Social Studies Worksheets Considerate Instructional Design Karen K. Wixson Associate Professor of Education, University of Michigan Integrated social studies instruction requires a consideration of both the what and the how of instruction.
Effective instruction is possible only when one is considered with the other.
WHAT The what is concerned with the focus of the instruction. Traditionally, social studies instruction has emphasized either content or process. This type of curriculum leads to a superficial understanding of many disconnected bits of information and results in the failed learning that is so often documented in the press. A curriculum needs to teach processing skills in the context of disciplinary knowledge. Authentic materials are those basic sources of information used in the study of a particular subject.