Education
- Ph.D. 1998 – North Carolina State University, Curriculum and Instruction
- M.Ed. 1995 – North Carolina State University, Curriculum and Instruction
- B.A. 1991 – Meredith College, History
Areas of Expertise
- Social Studies Education
- Teacher Education
- Experiential Education
- Technology and Teacher Education
Background
Cheryl Mason Bolick is a former classroom teacher who has spent more than 20 years studying different dimensions of social studies education. She led some of the first efforts to integrate technology into social studies teacher education. Bolick has a long history of developing digital history curriculum materials and studying the use of digital history in social studies teacher education. This work laid the foundation for her current research interest in experiential education in social studies teacher education.
Research
Cheryl Mason Bolick specializes in social studies education and teacher education. She began her career by identifying and studying innovative ways to use technology in the social studies classroom. Bolick’s first research interests were in the inaugural uses of online education and digital history archives. Her scholarly interests have evolved alongside new emerging technologies. The focus of her work has been on using digitized archives to develop historical thinking. This work has provided the foundation for her work in social studies teacher education.
Most recently, Bolick is engaging in research that investigates the impact of engaging students in experiential education as a philosophy to inform teaching and learning. She has studied the impact of experiential education initiatives within teacher education programs and the transference to the classroom. Her current research is examining the impact of experiential education in a teacher education program on classroom teaching.
- EDUC 760, Methods and Materials for Teaching Secondary/K-12 Subjects I
- EDUC 687, Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary Grades
- EDUC 615, Schools and Community Collaboration
- EDUC 994, Doctoral Research and Dissertation
- EDUC 529, Education in American Society
- EDUC 614, Innovative and Engaging Teaching
- EDUC 887, Teacher Education Seminar for MAT Supervisors
- EDUC 672, UNC Teaching Fellows: Community of Learners
- EDUC 796B
- EDUC 994
- EDUC 796B, Independent Study Doctoral Level
- EDUC 701, Practica Student Internship
- EDUC 872, UNC Teaching Fellows: Community of Learners
- EDMX 708, Teacher Researcher I
- EDUC 524, Learning on the Edge: Theories of Experiential Education
- EDUC 496, Independent Study
- IDST 692H, Senior Honors Thesis
- IDST 691H, Senior Honors Thesis
- EDUC 390, Special Topics in Education
- EDUC 697, Education Minor Capstone Course
- EDUC 564, Teaching Social Studies in the Middle Grades
- EDUC 601, Education Workshops
- EDMX 707, Reinventing Teaching
- EDUC 493, Practicum
- EDMX 759, Contemporary Research for Social Studies Teaching
- EDUC 415, Social Studies and the Child
- EDUC 990, Supervised Research
- EDUC 804, Seminar in Culture, Curriculum, and Change
- EDUC 865, College Teaching Internship
- EDUC 696, Independent Study Doctoral Level
- EDUC 412, Introduction to Children and Schools and Field Experience
“The African Studies Center – K-5 digital learning of contemporary Africa using technology”, Burrill, E., Lead Principal Investigator; Bolick, C., Co-Principal Investigator; Oak Foundation, $500,000. (January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2024).
“NEEDS: Nurturing Experimental Development in Schools”, Bolick, C., Lead Principal Investigator; Glzaier, J., Co-Principal Investigator; Papoi, K., Co-Principal Investigator; Gulledge, S., Co-Principal Investigator; UNC-CH Center for Public Service, $5,000. (October 1, 2020 – August 31, 2021).
“Thorpe Faculty Engaged Scholars”, Bolick, C., Lead Principal Investigator; UNC-CH – CCPS, $5,000. (September 6, 2018 – September 30, 2020).
“EdPrepLab Seed Inquiry Seed Research Project “, Bolick, C., Co-Principal Investigator; Papoi, K., Co-Principal Investigator; Glazier, J., Co-Principal Investigator; EdPrep Lab , $15,000. (January 1, 2020 – May 31, 2020).
“Carolina Induction Program”, Glazier, J., Co-Principal Investigator; Bolick, C., Co-Principal Investigator; Gulledge, S., Co-Principal Investigator; Papoi, K., Co-Principal Investigator; UNC-CH – School of Education, $10,000. (June 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019).
“Interconnectedness & Community: Teaching Family History”, Mink, A., Lead Principal Investigator; Bolick, C., Other Key Personnel; Wolfe, T., Technical Staff; Ancestry.com, $199,643. (November 15, 2013 – December 19, 2014).
- Post-Baccalaureate Teaching Award, UNC Chapel Hill. (January 2025).
- School of Education Teaching Excellence Award, UNC School of Education. (October 2024).
- Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholar, Carolina Center for Public Service. (August 2018).
- Faculty Fellow, Academic Leadership Program, UNC Institute for the Arts and Humanities. (August 2015).
Journal Article
Bolick, C. M. (accepted). Supporting Novice Teachers for Deeper Learning Through a School University Partnership. School University Partnerships.
Bolick, C. M. (accepted). Learning on the Edge: Undergraduate Students’ Experiences with Experiential Education. Teaching and Learning Inquiry.
Bolick, C. M., Glazier, J., & Stutts. (2022). Taking Off the Backpacks: The Transference of Experiential Education to the Classroom. Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.18666/JOREL-2022-V14-I2-11137
Bolick, C., & Williams, W. (2021). Creative Citizens in the Making: Social Studies and Makerspaces. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 34(2), 27–32.
Bolick, C., & P. R. (2019). Letting Their Light Shine: Nuances of Quaker Pedagogy and Teacher Evaluation. Religion and Education. Published. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2019.1689788
Bolick, C., Glazier, J., & Stutts, C. (2019). Disruptive Experiences as Tools for Teacher Education: Unearthing the Potential of Experiential Education. Journal of Experiential Education, 43(1), 21–36.
Glazier, J., Bolick, C., & Stutts, C. (2017). Unstable Ground: Unearthing the Realities of Experiential Education in Teacher Education. Journal of Experiential Education. Published.
Glazier, J., Bolick, C., & Stutts, C. (2017). Unstable Ground: Unearthing the Realities of Experiential Education in Teacher Education. Journal of Experiential Education, 40(3), 231–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825917712734
Greene, J., Bolick, C., Jackson, W. P., Caprino, A. M., Oswald, C., & McVea, M. (2015). Domain-specificity of self-regulated learning processing in science and history. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 42, 111–128.
Greene, J., Bolick, C., Caprino, A Michael, Deekens, V. M., McVea, M., Yu, S., & Jackson, W. P. (2015). Fostering High-School Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Online and Across Academic Domains. The High School Journal, 99(1), 88–106.
Hicks, D., Lee, J., Berson, M., Bolick, C., & Diem, R. (2014). Guidelines for Using Technology to Prepare Social Studies Teachers. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 14(1).
Bolick, C., Torrez, C., & Manfra, M. (2014). History Through a Child’s Eye: Preservice Teachers Making Sense of Children’s Understanding. Social Studies Research and Practice, 9(3).
Lee, J., Bolick, C., Friedman, A., & Mink, A. (2013). Who Was Thaddeus Lee?: Using the 1940 Digitized Census for Personalized Historical Inquiry. Social Education, 77(2).
Bull, G., George, M., Shoffner, M., Bolick, C., Lee, J., Anderson, J., Slykhuis, D., Garofalo, J., Angotti, R., McKenna, M., West, E., Dexter, S., Herring, M., Hofer, M., & Brown, A. (2012). Editorial : Implementing the Teacher Education Initiative. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 12(2), 115–121.
Greene, J., Bolick, C., & Robertson, J. (2010). Fostering historical knowledge and thinking skills using hypermedia learning environments: The role of self-regulated learning. Computers & Education, 54(1), 230–243.
Bolick, C., Willox, L., & Adams, R. (2010). The Marginalization of Elementary Social Studies in Teacher Education: Does Testing Matter?. Journal of Social Studies Research and Practice. Published.
Book
Ryan, K., Cooper, J., Bolick, C., & Callahan, C. (2022). Those Who Can, Teach, 15th ed. Cengage.
Manfra, M., & Bolick, C. (2017). The Handbook of social studies research.. Wiley Press.
Ryan, K., Cooper, J., & Bolick, C. (2015). Those Who Can, Teach. Cengage.
Martorella, P., Beal, C., & Bolick, C. (2012). Teaching social studies in middle and secondary schools (6th ed.). Prentice Hall.
Book Chapter
Bolick, C. (2024). Experiential Education as a Framework for Teaching with Primary Sources. In Teaching With Primary Sources for Cultural Understanding, Civic Mindedness, and Democracy. Teachers College Press.
Bolick, C. (2017). The diffusion of technology into the social studies. In The Handbook of Social Studies Research (pp. 499–517). Wiley Press.
Bolick, C., & Bartels, J. (2015). Classroom Management and Technology. In Handbook of Classroom Management (pp. 479–495). Routledge.
Bolick, C., Lathan, J., Lee, A., & Bartels, J. (2014). To Be or Not to Be: A Critical Examination of Seven Digital History Textbooks for Social Studies Educators. In Digital Social Studies (pp. 411–438). Information Age Publishing.
Bolick, C. (2010). Social and Cultural Impacts of Technology Integration. In Technology in Retrospect: Social Studies in the Information Age 1984-2009.
Book Review
Bolick, C., & Whisnant, W. (2020). Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark: Challenging Dominant Narratives in K–12 Curriculum. Teachers College Record. Published. Teachers College Press.
Professional
- Workshop Organizer, UNC African Studies Center. (January 2023 – August 2023).
- Editor, Journal of Experiential Education. (November 2019 – January 2021).
- Leader of K-12 Outreach for American South Initiative, Teaching the American South. (August 2016 – December 2018).
University
- Committee Member, SOE Curriculum Committee. (August 2025 – May 2026).
- Committee Member, University Teaching Awards Committee: Post-Baccalaureate Teaching Committee. (August 2025 – January 2026).
- Committee Member, APT. (August 2021 – May 2023).
- Committee Member, Carolina Engagement Council. (August 2021 – May 2023).
- CCTE Coordinator, CCTE. (January 2021 – May 2022).
- Minor in Education Coordinator, Minor in Education. (August 2018 – May 2022).
- Board Member, Carolina Public Humanities Advisory Board. (October 2017 – January 2022).
- Board Member, Carolina Engagement Council. (August 2017 – August 2021).
- Member, Ad-hoc Curriculum Committee. (September 2019 – May 2021).
- Committee Member, Faculty Executive Council. (August 2018 – May 2021).
- Reviewer, IDEAs in Action Course Review Committee (Engagement with the Human Past). (2019 – 2020).
- Board Member, Morehead Planetarium Faculty Advisory Board. (2011 – 2020).
- Group Member, Working Group: COVID-19 Impacts on Academic Experiential Education. (May 2020 – October 2020).
- Committee Member, SOE Scholarship Committee. (August 2018 – May 2020).
- Presenter, Holden Thorp Engaged Scholars. (2019).
- Committee Member, Math Education Search Committee. (2018 – 2019).
- Committee Member, SOE APT Committee. (September 2017 – August 2019).
- Search Committee Member, Math Education Faculty Search. (August 2018 – February 2019).
- Search Committee Member, SOE Registrar Search Committee. (September 2018 – December 2018).
- Adhoc Committee Member, ad hoc FEC subcommittee charged with reviewing the faculty annual review and merit pay. (February 2018 – May 2018).
- Faculty Search Committee Member, SOE Math Education Position. (August 2017 – December 2017).
- Task Force Member, Curriculum 2019, Experiential Education Committee. (2016 – 2017).
- Board Member, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center. (2010 – 2017).
- Committee Member, TEC/Cultural Studies and Literacy. (2002 – 2017).
- Search Committee Member, Search Committee for SOE/DPI Coaches. (September 2017 – November 2017).
- Committee Member, SOE Steering Committee. (February 2017 – April 2017).
- Committee Member, Teacher Education Revisioning Committee (TERC). (2013 – 2016).
- Committee Member, Elementary Education Program. (2005 – 2016).
- (2015).