11099

11099

Refereed Paper with Presentation

**Using the U.S. Census Website to Enhance Civic Literacy**
Kevin Kawamoto, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, kevinyk@hawaii.edu

Abstract: The U.S. Census Bureau’s website (www.census.gov) provides data that students can use to better understand the country they live in from the national level right down to their particular neighborhood. Today most of the information about population characteristics is not collected by the decennial census, however, but by continuous sampling of the population via the American Community Survey (ACS) program. This paper proposes a curriculum module using the U.S. Census Bureau’s website that can be used to enhance students’ civic literacy and be adapted to different grade levels. Three topics are discussed: 1) The U.S. Census in the context of U.S. Constitutional law; 2) Multimedia/social media tools for curriculum development and self-directed learning; 3) Recommendations for the assessment of student learning. There is also a discussion of the American Community Survey. This paper can help educators develop a curriculum module or lesson plan around the Census Bureau’s dynamic, multi-platform Web presence.

Novice Census ACS American Community Survey