Computer-mediated Social Science Instructional Modules

来自政治科学、国际关系和城市研究系（PSIRUS）的一组教师，通过PSIRUS中心的工作，正在适应和扩展现有的创新实践，以计算机为媒介的教学，结合最近发表的研究和社会科学方面的可用数据库。项目团队正在制作四个主题模块，每个模块的设计既适用于社会科学专业的学生，也适用于非专业的学生，其结构适用于不同的学生群体，包括在职学生、少数民族学生、年长的重新入学学生和有特殊学习需求的学生。模块包括：1；媒体与政治。该模块以位于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模型。拟议中的“虚拟学习中心”将教导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理查德·戴维斯的《政治与媒体》（普伦蒂斯·霍尔出版社，1992）和劳伦斯·格罗斯曼的《电子共和国：重塑信息时代的民主》（维京出版社，1995）。2. 城市可持续发展。这个模块正在适应使用在线表单来获取数据。它采用现代计算机技术将数据转入电子数据库，以便使用统计软件进行分析。（亚马逊和其他私营电子商务组织正在有效地使用这种方法。）其目的是发展对城市化与自然和“人造”环境之间关系的理解，并支持本科生对“可持续发展”的研究。该模块的材料来自Marcia Lowe的《塑造城市：环境和人的方面》（世界观察研究所，第105号论文，1992年）；格雷厄姆·霍顿和科林·亨特，《可持续城市》（伦敦：区域研究协会，1994年）；总统可持续发展委员会，“可持续的美国”（U.S. GPO, 1996）；2、Sim Van de Ryn和Stuart Cowan，《生态设计》（岛屿出版社，1995）。移民。这个模块正在利用移民数据的可用性和可访问性方面发生的革命性变化，这些数据越来越多地在网上提供。它教授学生数据分析，并建立在加州州立大学社会科学研究和教学委员会（SSRIC）和其他组织开发的实践基础上，这些组织已经创建了在线，公共领域的社会科学数据档案。它的目的是帮助学生从断言中找出真相，以及如何制定合理的政治回应。它特别基于迈克尔·菲克斯和杰弗里·帕塞尔，“移民和移民：设定记录，”（城市研究所，1994年）；桑福德·昂格，《新鲜血液：新美国移民》（西蒙舒斯特出版社，1995）；格雷戈里·德弗雷，“移民、不平等和政策选择”（罗素·塞奇基金会，1995年）；和美国司法部、移民和归化局，“移民归化局统计年鉴”（U.S. GPO， 1995年）。4. 全球冲突。这个模块正在开发一种逻辑语言Prolog的新用法，来教授与全球冲突有关的价值观和批判性思维。在Paul Viotti和Mark Kauppi的《国际关系理论》（MacMillan, 1993）一书中，学生们正在学习收集数据和检验关于全球冲突原因的理论。这个模块还使用现有的数据库，例如由大学间政治和社会研究联盟管理的战争相关数据（战争相关数据库9905,1994年）。

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).