Classroom Processes And Learning Activities Of Social Studies- Download Social Studies Pedagogy Free PDFree PDF

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Social Studies is an important section for CTET, MPTET, State TET, and other teaching exams as well. Social studies is the main subject in the CTET exam Paper II. In CTET Exam, the Social Studies section comprises a total 60 questions of 60 marks, in which 40 questions come from the content section i.e.History, Geography and Political Science and the rest 20 questions from Social Studies Pedagogy section.

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At least 10-15 questions are asked from the Social Studies Pedagogy section in the CTET Social studies section. Here we are providing important facts related to the Classroom Processes and Learning Activities of Social Studies.

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Classroom Processes and Learning Activities of Social Studies

Enquiry Based Learning

The enquiry-based learning asks questions from students to assess their knowledge and understanding level. On the other hand, empirical evidence is a term related to experience’. Enquiry-Based Learning is a learning that is driven by a process of enquiry –

Engagement with a complex issue that allows for a variety of responses. Students take responsibility for selecting the lines of enquiry and the methods employed
Requires students to draw on existing knowledge and identify their required learning needs.

Objectives of Enquiry

The objectives of enquiry can be discussed as, the justification for this method of learning is because it

increases content knowledge significantly
impacts on skills that are applicable in diverse situations.
teaches problem-solving
improves critical thinking skills. Promotes the transfer of concepts to new problem situations. Teaches students how to learn and builds self-directed learning skills.
develops student ownership of their enquiry and enhances student interest in the subject matter.

Features of Enquiry

In enquiry-based learning, the learners are engaged by scientifically oriented questions.
They give priority to evidence which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations that address scientifically oriented questions.
They formulate explanations from evidence.
They evaluate their explanations in the light of alternative explanations, especially those reflecting scientific understanding.

Key Components of the Enquiry Process

Review Prior knowledge

The teacher will do this by engaging students in discussing what they already know.
By bringing the students’ own background and experiences to the learning table, students will find ways to connect to the topic and will develop a basis for creating meaning with
Their personal connection to learning increases students’ motivation to explore, read and struggle with difficulties as they arise.

Provide Background Information

Students need to know something about the topic to be able to perceive and formulate meaningful enquiries.
The teacher can refer the students to items like Articles and books, Museum exhibits, Photographs, Audio and video recordings, Other primary source material and Websites.

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Establish and Communicate to the Students the Enquiry

Presentation Framework

Develop proposition (this can be debated).
Support proposition with facts, statistics, examples, expert authority, logic and reasoning, propose solutions and action ideas.
Refer students back to expected outcomes and enquiry framework to create alignment between their presentations and intended outcomes.
Ask students questions to help them refine their thinking and guide their research
Provide support technology (power point, website) and art design product creation.
Empower students to coach and train one another within their teams.

Empirical Evidence

Empirical evidence in the social sciences varies a lot. It is produced by following methods

The collection of physical artefacts in archaeology.
Conducting censuses in demography.
Mathematical modelling in economics.
Thought experimentation in history.
Expert judgement in political science,
Laboratory experimentation in psychology

Social Studies Quiz

Induction and Deduction Method

The concept of evidence is related to the concepts of confirmation and induction. Since, hypothesis are confirmed by evidences, induction refers to the mode of reasoning or inference from evidence to hypothesis.

Inference to the Best Explanation

The proponents of interference to the best explanation infer the truth of a hypothesis from two considerations, which are as follow

The hypothesis explains-explaining the evidence; and
Among the evidence-explaining alternative hypotheses, it is the one that scores the best on explanatory merit.

Inference can be divided into two types. They are as follow

Descriptive Inference

This type of inference and the associated methods are very important in Social Science.
In order to establish facts, even purely descriptive facts about a society, the investigator has to make inferences on the basis of new immediate observations and already established facts. – background knowledge.

Explanatory Inference

Accurate descriptive inference is an important goal of Social Science in its own right. It also plays a preparatory role for further inferences regarding the explanation of social phenomena.
There are numerous models of explanatory inference in the Social Sciences, but the causal model is currently the one most agreed upon
In this model, any cause is followed by its effect only if certain enabling conditions are present and disturbing factors absent.