Improving Content Knowledge in Social Studies for Upper Elementary Students

Authors

  • Caitlin Dalton University of North Georgia, USA
  • Joshua Cuevas University of North Georgia, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v5i3p18

Keywords:

PACT, Social Studies, Elementary Education, Primary Sources, Reading Comprehension

Abstract

  This study investigated the effects of the instructional method Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content through Text (PACT) on the social studies content acquisition, reading comprehension, and attitudes towards socials studies in fourth grade students. The use of PACT has been investigated heavily in middle-school and high school social studies classes, shown to consistently produce positive results in content acquisition and retention in these two age groups. PACT was administered to the treatment group. It was found to increase content acquisition in the treatment group by a statistically significant margin. No effect was found on student attitudes. Inconsistent results were found in reading comprehension. ANCOVA were used to analyze pre/post-test data on content test, reading comprehension articles from ReadWorks, and Attitudes Towards Social Studies survey. PACT seems to have had a positive impact on student content acquisition.

References

Anderson, R. C., Freebody, P., Illinois Univ., U. R., & Bolt, B. M. (1982). Reading comprehension and the assessment and acquisition of word knowledge. Technical Report No. 249. Retrieved from https://ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/17540/ctrstreadtechrepv01982i00249_opt.pdf?sequence=1

Barton, K. C. (1997). “I just kinda know”: Elementary students’ ideas about historical evidence. Theory and Research in Social Education, 25(4), 407-30.

Bolinger, K., & Warren, W. J. (2007). Methods practiced in social studies instruction: A review of public school teachers’ strategies. International Journal of Social Education, 22(1), 68–84.

Cromley, J. G., & Azevedo, R. (2007). Testing and refining the direct and inferential mediation model of reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 311–325. DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.99.2.311

Dasher, J. (n.d.) K-12 Public schools report card-Indicators & demographics. Retrieved from https://gaawards.gosa.ga.gov/analytics/saw.dll?PortalPages

Forsyth County Schools (2016) Retrieved from https://forsyth.k12.ga.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=583

Georgia Department of Education (n.d. a) Georgia Milestones Assessment System. Retrieved from https://gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Assessment/Pages/Georgia-Milestones-Assessment-System.aspx

Georgia Department of Education (n.d. b) Georgia Standards of Excellence Retrieved from www.georgiastandards.org

Haidet, P., Kubitz, K., & McCormack, W. T. (2014). Analysis of the team-based learning literature: TBL comes of age. Journal on Excellence In College Teaching, 25(3/4), 303-333.

Hairrell, A., Simmons, D., Rupley, W., & Vaughn, S. (2011). An investigation of fourth-grade teachers’ use of vocabulary instruction in social studies. Journal of Reading Education, 36(3), 19-26.

Hedrick, W. B., Harmon, J. M., & Linerode, P. M. (2004). Teachers’ beliefs and practices of vocabulary instruction with social studies textbooks in grades 4-8. Reading Horizons, 45(2-), 103-125.

Hettler, P. (2015). Student demographics and the impact of team-based learning. International Advances in Economic Research, 21(4), 413-422.

Johnson, D., Moe, A., & Baumann, J. (1983). 7th Ginn word book for teachers: A basic lexicon. Lexington, MA: Ginn.

Jorgensen, C. (1995). Essential questions—Inclusive answers. Educational Leadership, 52(4), 52-55.

McTighe, J., & Brown, J. L. (2005). Differentiated instruction and educational standards: Is detente possible? Theory into Practice, 44(3), 234-244. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4403_8

Michaelsen, L., Sweet, M. & Parmalee, D. (2009) Team-based learning: Small group learning’s next big step. New Directions in Teaching and Learning, 7-27.

Mooney, P., & Lastrapes, R. E. (2016). The benchmarking capacity of a general outcome measure of academic language in science and social studies. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 41(4), 209-219. doi:10.1177/1534508415624648

Nagy, W. E., Herman, P. A., & Anderson, R. C. (1985). Learning words from context. Reading Research Quarterly, 20(2), 233-253.

Read Works. (2012a). American Government – The Bill of Rights Part I. Retrieved from https://readworks.org/article/American-Government—The-Bill-of-Rights-Part-I/9c54b60a-65ea-4ff3-a049-36111fdc5b00#!articleTab:content/

Read Works. (2012b). Westward Expansion – The Oregon Trail. Retrieved from https://readworks.org/article/Westward-Expansion—The-Oregon-Trail/dd331583-b76b-400d-a41f-7db4f25c71cc#!articleTab:content/

Ritchhart, R. (2012) The real power of questions. Creative Teaching & Learning, 2(4), 8-12.

Roberts, G., Scammacca, N., Osman, D., Hall, C., Mohammed, S., & Vaughn, S. (2014).

Team-based learning: Moderating effects of metacognitive elaborative rehearsal and middle school history content recall. Educational Psychology Review, 26(3), 451. doi:10.1007/s10648-014-9266-2

Roberts, K., & Brugar, K. (2014). Navigating maps to support comprehension: When textbooks don’t have GPS. The Geography Teacher, 11(4), 149-163. doi: 10.1080/19338341.2014.975143

Solís, M., Scammacca, N., Barth, A. E., & Roberts, G. J. (2017). Text-based vocabulary intervention training study: Supporting fourth graders with low reading comprehension and learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities — A Contemporary Journal, 15(1), 103.

Tapia, M. & Marsh, G. E. (2004) An instrument to measure mathematics attitudes. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 8(2), 16-21.

VanSledright, B. A. (2002). Fifth graders investigating history in the classroom: Results from a researcher-practitioner design experiment. The Elementary School Journal, 103(2), 131-160. doi:10.1086/499720

VanSledright, B. A. (2004). What does it mean to think historically … and how do you teach it? Social Education, 68(3), 230.

Vaughn, S., Martinez, L. R., Wanzek, J., Roberts, G., Swanson, E., & Fall, A. (2017). Improving content knowledge and comprehension for English language learners: Findings from a randomized control trial. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(1), 22-34. doi:10.1037/edu0000069

Vaughn, S., Roberts,G.,Swanson, E., Wanzek, J., Fall, A., Stillman-Sipsak, S. (2015, March). Improving middle-school students’ knowledge and comprehension in social studies: A replication. Educational Psychology Review, 27, 31-50. doi:10.1007/s10648-014-9274-2

Vaughn, S., Swanson, E. A., Roberts, G., Wanzek, J., Stillman‐Spisak, S. J., Solis, M., & Simmons, D. (2013). Improving reading comprehension and social studies knowledge in middle school. Reading Research Quarterly, 48(1), 77-93.

Vaughn, S., Klingner, J. K., Swanson, E. A., Boardman, A. G., Roberts, G., Mohammed, S. S., & Stillman-Spisak, S. J. (2011). Efficacy of collaborative strategic reading with middle school students. American Educational Research Journal, 48(4), 938-964.

Wanzek, J., Kent, S. C., Vaughn, S., Swanson, E. A., Roberts, G., & Haynes, M. (2015). Implementing team-based learning in middle school social studies classes. Journal of Educational Research, 108(4), 331-344. doi:10.1080/00220671.2014.893224

Wanzek, J., Swanson, E., Vaughn, S., Roberts, G., & Fall, A. (2016). English learner and non-english learner students with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 82(4), 428. doi:10.1177/0014402915619419

Wanzek, J., Vaughn, S., Kent, S. C., Swanson, E. A., Roberts, G., Haynes, M., & Solis, M. (2014). The effects of team-based learning on social studies knowledge acquisition in high school. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 7(2), 183-204. doi:10.1080/19345747.2013.836765

Weinburgh, M., Silva, C., Smith, K., Groulx, J., & Nettles, J. (2014). The intersection of inquiry-based science and language: Preparing teachers for ELL classrooms. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 25(5), 519-541. doi:10.1007/s10972-014-9389-9

Willis, J. S. (2007). Putting the squeeze on social studies: Managing teaching dilemmas in subject areas excluded from state testing. Teachers College Record, 109(8), 1980-2046.

Wilhelm, J. (2014) Learning to love the questions: How essential questions promote creativity and deep learning. Knowledge Quest, 42(5), 36-41.

Downloads

Published

12.09.2024

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Dalton, C., & Cuevas, J. (2024). Improving Content Knowledge in Social Studies for Upper Elementary Students. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 5(3), 18-42. https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v5i3p18

Similar Articles

1-10 of 555

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.