Social Science Education

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Coordinator: Dr. Daniel Clark
Office: Holmstedt Hall, rooms 262-263
Web site: http://web.indstate.edu/ssed

The Social Science Education Center coordinates programs of teacher education in social studies, supervises locally assigned social studies student teachers, engages in research and in‑service consultative programs, develops classroom materials for use in secondary social science courses, advises social studies teaching majors, and offers undergraduate courses in social science education. The center is responsible for administering admission, retention, and graduation policies for secondary social studies teaching majors in conjunction with the College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences.

ACADEMIC PROGRAM

Degree Offered

Social studies education majors earn either the bachelor of arts or the bachelor of science degree. Candidates for either degree must complete the University requirement of a minimum of 124 semester hours of credit, including General Education course work and the requirements for the major. Candidates for a bachelor of arts degree must complete two years, or the equivalent, of a foreign language.

Social Studies Teacher Licensure

Students seeking standard licensure as middle/junior high and high school social studies teachers should contact the Social Science Education Center early in their careers at Indiana State University. Standard licensure, which allows students to teach in Indiana for five years, is by teaching area. For students who declared the social studies education major before fall 2002, these areas are: anthropology, economics, geography, government, psychology, sociology, United States history, and world civilization. For students who declared the social studies education major beginning in fall 2002, these areas are: economics, geography, government, history, psychology, and sociology.

Program Opportunities

Social studies education majors have access to a variety of educational resources and research opportunities across the College of Arts and Sciences and the social science departments. Within the college, the Social Science Education Center maintains a small collection of materials on teaching methods and the Indiana standards for licensure. In addition, the center’s Web site serves as a clearinghouse for student resources in the areas of advising, licensure, and standards. Within the Department of Economics, the Center for Economic Education provides up-to-date pedagogical information and an extensive library of kindergarten-12 curricula. The center also offers workshops for pre- and in-service teachers. The Department of Geography, Geology, and Anthropology houses the Geo-Education Center and numerous geo-technical resources. These resources include the Remote Sensing-GIS-Cartography Laboratory, a Map Library, the Climate Laboratory, and an Anthropology Laboratory. The Department of Sociology operates the Sociology Research Lab and is an excellent resource for students interested in survey research. Likewise, the Department of Political Science’s Center for Governmental Services serves as a resource for students interested in government and public policy. In addition to these resources, the Department of History’s Center for Local History and Culture houses a wide range of materials and resources that may be made available to all students.

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