| A major goal of social studies is citizenship education that aims to engage students in activities that encourage practice in problem solving and decision-making. A problem exists, however, in instilling in students citizenship skills and concepts through social studies because research suggests that students dislike the subject (McGowan, Sutton, & Smith, 1990; Schug, Todd, & Beery, 1984; Stodolsky, Salk, & Glaessner, 1991). Therefore, motivation for students to want to learn important social studies skills and concepts may be reduced (Nyberg & Clark, 1982).;Authentic assessment has been defined as the extent to which a lesson, assessment task, or sample of student performance represents construction of knowledge through disciplined inquiry that has value for the student beyond success in school (Newmann, Secada, & Wehlage, 1995). It has been suggested that authentic assessment, due to its constructivist focus and promotion of active learning among students, may be related to greater engagement in social studies (Avery, 1998; Marks, 1995).;This study was conducted to investigate the influence that teacher use of authentic assessment tasks and authentic instruction had on fifth and sixth grade Lutheran elementary school students' attitudes toward social studies and authentic projects in social studies. A purposive selection of 22 teachers from 13 schools was employed in the investigation. 14 treatment group teachers, who completed six training sessions on the rationale and implementation of authentic projects in their social studies classes, employed authentic tasks and instruction for nine weeks. 242 treatment group and 142 control group students completed pre- and post-study surveys. A sub-sample of treatment group students was selected to participate in follow-up interviews.;Data revealed students' attitudes toward social studies did not significantly improve as a result of teacher use of authentic assessment. Students did, however, realize the projects required their construction of knowledge through disciplined inquiry. Students reported preferences for projects over traditional tests. In addition, students felt they did better on projects and that they were a better way to demonstrate what they knew about social studies topics. Students' self-reported grades in social studies had a small, but significant correlation with authentic attitudes about projects. |
