Social sciences--Study and teaching

The problem examined by this study is that there is no conceptual design for teachers and students in the social sciences for (1) organizing ethnic content and (2) comparing and analyzing ethnic group experiences. The following research questions were addressed: (1) What factors about the experiences of ethnic groups inhibit or promote the retention of original cultural characteristics? (2) Which of the original cultural characteristics of an ethnic group were lost voluntarily and which were lost as the price for inclusion into the larger society? (3) What factors account for the different rates of retention of original cultural characteristics among various ethnic groups? (4) What is the significance of presenting material in the social sciences from a monoethnic perspective? (5) Among the original cultural characteristics that ethnic groups have, which are most susceptible to extinction or modification? (6) What is the effect of the length of stay of an ethnic group in the host society on the retention of original cultural characteristics? and (7) What is the difference in the retention of original cultural characteristics, if any, among ethnic group members who settled in rural or urban areas? The study reviewed the literature in two categories: literature on the topic of ethnicity and works on incorporating ethnic content to create a multiethnic curriculum. The literature on ethnicity produced a series of characteristics which help to define the parameters of ethnic identity. This literature also gives steps which facilitate or retard the integration of an ethnic group in the host society. The literature on teaching ethnic content revealed some very useful approaches, models and typologies. Host materials in this field were found to have been published in the last decade. This literature did not produce a detailed design that could be used in the classroom to analyze the factors which affect the retention or loss of an ethnic group's original cultural characteristics. The theme developed in this study begins with an analysis of selected characteristics of an ethnic group's original culture. Experiences of an ethnic group which modified one or more of the characteristics of original culture were identified. The final phase is the determination of what characteristics selected survived until the present and in what form. The design then documents the characteristics at the point of origin, passing through the modifying experiences and the extent to which the characteristics chosen survived. The initial design was sent to a panel of experts in multiethnic education. Their reactions were then incorporated into a revised design. The revised design was then applied to three ethnic groups: Black, Cuban and Jewish-Americans. These groups were chosen because they represent ethnicity along racial, national and religious lines. The application of the design revealed that the design contained the flexibility to accommodate the analysis of different types of ethnic groups. The design was of significant assistance in examining and classifying information on each of the three ethnic groups as well as providing a framework from which a summary about each group could be compiled. Several recommendations for future research were made as a result of this study. The recommendations are: (1) Future research could focus on a cross-national comparison of an ethnic group's adaptation in two or more societies. (2) An analysis of stages of ethnic identification and the factors that affect this spectrum of identity is recommended. (3) More study needs to be done on cultural characteristics developed by an ethnic group which are neither derived from its original culture nor similar to patterns found elsewhere in the host society.

In an effort to resolve the declining popularity of
World History in the Community Junior College, "A New Use
for Generalizations in the Teaching of World History" was
designed. Students have rebelled at traditional World
History courses because they have been forced to memorize
masses of irrelevant data; they have not been shown meaningful
transitions that would give students a sense of confidence
in their inheritance from the past; and students have
not received help from World History content to solve
current problems. "Living Ages," a syllabus for a World History course
using generalizations was included in the dissertation. The
course had been taught by Mary Stanton while head of the
Social Science Department and professor of history at Palm
Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach. A slight revision
of the chronological time-line models gave more time
for the emerging Third World Nations. The author's current
revision utilizing the principles of the doctoral dissertation
will make the course ready to teach as a survey
of World History on the college level.

The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility of
diagnosing community college students' cognitive functioning abilities,
in social science content areas, by means of a Piagetian type clinical
diagnosis. In addition, analyses were made to determine the relationships
between isolated constructs of cognitive functioning and certain
demographic variables. The initial expectation was that factor analysis
would yield constructs aligned with constructs of cognitive functioning
delineated by Piaget. It was also expected that the diagnosis would
significantly distinguish between the three strata of subjects as the
strata were formed on the basis of the subjects' past levels of academic
performance. On the other hand, it was not expected that the diagnosis
would be discriminatory in reference to other demographic variables
studied. Observation of the results of the factor analysis confirmed
the expectations regarding the Piagetian aligned factor structure of the
diagnosis and offered a construct validity and reliability estimate of
approximately .86. Observation of the results of the relational studies
served to support the stated expectations except that measures related
to three of the constructs were discriminatory along the dimension of
sex.
Twelve factors or constructs aligned with Piaget's theory were
isolated. The constructs represented both a concrete operational and
an abstract operational level of cognitive functioning for most of the
cognitive tasks diagnosed. Seven of the factors discriminated significantly
(p<.001) between the strata and, in all cases, discriminated in
favor of stratum three, the stratum with highest past level of academic
performance. The subjects in the stratum with the lowest level of
academic performance, stratum one, and frequently stratum two subjects
were functioning at a concrete operational level during the diagnosis.
The important findings of this research necessitate
immediate and continuous research of Piagetian remediation approaches
based on the diagnosis and remediation of the learner's cognitive functioning
abilities.