Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of relating the nonschool experiences of students to the content of social studies textbooks. Specifically, this study explored the effect that the use of personalized application level questions had on discussion of social studies textbook content. This study presented a questioning technique in which the teacher helped students relate their nonschool experiences to the discussion of textbook content.
The setting for this study was an elementary school located in Omaha, Nebraska. The subjects for the study were two groups of fifth-grade students which were designated as a control group and an experimental group.
A comparison of the effects of the use of personalized application level questions as compared to generalized application level questions was made through the use of five daily social studies lessons with both groups.
The following conclusions are based upon the findings of the study: (1) The data collected through the use of a Nonschool Activity Student Profile showed that the students were involved in a variety of nonschool activities that were related to social studies programs in schools. (2) The use of personalized application level questions required more time to discuss social studies textbook content than when generalized application level questions were used. Also, when personalized application level questions were used, it appeared that a greater portion of lesson time was consumed by student talk during discussion with less time used for teacher talk. (3) When personalized application level questions were used in the discussion of textbook content, the number of interactions between students and the teachers and among students were greater as compared to the use of generalized application level questions. Also, students seemed to relate their nonschool experiences to the discussion of textbook content when personalized application level questions were used.
