(Pictured L to R): Drs. Cory Callahan (UA), Jay Howell (University of Southern Mississippi), and Lamont Maddox (UNA) and have been awarded a 2019 Literati Award through Emerald Publishing. The paper entitled “Selecting and designing visual curriculum materials for inquiry-based instruction,” was published in Social Studies Research and Practice and was identified as a Highly Commended Paper, indicating it was one of the most exceptional papers published in the journal. This work explored the prevalence of social studies trade books in classroom libraries across five states and the inclusion of those books in both high-performing and low-performing (based on reading achievement) schools.
Visual documents (e.g. maps, editorial cartoons, historical photographs, portraits, documentary films, historically-based movies, etc.) are common curriculum resources within social studies classrooms; however, only recently scholars have begun to systematically research ways to more authentically and powerfully center instruction around visual documents. Here, the purpose of this paper is to synthesize relevant lines of inquiry into research-based, wise-practices for selecting and designing visual curriculum materials to help social studies students and teachers think about social phenomenon deeply and in more disciplinary-specific ways.
The Outstanding Paper Awards have been the backbone of the Emerald Literati Awards for Excellence. The winners are chosen by a journal editorial team giving the winning authors confidence in knowing that their paper was one of the most impressive pieces of work from the previous year.