What do students learn when they learn in a social constructivist social studies unit? What are students views about learning in a constructivist social studies unit?

Barry Hoag

I have been using this type of strategy as part of meeting the learning outcomes for the grade six social studies curriculum the past few years. This idea has continued to evolve and the culminating activity of this strategy is presently set up similarly to a science fair in what I call an "international fair".

The students do research on a country or culture with support from the classroom teacher and the teacher-librarian. Students are then guided through the process and skills of writing a report and presenting an oral report. Here is a direct connection to Roth's notion of apprenticeship implying a culture of sharing and learning among and from the peer group. The teacher's role is more involved, having three components - modelling, scaffolding and fading. The teacher determines the degree of personal involvement as the process evolves.
Finally, as a culminating activity, students set up a booth in the school gym as they would in a science fair. Students display charts, flags, collages, souvenirs, pictures, models etc. and use the various forms of media as a tool to present their particular culture or country to a small group of peers. Later, in a less formal setting, other classes and parents are invited to attend and casually explore individual projects where students informally share information and answer questions.

I see this "international fair" as a concept that not only does a splendid job in meeting the requirements of the social studies learning outcomes but I also see it as a whole curriculum strategy, permeating and adding to existing parameters, not only of social studies but in a holistic way across all the school-organized learning experiences of the student.
Judging from the reactions and enthusiasm from students, parents, colleagues and administration, I feel that this has been a most successful strategy. As part of my project, for this course, I interviewed two grade six students in a mini study format to investigate and appreciate the methods of inquiry and in conducting an actual research project. I found this to be a most enlightening experience. First of all, I found both students to be surprisingly candid and open in the answering of questions.  Second, I realized that designing questions needs to be a well thought out process. As I asked questions, others immediately popped into my head. Third, I found it very difficult to document the responses using the "pencil and paper" method in the first interview. I could not keep up my note taking pace to a level I was comfortable with, nor could I read some of my notes post interview because of the poor handwriting. Using a video camera on the second interview, I was able to transcribe the data with ease and decipher it at a later date. Finally, and possibly most significantly enlightening were the actual student responses. Both students conveyed that they thought this was an excellent method for learning about other countries and cultures. A complete revelation was the fact that both students felt it was verifiably important to be able to put their work on display. It was a method that allowed the parent and student populations a chance to view and recognize their hard work and appreciate the excellence results. During my interviews, I was able to perceive a profound sense of pride filtering through the comments of both students.

Not only has this mini study has allowed me to learn more about the design of classroom-based qualitative research, it has confirmed my intent to investigate this process as the major project of my masters program.