Computer-mediated Social Science Instructional Modules

来自政治学，国际关系和城市研究（PSIRUS）部门的一组教师，通过PSIRUS中心工作，正在调整和扩展计算机辅助教学的现有创新实践，将最近发表的研究和社会科学中的可用数据库结合起来。 该项目小组正在制作四个主题模块，每个模块都旨在达到社会科学的专业和非专业，并为包括在职学生，少数民族学生，年龄较大的再入学学生和有特殊学习需要的学生在内的多样化学生群体工作。 这些模块是：1.媒体与政治。本单元以位于华盛顿，华盛顿特区的美国大屠杀博物馆的韦克斯勒学习中心的创新实践为蓝本。拟议中的“虚拟学习中心”将教学生将各种音频和视频材料整合到本科研究项目中，研究媒体在塑造公众舆论方面的作用，以及媒体、公众舆论和政治之间的关系。 本单元的内容将改编自Richard Davis的“Politics and the Media”（普伦蒂斯霍尔出版社，1992年）和Lawrence Grossman的“The Electronic Republic：Reshaping Democracy in the Information Age”（维京海盗出版社，1995年）。 2.城市可持续发展。 该模块正在调整使用在线表格来获取数据。 它正在利用现代计算机技术将数据输入电子数据库，以便利用统计软件进行分析。 （亚马逊和其他私营部门的电子商务组织正在有效地使用这种方法。它的目的是发展城市化与自然和“人造”环境之间的关系的理解，并支持大学生对“可持续发展”的研究。“该模块是用在Marcia Lowe，“塑造城市：环境和人类层面，”中发现的材料建造的，（World Watch Institute，Paper 105，1992）; Graham豪顿and Colin Hunter，“Sustainable Cities，”（伦敦：区域研究协会，1994年）;总统可持续发展理事会，“可持续的美国”，（美国出版社，1996年）; Sim货车de瑞恩和Stuart科万，“生态设计”（岛屿出版社，1995年）。移民. 这一单元利用了在提供和获取移民数据方面发生的革命性变化，这些数据越来越多地可在线获取。 它正在教授学生有关数据分析的知识，并建立在由加州州立大学社会科学研究和教学理事会（SSRIC）以及其他创建在线公共领域社会科学数据档案的组织开发的实践基础上。 它的目的是帮助学生从断言中找出真理，以及如何制定合理的政治反应。 它特别是基于迈克尔·菲克斯和杰弗里·帕塞尔，“移民和移民：设置记录直，"（城市研究所，1994年）;桑福德Ungar，“新鲜血液：新的美国移民，”（西蒙&舒斯特，1995年）;格雷戈里DeFre，“移民，不平等，和政策选择，”（Russell Sage基金会，1995年）;美国司法部移民和归化局，“移民和归化局统计年鉴”（美国移民局，1995年）。 4.全球冲突。 该模块正在开发一种新的使用Prolog -一种逻辑语言-来教授与全球冲突有关的价值观和批判性思维。 学生们正在学习收集数据和测试有关全球冲突原因的理论，遵循Paul Viotti和Mark Kauvillan的“国际关系理论”（MacMillan，1993年）。 该模块还使用现有的数据库，如由大学间政治和社会研究联合会管理的战争相关数据（战争相关数据库9905，1994）。

A team of faculty from the departments of Political Science, International Relations, and Urban Studies (PSIRUS), working through the PSIRUS Center, is adapting and extending existing innovative practices in computer-mediated instruction, incorporating recently published research and available databases in the social sciences. The project team is producing four thematic modules, each designed to reach both majors and non-majors in the social sciences, and structured to work for a diverse student body that includes working students, minority students, older re-entry students, and students with special learning needs. The modules are:1. The Media and Politics. This module is modeled on innovative practices at the Wexler Learning Center at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The proposed "virtual learning center" will teach students to integrate a variety of audio and video materials into undergraduate research projects examining the effect of the media in shaping public opinion, and the relationships between media, public opinion, and politics. The content of this module will be adapted from Richard Davis, "Politics and the Media," (Prentice Hall, 1992) and Lawrence Grossman, "The Electronic Republic: Reshaping Democracy in the Information Age," (Viking Press, 1995). 2. Urban Sustainable Development. This module is adapting use of on-line forms to capture data. It is employing modern computer techniques to transfer the data into electronic databases for analysis using statistics software. (Amazon.com and other private sector e-commerce organizations are using this methodology effectively.) Its purpose is to develop an understanding of the relationship between urbanization and the natural and "built" environment, and to support undergraduate research on "sustainable development." The module is being constructed from materials found in Marcia Lowe, "Shaping Cities: The Environmental and Human Dimensions," (World Watch Institute, Paper 105, 1992); Graham Haughton and Colin Hunter, "Sustainable Cities," (London: Regional Studies Association, 1994); the President's Council on Sustainable Development, "Sustainable America," (U.S. GPO, 1996); and Sim Van de Ryn and Stuart Cowan, "Ecological Design," (Island Press, 1995).3. Immigration. This module is taking advantage of the revolutionary changes occurring in the availability and accessibility of immigration data, which are increasingly available on-line. It is teaching students about data analysis and building on practices developed by the California State University Social Science Research and Instructional Council (SSRIC) and other organizations which have created on-line, public domain, social science data archives. Its purpose is to help students sort out truth from assertion, and how to formulate reasoned political responses. It is particularly based on Michael Fix and Jeffrey Passel, "Immigration and Immigrants: Setting the Record Straight, (Urban Institute, 1994); Sanford Ungar, "Fresh Blood: The New American Immigrants," (Simon & Schuster, 1995); Gregory DeFre, "Immigration, Inequality, and Policy Alternatives," (Russell Sage Foundation, 1995); and U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, "Statistical Yearbook of the INS," (U.S. GPO, 1995). 4. Global Conflict. This module is developing a novel use of Prolog - a logic language - to teach about both values and critical thinking in relation to global conflict. Students are learning to gather data and test theories about causes of global conflict, following Paul Viotti and Mark Kauppi, "International Relations Theory," (MacMillan, 1993). This module is also using existing databases such as the Correlates of War data managed by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (Correlates of War Database 9905, 1994).