Georgia College & State University
Traveling Trunk
Liberal Studies Capstone 4930
Erica Van Keuren
4/28/2010
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” -Confucius
Senior Project “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. ~Confucius”
The purpose of this paper is to look at use of a travel trunk used by the Atlanta History
Center to assess teacher satisfaction in their perception of student learning. To do this, I
shadowed the Outreach Educator at the Atlanta History Center. In addition, I created a survey on
Survey Monkey to poll the teachers who have used a travel trunk. The survey asked teachers
how well the trunk engaged their students. The respondents participated in trunks designed
around other Georgia Performance Standards. The survey polled the teachers’ opinion for
whether they would use a traveling trunk built around an eighth-grade Social Studies standard.
The Georgia Performance Standards have been established by the state as a curriculum
guide used by teachers to develop and implement lesson plans. These consist of content
standards in math, language arts, social studies, science, and foreign languages that students are
taught by teachers with the aid of textbooks, handouts, and any other available resources. In an
ideal classroom, all students would understand new lessons. The teacher would not deal with
language barriers; varied learning styles, or have to think about how to find adequate resources
for the classroom.
While I was a student teacher in the field schools of the special education cohort, I asked
the students for their thoughts on history: did they like it or dislike it and why. Many of them
said that they thought history was boring because it is in the past and didn’t affect them today.
One survey asked a sample of students to “‘pick one word or phrase to describe your experiences
with history classes in elementary or high school.’ Negative descriptions significantly
outweighed positive ones. ‘Boring’ was the single most common word offered.”1 At this
moment, I would always interject that the events of the past affect the way we live today and the
1 Bass, Randy, and Roy Rosenzweig. Rewiring the History and Social Studies Classroom: Needs, Frameworks, Dangers, and Proposals. George Mason University, June 20, 2005.
people of historical times have shaped who we will become. I was surprised when a student’s
face expressed not only wonder but want to understand how a past event that seemed
meaningless could have a significant impact on daily life.
Textbooks are the popular teaching tool especially for educating students about history because
they lend themselves well to facts and stories retell and this is the majority of the content in
history. However, facts tell only one part of the story and that story may only appeal to a select
student population thereby leaving the remaining students unengaged with a history lesson. This
is problematic because to successfully teach all students must remain engaged in the present
moment. How is a teacher supposed to capture and hold all students’ attention for a history class
if each student has uniquely different interests and learning styles? Thinking outside the box
utilizes creative imagination; likewise teaching outside the box implores the same talents. If a
teacher is to successfully conduct a history lesson to cover a specific standard, the class could go
on a fieldtrip to a museum or historic site, however, what if school budget does not have the
funding for the transportation for the “teachable moment?” One option is to bring the history
museum to the classroom via a travel trunk, filled with artifacts and museum displays
representative of past time periods. For example, if Georgia eighth-grade students must learn
SS8H7 to pass the Eighth-grade Georgia History Test. What better way than by utilizing a travel
trunk to teach to all learners regardless of languages or learning styles? Can a travel trunk
successfully teach Georgia eighth-graders the history content in SS8H7?
The standard: SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic
changes that occurred in Georgia between 1877 and 1918.
A. Evaluate the impact the Bourbon Triumvirate, Henry Grady, International Cotton Exposition
(1881 event to promote investment and to help Atlanta toward its goal of becoming an industrial
center.), Tom Watson and the Populists, Rebecca Latimer Felton, the 1906 Atlanta Riot, the Leo
Frank Case, and the county unit system had on Georgia during this period.
B. Analyze how rights were denied to African-Americans through Jim Crow laws, Plessy v.
Ferguson ("separate but equal" doctrine), disenfranchisement, and racial violence.
C. Explain the roles of Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. DuBois, John and Lugenia Burns Hope,
and Alonzo Herndon.
D. Explain reasons for World War I and describe Georgia’s contributions.
Last September, I observed students using the contents of a World War II travel trunk
from the Atlanta History Center. I shadowed Beth Woodward, outreach educator for Atlanta
History Center, to learn about a new method for teaching students the Georgia Performance
Standards. Although I was in a special education cohort for a year and a half, I was still timid
about what my expectations were and my role in the situation. As I worked with Beth Woodward
when she was using the World War II educational travel trunk, I was allowed to observe the
environment before any interaction with the students occurred. While observing the room prior
to the students’ arrival, I saw that there were several different types of learning stations. The
stations included artifacts and materials such as posters and advertisements from the time period
for the visual/spatial learner, textiles and various clothing articles for the bodily/kinesthetic
learner, a restored music box that would play a digitized version of former President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats for the musical-rhythmic and verbal/linguistic learner, geographic
maps for visual/spatial learner, and newspaper clippings with reports of significant events and
developments during the war for the students to order chronologically for the
logical/mathematical learner.2 Each of these stations applied Howard Gardner’s learning styles
2 Atlanta History Center, “Education: Traveling History Trunks World War II,” Atlanta History Center, http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/cms/Traveling+History+Trunks/34.html (accessed April 19, 2010).
theory of multiple intelligences. The interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences were engaged
when the students participated in cooperative group work to arrange event dates and when each
student shared what s/he learned from the lesson and liked most. The group share time used the
linguistic and the intrapersonal intelligences because the students were encouraged to verbalize
what s/he learned and demonstrated social awareness in the classroom. Students have different
learning styles. “Gardner argued that new ways of looking at human intelligence must be
developed: in my view, if we are to encompass adequately the realm of human cognition, it is
necessary to include a far wider and more universal set of competencies than has ordinarily been
considered…I have formulated a definition of what I call an ‘intelligence.’ An intelligence is the
ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural
settings. Gardner argued that the human mind has at least seven relatively autonomous human
intellectual competencies—linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, visual/spatial,
bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Each History Alive! Activity taps into as
many of these intelligences as possible.”3 Utilization of Gardner’s learning styles led to better,
more effective and efficient student engagement within the lesson. By incorporating Gardner’s
learning theory, the students were “hooked” per se from start to finish because every student was
naturally interested and intrigued with at least one of the stations due to the fact that the stations
were able to meet the student’s unique learning styles.
Mrs. Woodward explained that the Atlanta History Center builds their educational travel
trunks around the idea of “concept, context, and comprehension.”4 With “concept,” the outreach
3 Bower, Bert. "History Alive! An Alternative Program for Engaging Diverse Learners." The Educational Forum (Kappa Delta Pi) 58 (Spring 1994): 315-322.
4 Atlanta History Center, “Hands-On History,” Atlanta History Center,
http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/cms/Hands-On+History/33.html (accessed April 19, 2010).
educator must choose a specific standard that the trunk will aid in teaching. The standard refers
to the Georgia Performance Standards which are defined as “performance standards that provide
clear expectations for instruction, assessment, and student work. They define the level of work
that demonstrates achievement of the standards, enabling a teacher to know ‘how good is good
enough.’ The performance standards isolate and identify the skills needed to problem-solve,
reason, communicate, and make connections with other information. They also tell the teacher
how to assess the extent to which the student knows the material or can manipulate and apply the
information. The performance standards incorporate the content standard, which simply tells the
teacher what a student is expected to know (i.e., what concepts he or she is expected to master).
Additionally, it adds to these concepts by providing three additional items: suggested tasks,
sample student work, and teacher commentary on that work.”5 The “context” refers to how the
outreach educator, or any educator for that matter, will teach the strands of the given standard as
well as quantifying the amount of learning that will occur. “Comprehension” is the student’s
ability to relate the new information to prior knowledge and for the student to demonstrate a
connection and understanding. This method is almost identical to one I learned while in the
cohort called backwards design whose motto was “begin with the end in mind.”6 This means the
educator has to pick the standard to teach, quantify his/her measurements for student learning,
and finally evaluate and measure learning through various mediums such as comparing student
scores from a pre- and post test.
5 Georgia Department of Education. Georgia Performance Standards (GPS). 2010. https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/BrowseStandards/BrowseGPS.aspx (accessed April 19, 2010).
6 Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design Expanded 2nd ed. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for the Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), 2005.
As Mrs. Woodward explained the “concept, context, and comprehension” approach with
concrete objects, I was finally able to understand the backwards design theory. My inability to
comprehend this originally was caused by the abstractness of the backwards design method and
theory. Until I could see and touch the steps, I did not fully understand how to use the method.
This hands-on explanation was especially helpful for me because I have Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder and Beth was incredibly patient with me as I asked many questions so
that I could finally understand and have my “ah ha moment.” I learned with different teaching
methodologies.
While doing my background research, I found scholarly articles that provided
many such examples of similar successful situations of student comprehension through different
teaching methodologies. Each situation is unique. My first example comes from an article by
Bass and Rosenzweig that queried “what pedagogical problems are you looking to solve? Most
commonly, they say they want their students more engaged with learning; they want students to
construct new and better relationships to knowledge, not just represent it on tests; and they want
students to acquire deeper more lasting understanding of essential concepts.”7 Bass and
Rosenzweig suggest using technology to promote active learning with “(1) inquiry based
learning utilizing primary sources available on cd-roms and the web, including the exploration of
multimedia environments with potentially fluid combinations of text, image, sound, moving
images in presentational and inquiry activities, involving different senses and forms of
expression and addressing different learning styles; (2) bridging reading and writing through on-
line interaction, extending the time and space for dialogue and learning, and joining literacy with
disciplinary and interdisciplinary inquiry; (3) making student work public in new media formats,
7 Bass, Randy, and Roy Rosenzweig. Rewiring the History and Social Studies Classroom: Needs, Frameworks, Dangers, and Proposals. George Mason University, June 20, 2005.
encouraging constructivist pedagogies through the creation and exchange of knowledge-
representations, and creating opportunities for review by broader professional and public
audiences…one of the key elements in this pedagogy is the importance of student discussion and
interaction with the instructor and with each other, which provides opportunities for students to
articulate, exchange, and deepen their learning.”8 Although there was no mention of an
educational travel trunk within this article, the pedagogy is the same as that of a trunk’s in which
the students’ interactions and opportunities to experience learning with primary documents that
“give students a sense of the reality and the complexity of the past; they represent an opportunity
to go beyond the predigested, seamless quality of most textbooks to engage with real people and
problems. The fragmentary and contradictory nature of primary sources can be challenging and
frustrating, but also intriguing and ultimately rewarding, helping students understand the
problematic nature of evidence and the constructed quality of historical and social
interpretations.”9
History Alive! An Alternative Program for Engaging Diverse Learners are activities that
were created by Teachers’ Curriculum Institute in 1989. “They [teachers] discovered that when
history is taught using an active, student-centered approach, students not only remember their
lessons but truly appreciate how history affects their own lives…. [Their] goal was to create a
series of innovative instructional practices that allow students with diverse learning styles to
‘experience’ history in the classroom, rather than learn it in a traditional environment where
lecture, recitation, and seatwork predominate.”10 The article also mentioned that importance of 8 Ibid.
9 Bass, Randy, and Roy Rosenzweig. Rewiring the History and Social Studies Classroom: Needs, Frameworks, Dangers, and Proposals. George Mason University, June 20, 2005.
10 Bower, Bert. "History Alive! An Alternative Program for Engaging Diverse Learners." The Educational Forum (Kappa Delta Pi) 58 (Spring 1994): 315-322.
Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory in relation with teaching diverse learners. Furthermore,
Bower and researchers report that “cooperative group work promotes higher student achievement
and productivity than either competitive or individualistic teaching methods (Johnson and
Johnson 1981).”11 Human beings can be competitive by nature in all parts of life yet how this
characteristic is handled can greatly affect the classroom atmosphere. The last part of the History
Alive! Program applies Jerome Bruner’s “ ‘spiral curriculum’ belief that all students can learn if
a teacher shows them how to think and discover knowledge for themselves…defined broadly,
higher-order thinking is the challenged and expanded use of the mind; lower-order thinking is the
routine, mechanistic application of the mind…by leading students through this step-by-step
process of self-discovery, teachers ensure that students from a variety of academic levels will
have the conceptual information necessary to answer complex questions.’”12
Bower quotes an educator who recalled her experience from 1986 when “she discovered
that when students perform a collective task, some are more influential than others. She
developed a type of cooperative group work that minimizes status inequalities among students
and has resulted in more equitable group interaction and learning gains.”13 This particular teacher
minimized the status inequalities among the students and focused on the student contributions to
the group as a whole for academic achievement. These status inequalities may include but are not
limited to income, social capital, residence, occupation, transportation, financial assets, and/or
educational background.
11 Ibid.
12 Bower, Bert. "History Alive! An Alternative Program for Engaging Diverse Learners." The Educational Forum (Kappa Delta Pi) 58 (Spring 1994): 315-322.
13 Ibid.
Another teacher from the Bower article is Mr. Kelly. He taught a lesson on immigration
in the traditional textbook method. He found that his students had no interest in the topic
therefore; he changed his approach for the next school year. Per his experience “…by the end of
the lesson, Kelly’s students had vicariously experienced the immigrant condition. Rather than
relying solely on linguistic input, the lesson challenged students to use their visual/spatial,
bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligences as well. This gave all of his
students access to the concept of immigration and motivated them to learn more; after the lesson,
the class read a short play Kelly had written about his family’s immigration history and even
shared their own families’ stories. ‘I was amazed at how differently students reacted to this
lesson compared to my lesson the year before. If you give students a chance to think for
themselves and to go back in time to relive a bit of history, you are going to create a much more
powerful learning experience.’”14 Bower’s final statement: “most teachers using the History
Alive! Approach have discovered that conventional teaching reaches fewer and fewer students
each year. They report that changes among their students—shortened attention spans, lack of
parental involvement, time-consuming jobs, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and negative peer
pressure—are making it increasingly difficult to teach all their students. But by creating
curricular materials that focus on the multiple intelligences, cooperative interaction, and careful
spiraling of learning objectives, teachers are able to actively engage a much wider group of
students.”15
In addition to these scholarly reports, I also found a dissertation on A Chronological
Study of Experiential Education in the American History Museum written by Bettye Alexander
14 Bower, Bert. "History Alive! An Alternative Program for Engaging Diverse Learners." The Educational Forum (Kappa Delta Pi) 58 (Spring 1994): 315-322.
15 Ibid.
Cook in 2007. Cook is a proponent for using experiential education and furthermore, she cites
important and renowned educational theorists whose contributions and theories have shaped
experiential education as it is known today. “Experiential education involves doing with hands
touching physical materials. Four secondary questions concerned antecedents of experiential
learning, reasons to invest in the method, the influence of social context, and cultural pluralism.
Next she reviews the theorists whose works support experiential learning: Dewey, Piaget,
Vygotsky, Lewin, Bruner, Eisner, Hein, and David Kolb plus Master Parks Interpreter Freeman
Tilden. The 8 characteristics they support include prior experiences, physical actions, interaction
with the environment, and use of the senses, emotion, social relationships, and personal
meaning.”16 These eight characteristics should be familiar to the reader since they are Gardner’s
multiple intelligences and have been cited as beneficial to incorporate when teaching diverse
learners such as those in a typical classroom in today’s society. “In the present atmosphere of
direct instruction and testing in the public school arena, testing is viewed as the most objective
means of determining learning. In contrast, in 1958, Wallace Rosenbaur (1958) of Stamford
Museum was thinking of experiential education when he said that what people simply hear stays
apart from them until they can interact with it and know it for themselves. Another aspect of
experiential education is that people do it voluntarily. Falk and Dierking stated that it is ‘learning
individuals do because they want to rather than because they have to’ (2000, 211). People want
to be in control of who, what, where, when, and how they learn. Jan Packer (2006) noted the
value and enjoyment in such learning.”17 As mentioned in Mr. Kelly’s classroom example, the
16 Cook, Bettye Alexander. A Chronological Study of Experiential Education in the American History Museum. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of Doctor of Education, University of North Texas, Denton: University of North Texas, 2007, 248.
17 Ibid.
students enjoyed learning history in a new approach that enabled them to think for themselves
and give special meaning to historical events.
Cook cites that “the association for experiential education gave the following definition
for this type of learning: ‘experiential education is a philosophy and methodology in which
educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflections in order
to increase knowledge, develop skills and clarify values.’ The key words here are direct
experience and focused reflection. The association explained further: ‘Throughout the
experiential learning process, the learner is actively engaged in posing questions, investigating,
experimenting, being curious, solving problems, assuming responsibility, being creative, and
constructing meaning…learners are engaged intellectually, emotionally, socially, soulfully
and/or physically. This involvement produces a perception that the learning task is authentic…
the results of the learning are personal and form the basis for future experience and learning…
relationships are developed and nurtured: learner to self, learner to others and learner to the
world at large.”18
Alvin Powell reported in the Harvard Outward Bound Project that “learning from each
other and learning by doing are hallmarks of experiential education.” From this mass description,
a cogent definition is difficult but possible. In its most elemental form, experiential education
involves some physical doing, not just watching or thinking. Learners will have a choice in the
experience, whether it is active learning, emotion, or entertainment. Some of the senses will be
used. The learner may engage in activity alone or with others.19
18 Cook, Bettye Alexander. A Chronological Study of Experiential Education in the American History Museum. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of Doctor of Education, University of North Texas, Denton: University of North Texas, 2007, 248.
19 Ibid.
Survey
I created a survey on Survey Monkey. The survey was sent out to teachers who used the
Atlanta History Center’s traveling trunks. The survey evaluated the teacher’s experience with the
history travel trunk and solicited their feedback concerning its use in conjunction with Georgia
Performance Standards. In total, there were 34 respondents from the teachers. To view the
survey instrument and responses, please see the Appendix.
The first question asked teachers if they liked or disliked the traveling trunk. 94.1%
responded yes. The second question asked what aspects the teachers liked or disliked the most.
Many responded that they liked the primary artifacts, the ready to use resources, prepared lesson
plan materials. In the trunk evaluation section of the survey, teachers were asked how well the
trunk engaged students throughout the lessons(s). Almost 70% of responses were extremely well.
In the application to multiple disciplines section, the question asked if the educational trunk
could be used to teach a variety of disciplines in addition to history. Almost 50% of the
respondents thought the trunks should address several Georgia Performance Standards. The next
question asked what other subject areas the trunk could be applied? English Language Arts,
Reading and Writing were about 60-70% each then Geography near 55% and Economics close
behind at 45.5%. Science and Mathematics were near 30%. From this data, one could infer that
the educational travel trunk is interdisciplinary because it is applicable to all subjects. It could be
used to teach a thematic unit if necessary. My next question asked if teachers wanted to see the
trunk built around more than one standard. Over half of the respondents said “Yes, I would like
to see the trunk built around more than one Social Studies standard and address other subjects
outside of Social Studies.” The final questions polled the teacher’s likelihood of using a trunk to
engage students for standard SS8H7. Again, over half of the respondents stated they would be
eager to use a trunk for this standard.
I wanted to combine the classes from my four disciplines. My time in the education
classes showed me different teaching methods and student learning styles. Through the survey
and research review, this project supports the use of travel trunks to satisfy Georgia Performance
Standards as well as keep students engaged in a lesson.
SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes that occurred in
Georgia between 1877 and 1918.
A. Evaluate the impact the Bourbon Triumvirate, Henry Grady, International Cotton Exposition
(1881 event to promote investment and to help Atlanta toward its goal of becoming an industrial
center.), Tom Watson and the Populists, Rebecca Latimer Felton, the 1906 Atlanta Riot, the Leo
Frank Case, and the county unit system had on Georgia during this period.
B. Analyze how rights were denied to African-Americans through Jim Crow laws, Plessy v.
Ferguson ("separate but equal" doctrine), disenfranchisement, and racial violence.
C. Explain the roles of Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. DuBois, John and Lugenia Burns Hope,
and Alonzo Herndon.
D. Explain reasons for World War I and describe Georgia’s contributions.
Concept SS8H7
Artifact Historical Lesson Interdisciplinary Lesson Gardner’s Intelligence
A Railroad spike, cotton, pencils, men and women’s clothing, map of Georgia (1877-1919)
Atlanta Ring, Grady Hospital, Georgia Tech, Women’s Rights, Racial Tensions, Anti-Semitism
Students will reenact the events using the artifacts. They will write biographies on the individuals. Students will study the cotton plant and work as a class to try to
Visual/Spatial, Bodily/Kinesthetic Verbal/Linguistic Logical/Mathematical
grow cotton. Students will hold cards and create a chronological timeline of events.
B Gavel, Reprint of laws from 1877-1919, Images of racial violence, Signs
Racial class distinctions
Students will work in groups to explain Jim Crow laws in their own words. Students will use any mediums to show how disenfranchisement and racial violence affects them and provide a short summary.
Visual/Spatial Bodily/Kinesthetic Verbal/Linguistic Interpersonal Intrapersonal
C NAACP Logo, Reprint of “Litany of Atlanta”
Atlanta Life Insurance Company, Talented Tenth, Georgia Writer’s Hall of Fame
Students will analyze the backgrounds of the individuals and explain their contributions. Students will listen to period music and duplicate it.
Interpersonal Intrapersonal Musical-Rhythmic Bodily/Kinesthetic
D World War I clothing
Causes of World War I
Students will construct a chart of the causes of WWI.
Bodily/Kinesthetic Visual/Spatial Logical/Mathematical
Appendix
Educational Trunk Response Questionnaire
Thank you for participating in the Atlanta History Center educational trunk program. The
purpose of this brief survey is to evaluate your experience with the history travel trunk and to
solicit your feedback concerning its use in conjunction with Georgia Performance Standards.
1. Overall, did you like the traveling trunk? [ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Undecided
94.10%
5.90%
Response
yes noundecided
2. Please indicate what aspects of the educational experience you liked or disliked the most.
Trunk Evaluation
Please help us evaluate the usefulness of the educational history trunk.
3. How well did the educational trunk and its contents engage students throughout the
lesson(s)? [ ] Not at all [ ] Adequately [ ] Somewhat [ ] Extremely well
8.80%
23.50%
67.60%
Student Engagement
Not at allSomewhatAdequatelyExtremely Well
4. What changes or improvements would you suggest to get your students more engaged?
Application to Multiple Disciplines
Please indicate whether you feel that the educational trunk could be used to teach a variety of
disciplines in addition to history.
5. From an educator’s viewpoint, should a trunk be created and programmed to teach to one
specific performance standard strand? Did you like this approach? Should the trunk
address one GPS only? Mark all that apply. [ ] No, I did not like this approach and trunks
should address several GPS. [ ] Yes, I liked this approach and trunks should address one
GPS. [ ] Yes, trunks should only be used to teach history. [ ] Yes, trunks should only be
used to teach one discipline at a time. [ ] No, trunks should be used to teach several
disciplines concurrently.
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
45.00%
50.00%
18.20%
30.30%
3.00%
9.10%
45.50%
No, I did not like this approach and trunks should address several GPS. Linear (No, I did not like this approach and trunks should address several GPS. )Yes, I liked this approach and trunks should address one GPS.Yes, trunks should only be used to teach history.Yes, trunks should only be used to teach one discipline at a time.No, trunks should be used to teach several disciplines con-currently. Linear (No, trunks should be used to teach several disciplines concurrently. )
6. Do you think that this trunk could be used to address standards in other subject areas than
Social Studies? Mark all that apply. [ ] Economics [ ] English Language Arts, Reading
and Writing [ ] Geography [ ] Government [ ] Mathematics [ ] Science [ ] If so, what
other areas and how? _____________________________________________________
Economics
Englis
h Langu
age A
rts, R
eading a
nd Writi
ng
Georgr
aphy
Governmen
t
Mathem
atics
Scien
ceOther
0.00%20.00%40.00%60.00%80.00%
45.50%
69.70%54.50% 57.60%
27.30% 33.30%15.20%
Trunk applied to subject areas outside of Social Studies
Subject Areas
Resp
onse
Per
cent
7. Would you like to see the trunk build around more than one 8th grade Social Studies
standard? For example: a trunk that teaches SS8H5, SS8H6, and SS8H7? [ ] Yes, I would
like to see the trunk built around more than one Social Studies standard. [ ] No, I would
like to continue to see the trunk built around only one Social Studies standard because I
teach Social Studies. [ ] Yes, I would like to see the trunk built around more than one
Social Studies standard and address subject areas outside of Social Studies. [ ] No, I
would like to continue to see the trunk built around only one Social Studies standard.
40.00%
53.30%
6.70%Yes, I would like to see the trunk built around more than one Social Studies standard
No, I would like to continue to see the trunk built around only one Social Studies stan-dard because I teach Social Studies.
Yes, I would like to see the trunk built around more than one Social Studies standard and address other subject ar-eas outside of Social Studies.
No, I would like to continue to see the trunk built around only one Social Studies stan-dard.
GPS SS8H7
The next two questions pertain to 8th grade Georgia History standards.
These questions are specific to 8th grade teachers to answer, please. However, if K-5 teachers
want to contribute insights, all feedback is appreciated and welcomed.
For the purpose of this survey, we would like to evaluate the application of a travel trunk to a
single 8th grade history standard:
SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes that occurred in
Georgia between 1877 and 1918.
A. Evaluate the impact the Bourbon Triumvirate, Henry Grady, International Cotton Exposition
(1881 event to promote investment and to help Atlanta toward its goal of becoming an industrial
center.), Tom Watson and the Populists, Rebecca Latimer Felton, the 1906 Atlanta Riot, the Leo
Frank Case, and the county unit system had on Georgia during this period.
B. Analyze how rights were denied to African-Americans through Jim Crow laws, Plessy v.
Ferguson ("separate but equal" doctrine), disenfranchisement, and racial violence.
C. Explain the roles of Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. DuBois, John and Lugenia Burns Hope,
and Alonzo Herndon.
D. Explain reasons for World War I and describe Georgia’s contributions.
8. How likely would you be to use an educational trunk to engage your students
comprehension of GPS SS8H7? [ ] I would not use a trunk for this standard. [ ] I’d use
the trunk if it was required by my curriculum director. [ ] If the trunk was available I
would consider using it. [ ] I would be eager to use a trunk for this standard.
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
14.30%
4.80%
28.60%
52.40%
I would not use a trunk for this standard.I'd use the trunk if it was required by my curriculum director.If the trunk was available I would consider using it.I would be eager to use a trunk for this standard.
9. How would you change your teaching methods, lesson plans, or expectations if you were
to employ the traveling trunk for this standard? _________________________________
10. What other specific artifacts would you recommend for inclusion in the trunk used for
this standard? ____________________________________________________________
Bibliography
Atlanta History Center. Education: Traveling History Trunks. 2010. http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/cms/Traveling+History+Trunks/34.html (accessed April 19, 2010).
—. Hands-On History. 2010. http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/cms/Hands-On+History/33.html (accessed April 19, 2010).
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