Address:
Steven C. Beering Hall of
Liberal Arts and Education
100 N. University Street
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2098
BRNG 3281J

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Phillip VanFossen

Interim Dean, Director & James F. Ackerman Distinguished Professor of Social Studies Education, Faculty Athletic Representative for Purdue University

Office of the Dean

Social Studies Education,
Education Administration, Curriculum and Instruction

Email:
vanfoss@purdue.edu

Phone:
(765) 494-2367

Address:
Steven C. Beering Hall of
Liberal Arts and Education
100 N. University Street
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2098
BRNG 3281J

Profile

A former middle and high school economics teacher, VanFossen has published more than 80 scholarly works including refereed articles in Theory and Research in Social Education, The Senior Economist, and Economics for Kids. He is the program author for the high school economics text Economics Alive! The Power to Choose (Teachers Curriculum Institute, 2009). In addition, he has co-authored seven volumes of classroom curriculum materials for economics, and authored chapters in 3 handbooks.

+ Education

+ Career Experience

+ Awards & Honors

+ Professional Appointments

Research & Publications

Research interests include K-12 economic education, the potential of online role playing games (e.g., MMORPGs) for K-12 civic and economic education, Internet use in social studies classrooms, the impact of technology on citizenship and citizenship education, the intersection between civics and economics, and the degree of social studies in K-5 curriculum.

+ Selected Publications

VanFossen, P. J. (2020). Who invented the Electoral College? The Conversation; published November 4, 2020. https://theconversation.com/who-invented-the-electoral-college-147083. 130,382 reads as of December 2, 2020.
VanFossen, P. J. (2016). Preparing elementary teachers to be economic educators: An overview of ECON 21900, a hybrid course for elementary teacher education candidates. In M. B. Henning (Ed.) Innovations in economic education. New York, NY: Routledge.
Fitchett, P.G., Heafner, T.L. & VanFossen, P.J. (2014). An analysis of time prioritization for social studies in elementary school classrooms. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 8 (2), 7-35. (http://www.joci.ecu.edu/index.php/JoCI/article/view/v8n2p7/pdf).
Anderson, C., Burkey, B., Meszaros, B., Raymer, M., Rush, M., and VanFossen, P. (2014). FOCUS: High School Economics. New York, NY: Council for Economic Education. (Note: authorship was equal, names listed alphabetically)
Fichett, P. G., and VanFossen, P. J. (2013). Survey on the status of social studies (S4): An instrumentation description. In Passe, J. and Fitchett, P. G. (Eds.) The status of social studies: Views from the field. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Thiemann, G., O’Brien, J., VanFossen, P. J. and Berson, M. (2013). Characteristics of high-frequency technology users. In Passe, J. and Fitchett, P. G. (Eds.) The status of social studies: Views from the field. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Ferrarini, T., Haskell, D., Hill, A., Lopus, J. Meszaros, B., Scahill, E., and VanFossen, P. (2011). FOCUS: Middle school world history. New York, NY: Council for Economic Education. (Note: authorship was equal, names listed alphabetically)
VanFossen, P.J.* and McGrew, C. (2010). Is the sky really falling?; An update on the status of social studies in the K-5 curriculum in Indiana. International Journal of Social Education, 23(1), 139-179.
VanFossen, P.J.* and McGrew, C. (2010). An ?economic way of thinking?: Approaches and curricula for teaching about social issues through economics. In, J. Pederson & S. Totten, (Eds.), Teaching and studying social issues: Major programs and approaches. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
VanFossen, P.J. (2010). Best economic education practices for children. In, M. Schug and W. Wood (Eds.), Teaching economics in troubled times. Oxford, UK: Routledge.
Friedman, A.* and VanFossen, P. J.* (2010). The Internet in social studies classrooms: Lost opportunity or unexplored frontier? In, R. Diem and M. Berson (Eds.), Technology in retrospect: Social studies in the information age, 1984-2009 (A volume in the International Social Studies Forum: The Series). Charlotte, NC: Information Age, 51-74.
Friedman, A.*, Hartshorne, R.*, and VanFossen, P.J.* (2010). Exploring guild participation in MMORPGs and civic leadership. In, Y. Baek (Ed.), Gaming for classroom-based learning: Digital role playing as a motivator of study. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference (imprint of IGI Global), 176-203.
VanFossen, P. J. (2009). Econ Alive!: The Power to Choose. Palo Alto, CA: Teacher's Curriculum Institute.
Shiveley, J. M. & VanFossen, P. J. (2009). Toward assessing Internet use in the social studies classroom: Developing an inventory based on a review of relevant literature. Journal of Social Studies Research, 33 (1), 1-32.

Courses Typically Taught

EDCI 36100 — Social Studies in the Elementary School
EDCI 59000C — Integrating Technology into Citizenship Education
EDCI 59100 — Developing Integrated Internet-Based Curriculum
EDCI 60400 — Elementary Social Studies
EDCI 62400 — Teaching Social Studies Using the Internet
ECON 21900 — Economics for Future Educators
ECON 51900 — Teaching International Economics (co-taught with Michael Watts, ECON)