studies.
4. know theories of, and research on, social studies instruction.
5. evaluate social studies resources for instructional value.
6. know methods of instruction for diverse, including exceptional and ESOL, students.
7. know multiple methods of assessing student learning.
8. learn about professional organizations of service to social studies teachers.
9. research and practice social studies instruction.
10. analyze current trends and issues in the practice of social education.
11. use professional presentation strategies.
12. reflect on your professional development.

Students will learn and prepare instruction and assessments for social education of multicultural and multitalented students including those with exceptional learning traits.

Students will use the electronic program Blackboard to obtain and post information in this course as well as complete assessments.

See the following web site for a listing of all Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies: www.firn.edu/doe/menu/sss.htm

Historical Literacy
Analyze:
Cause and effect
Time, continuity, and change
Collective memory with cultural and political implications
Philosophical and religious beliefs systems

Ethical Literacy
Recognize:
Sanctity of life and the dignity of all people
How peoples’ lives are affected by their ideologies; policy, conflict, human interaction
Ways in which different societies have tried to resolve ethical issues
Ethical leaders in different societies

Cultural Literacy
Recognize:
Current and past cultural forms
The relationship between beliefs and cultural patterns
Complexity and continual changes of cultures
Influence of diverse cultural norms in local to global society
Develop:
An ethnorelative perspective that respects the cultural differences of diverse people and practices

Geographic Literacy
Recognize:
Physical characteristics of places; land and water forms, climates, and resources
Social characteristics of places; the locations of diverse cultural practices and religions
Human and environment interaction
Environmental change and migration

Economic Literacy
Analyze:
Resource allocation and trade
Patterns of economic interdependence
Different economic systems
Causes of local to global economic problems
Production, distribution, and consumption changes

Sociopolitical Literacy
Analyze:
Citizenship in different government patterns
Comparative political systems

Learning Skills
Participate in:
Active listening
Multiple modalities of information gathering and information dissemination
Collaborative-group interaction
Critical thinking; define, clarify, analyze, and draw conclusions
Nonjudgemental and evaluative reporting
Adapting activities for participation of those with exceptionalities

These instructions apply to all written work including critiques, reviews, reports, research papers, reaction essays, or other papers. All assignments, unless otherwise indicated, must be typed. When using direct quotes and citing references, use the rules of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition (2001). Essays, whether a homework assignment or an assessment done in class, should include an introduction that states a thesis, a body that develops the thesis, and a conclusion. Attention should be given to correct grammar usage and spelling. All essays must be double spaced with only 12-point font size of text and the use of Italics for offsetting headings or titles of published writing. The following depiction illustrates the essay report format you will use in this class, which is American Psychological Association (APA) style.

Header 1

Report Title

Your full name
University of North Florida

Full date
Course number or title

Header 2

This is page two of your report where you begin your essay.

Heading

This is a paragraph with a main heading.

Heading

This is a model of a paragraph with a subheading.

Header #?

References

(This is after the first page break in your essay where you begin listing all of your ref-erences for information sources you used. Note that the heading is in a plain font.)

Header #?

Appendix
Title

(You will insert a page break after the references for use of an appendix. An appendix is used in the end of a report to show anything that you want to display which doesn’t belong in the middle of an essay.)

Review of Assigned Readings

The instructor will randomly call on one student to review the contents of one chapter of the course readings. Use of one’s own notes from the readings may be used for this review. The total score will be a percentage based on your average calculated from the total scores of each of your complete reviews. Students not randomly selected during the semester to participate in this review will be excused in the grading program from the grade of zero.

Standards Comparison

Read and analyze the explicit and implicit goals apparent in the following four sets of standards for history social-science instruction:

1. National Council for the Social Studies: Curriculum Standards,Thematic Strands
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands/
2. Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies
http://www.firn.edu/doe/menu/sss.htm
3. California History Social-Science Standards
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/im/documents/hsstanmapinstr.pdf
4. Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools
http//www.ankn.uaf.edu/standards/standards.html

Write a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences in these sets of standards. Address the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that these standards recommend for student development. Also describe the goals of each set before comparing them. Identify strengths and shortcomings of the Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies as an educational guide for history social-science teachers in Florida. Then recommend how Florida teachers could augment their instruction through knowledge and use of multiple sets of standards.

Become familiar with a professional organization that can support you in accomplishing the goals of social studies education. This requirement can be accomplished through a review of materials that the organization members produce or disseminate or through participation by your attendance at that organization’s current conference. Follow the steps below and title your review with the name of the organization that you described.

1. Describe the organization’s programs, services, and conferences if they hold them. Identify the activities of the society’s members such as research, social activism, writing or sharing instructional literature, etc.

2. Write a list of the resources such as literature, videos, and other electronic media that you found from the organization which might be useful to you as a teacher.

3. Write the full contact information for the organization: physical and electronic addresses, phone, and web site if they have one.

Multiple Perspectives. Become well-informed of a current social issue. Gather knowledge of the issue from multiple perspectives through research, observation, and discussion. Develop your own broadly informed perspective of the issue and how its conflict should be proactively addressed or resolved. Proactive citizens work to nonviolently resolve conflicts for the well-being of all who are affected by those problems.
Informed Action. Utilizing political, multicultural, economic, or environmental aspects of citizenship, take current action on the issue.

Reflective Report. For writing your report, use the style of the American Psychological Association Manual 5th edition, which is recommended above in course materials. Write your present position on the issue in an essay that fully presents three or more perspectives of the problem and how it might be solved. Conclude your essay with a recommendation for action and a description of the action you took during this course to address the issue. In the References section of your paper, list in APA style the literature you read, people you may have surveyed or interviewed, and the experts with whom you consulted. Provide evidence of the current social action you took in the Appendix of this report.
Components of the social-issue paper: (a) include an explanation of the issue and definitions of specialized terminology, if any are included, (b) three or more perspectives of the issue and corresponding ideas for problem solving, (c) your recommendation for addressing the issue, (d) a summary of the action that you took to address the issue, (e) a reference page, and (f) evidence of your action in an appendix. The length expectation for this paper is a total of six to ten pages including the cover page and at least one appendix. For posting this assignment in Blackboard, you may include just components (a) and (b) of the activism report.

Read the postings of your classmates on Blackboard about the social issues they researched. Make a list of 10 or more current social issues including some or all of the ones your classmates researched. This list will contain two or more descriptive sentences for each social issue you list. Identify which social issues you could address as a teacher of secondary school students. Then suggest how you would incorporate learning about a social issue in a secondary level social studies course. Near the end of the semester, Dr. Carter will provide a Blackboard "quiz" for you to complete this assignment. As the essay "quiz" in Blackboard needs manual scoring, do not be surprised to score 0 as soon you complete this assignment. Dr. Carter will score your responses for completion at a later time.

Curriculum-Resource Evaluation and Recommendation

1. Describe the resource. Include the cost and any of the resource’s features that would make it usable by students or teachers.

2. Describe your criteria that you are using to evaluate the curriculum resource. Name each set of
criteria and identify its foci. For example, one set will be Carter’s Matching Factors.

3. Start evaluating the curriculum and only mention problem areas. Point out how a teacher
might overcome those problems or how best the resource might be used given its limitation(s). For example, consider the usefulness of the curriculum resource for teaching students with special needs.

4. Make a global statement about criteria it does satisfy. In other words, you might state that all
of the criteria in Carter’s Matching Factors would be satisfied in a --- grade level class.

5. Make your recommendation. Be specific about for whom this resource should be ordered, if at
all, and include the grade level of students, teachers, and/or the school library in your
recommendation. Remember to consider the cost and instructional value of the curriculum.

Action Research Project

Locating. Find a middle- or high-school level class in which you can collaborate with the teacher in social studies education. Request the participation of a teacher who is known for, or at least interested in, best practices of social studies. If you are a practicing social studies educator, you may use your own class, along with that of another person, to observe for the purpose of topic identification.
Topic Identification. Your task is to identify an area of need in the practice of social studies that you have observed, or have been informed about by the instructor of the classes. You may identify the content of, instruction in, or assessment of social studies as well as any other aspect of social studies that needs attention.

Topic Identification. Identify one or more social studies courses in which you may observe practice and collaborate with the instructor for learning. Ideally, you will seek an instructor who has a reputation for best practices in social education. If you are a practicing social studies educator, you may use your own class, along with that of another person, to observe for the purpose of topic identification. Your task is to identify an area of need in the practice of social studies that you have observed, or at least been informed about by the instructor of the classes. Through collaboration, you will agree upon a topic for your inquiry in this project.

Literature Review. Review literature from several sources that present research findings on the topic you have selected. Your review will describe the studies and their findings of research on, or closely related to, the topic that you selected. Studies you review should have been conducted within the last ten years, but very few may be more dated if they are pertinent to your topic. Summarize the findings of the studies in your review before you make recommendations for current practice in the classes you have observed.

Informed Response. Prepare your response to the literature by developing a plan for improved practice of social studies. Describe in detail how the plan should address the needs of current students and align it with instructional standards. This response may take the form of a unit for instruction, a curriculum development or revision, a teacher knowledge aid, or any other type of instructional improvement you identify. If possible, begin the implementation of the plan and share its results.

Research Presentation and Paper. Your complete paper will be a minimum length of 20 pages, typed or word processed, including at least 10 references of which a minimum of two are research studies. Your paper will conform to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition (2001).

The appendix of your paper will display products of your action such as the lesson plan, a model of the changes you implemented, student or teacher products of the implementation, or anything else related to the implementation which you can display in the report.

Presentation. Your presentation will conform to the common format used in this discipline. Use a visual for any content aspect of your presentation. You will have 10 minutes to present and five minutes to answer questions about your presentation. If the size of our class exceeds 10 people, we will move up the due date and start the presentations in the earlier class meeting. Or, this can be done on a volunteer basis by three or more students who agree to present one meeting earlier than the rest of the class members. The presentation-score criteria include (a) need statement, (b) research findings, (c) action plan, (d) outcome of implementation, and (e) submission of your complete research paper.

Instructional Demonstration
Prepare for a demonstration in our class one instructional technique for improving current social studies practice. The technique you demonstrate will be assigned to you prior to the class meeting in which you will use it. In the demonstration session, introduce the technique and then have the class briefly participate in it to learn from experience how it is done.

10 percent of grade
1. Class investment:
Regular and prompt attendance as well as participation in class through active and
constructive contributions
Readings review

30 percent of grade
2. Current practice:
Social action report
Social issues plan
Action research paper

20 percent of grade
3. Curriculum planning:
Professional organization review
Instructional demonstration
Curriculum evaluation

40 percent of grade
4. Assessments of your learning:
Reflection assignments, quizzes and final exam

“You are in competition with one person only, and that is the individual you know you may become.” Martha Graham

IMPORTANT COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY POLICIES
(Graduate Students)

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy. The College of Education and Human Services complies with ADA requirements in making reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. Students desiring reasonable accommodations should contact the UNF Office of Disabled Services (Founders Hall 2120; telephone: 904/620-2769) and are encouraged to inform the instructor as early in the semester as possible regarding desired accommodations.
Declaration of Major Policy. In order to complete any graduate degree program in the College of Education and Human Services, students must declare a graduate major and be accepted into a program of study. Admission to graduate study by the University does NOT guarantee admission into a given program of study. Students cannot count more than 10 hours toward any graduate degree without first having been admitted into a program of study. Any hours earned over 10 semester hours working toward a certification or endorsement or as a non-degree-seeking student will NOT be accepted as work toward a graduate degree.

Prior to being considered for admission into a master’s or doctoral degree program, students must submit scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as well as an official transcript of all undergraduate work. The GRE may be taken more than once in an attempt to improve one’s score. Certain graduate programs within the College of Education and Human Services require additional documentation and procedures during the admissions screening process. Students are encouraged to consult the Graduate Catalog and/or contact the College’s Office of Student Services (Schultz Hall 2305; telephone: 904/620-2530) for information regarding admission to a specific graduate program of study.
University Enrollment Policy. Only those students who are admitted to the
University are entitled to enroll in classes, and only those students who are enrolled in a given course are permitted to attend class meetings for that course. Sitting through a class without registering does not constitute enrollment. Instructors are authorized to bar students who are not enrolled in a course from attending class sessions until evidence of enrollment is presented to the instructor. Even if unenrolled students are allowed via the instructor’s oversight to remain in a class, university policy prohibits students from being added to a class roster after the reinstatement deadline. The primary responsibility for assuring that a student is enrolled in a course belongs to the student. Students are therefore encouraged to check their enrollment status several times during each semester with an advisor or via the UNF website.
Policies Governing Student Conduct. The University of North Florida has adopted a Student Conduct Code in order to promote responsible behavior for all students and to assure a physically, emotionally, and intellectually safe university community. This code addresses issues that may threaten the safety and order of the university environment and provides procedures and remedies for addressing these issues. Specific issues addressed include, but are not limited to, sexual misconduct; endangerment; harassment; hazing; possession/use of weapons, alcohol, and illegal drugs; damage or destruction of property; malicious mischief; computer misuse; and falsification/fraud. Students who are aware of and/or feel they are victims of any activity in violation of the Student Conduct Code should report the activity to the University Police or the appropriate campus administrator. The conduct code is available in its entirety on the University website at www.unf.edu/studentaffairs/handbook/HB2002-2003.pdf
Academic Integrity Policy. The University of North Florida has adopted a strict policy on professionalism and academic integrity. As noted in the UNF 2002-2003 Graduate Catalog (pp. 23-24), violations to academic integrity
… include, but are not limited to: cheating; fabricating and falsifying information or citations; submitting the same work for credit in more than one course; plagiarizing; providing another student with access to one’s own work to submit under this person’s name or signature; destroying, stealing, or making inaccessible library or other academic resource material; and helping or attempting to help another person commit an act of academic dishonesty.
The full policy on academic integrity is available on the University website at web address http://www.unf.edu/cse/cis/CSEhtml/CSEAcadIntegrity.html.

The Academic Integrity Policy affords University instructors authority to assign penalties for these offenses. For example, the instructor may assign a grade of “F” on the assignment in question or for the course. In the case of flagrant violations of the Academic Integrity Policy, the instructor may recommend additional specific penalties to the university admission, including referral for academic counseling, expulsion from a grogram of study, denying of degree, expulsion from the University, or revocation of a degree already granted.
E-mail Policy. The University of North Florida’s policy on student e-mail allows academic and service units of the University to use e-mail as the primary means for communicating certain types of information to students. Although individual instructors may determine that “external” (i.e., non-University-provided) e-mail accounts are a suitable means for communicating with students, the University policy specifies that the University-provided e-mail address serve as the “official” e-mail address for purposes of formal electronic communication with students. All students should become knowledgeable of their University-provided e-mail address and either check their account regularly or arrange for all e-mail delivered to their account to be forwarded to an external e-mail account of their choice. Students can find out their e-mail account username, reset their password, and set forwarding options by visiting http://www.unf.edu/compserv/info/osp-acct.html.

You are expected to submit all assignments on time and to arrive on time to each class. Partial attendance in a class meeting will result with partial to no credit, depending on the amount of your participation.
Practice considerate communication with all class participants. Ensure that your discourse with a classmate does not disrupt the learning activities of other members of the class. Ensure that cell phone ringers are audibly turned off during class. Inconsiderate disruption of another’s learning opportunity will result with reduced credit for your class investment on the day it occurs.
For credit, assignments must be complete for submission to the instructor. Use the ratings scale distributed in this class as well as the course syllabus to check for completion of every assignment before you submit it. Ask the instructor for assistance with assignment directions you do not understand. In advance of your planned or unexpected absence, designate at least two classmates to take notes on directions given for class assignments that you miss. Obtain those directions from the classmates and then contact the instructor if you are unclear about work you need to complete due to your absence. Although absences are not excused in this course, work done in class may be completed and submitted to the instructor for credit in the next class meeting, or earlier. Missed assessments must be done before the next class meeting. Contact the instructor in e mail as soon as you know you will miss an assessment and arrangements will be made for its completion within the week. Work that you submit outside of class meetings should be taken to the Office of Curriculum and Instruction (second floor), in Shultz Hall, Building 9 to be placed in the instructor’s mailbox. Work submitted under the instructor’s office door may be mistakenly identified as waste by the cleaning staff and disposed before the instructor see s it.
Written assignments must be done only by you unless you have been directed by the instructor to collaborate with one or more classmates for its completion. Preliminary permission for collaborative writing must be obtained from the instructor for course credit. Collaborative writing with others that is submitted solely as yours will be not be accepted for credit in this course. Submission of work that is not solely your own and for which you have not obtained permission from the instructor and coauthor for such collaboration will result in a failure grade.
Papers submitted in any other class for a grade will not be accepted in this class and an attempt to do so will result in a failure grade for this course. Ask the instructor about use of work you have previously completed in another class which might pertain to assignments you must complete for this course.
Plagiarism is against the law and university rules. Any form or plagiarism by a student will likely result in a failure grade for this course and documentation at this university. If you have any questions regarding definitions of plagiarism, I suggest that you peruse http://www.etsu.edu/philos/classes/hhl/plagiari.htm

National Council for the Social Studies www.ncss.org		National Women’s History Project www.nwhp.org
National Association for Multicultural Education www.nameorg.org/		Educators for Social Responsibility www.esrnational.org/
Teachers Without Borders www.teacherswithoutborders.com/		Anti Defemation League www.adl.org
Teaching Tolerance www.tolerance.org		Amnesty International for Kids www.amnestyusa.org/aikids/ br>
Do History www.dohistory.org		Florida Council for the Social Studies www.fcss.org
Women’s Hall of Fame www.greatwomen.org		Association of International Educators www.nafsa.org/

MADRE www.madre.org/	ERASE www.arc.org/Pages/ArcEd.html
Human Development Report www.undp.org/hdro/indicators.html	Hunger Relief www.secondharvest.org/
Food Safety www.centerforfoodsafety.org/	Amnesty International www.amnestyusa.org/
Global Issues www.globalissues.org	Southern Poverty Law Center www.splcenter.org

Length	Section
1 page	Title page
75 words, new page	Abstract
1 paragraph	Introduction to paper contents
3 pages (with above)	Topic background and local need
4-5 pages	Review of the literature and research
7-8 pages	Action plan and implementation
1-2 pages	Evaluation of implementation
1 or more pages	References
1 or more pages	Appendix

		%
A	=	95+
A-	=	90 - 94
B+	=	88 - 89
B	=	84 - 87
B-	=	80 - 83
C+	=	78 - 79
C	=	74 - 77
C-	=	70 - 73

Course Objective	Knowledge	Skill	Disposition	Impact
1	X		X	X
2	X	X	X	X
3	X	X		X
4	X	X		X
5	X		X	X
6	X	X	X	X
7	X	X	X	X
8	X			X
9	X	X
10	X	X	X
11	X	X
12	X	X