In recent years, the use of student data has become increasingly concerned with management of teacher performance. However, when teachers become aware of specific student data directly related to their approach of teaching, it could inform them about possible strengths, weaknesses or challenges. Unfortunately, teachers generally have little time…

Curriculum materials serve as a key conceptual tool for science teachers, and better understanding how science teachers use these tools could help to improve both curriculum design and theory related to teacher learning and decision-making. The authors review the literature on teachers and science curriculum materials. The review is organised…

In today's output defined society, alumni are the output of higher education. This article shows how alumni research can be used as an important indicator of curriculum quality. This relatively unexplored area of engineering education research in Europe is highlighted using a case study carried out in the Netherlands, the outcomes of which have…

The purpose of this paper is to capture the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of university professors about quantum chemistry. More specifically, we aimed to identify and analyze relationships between specific PCK components, using an adapted version of the model of PCK of Magnusson "et al.". A sample of university professors (n = 6)…

We present a framework for analysing the interplay between context-based teaching material and teachers, and for evaluating the adequacy of the resulting implementation of context-based pedagogy in chemistry classroom practice. The development of the framework is described, including an account of its theoretical foundations. The framework needs…

In science education, students should come to understand the nature and significance of models. In the case of chemistry education it is argued that the present use of models is often not meaningful from the students' perspective. A strategy to overcome this problem is to use an authentic chemical modelling practice as a context for a curriculum…

Formative evaluation of a physics curriculum unit (PLON) is reported. Phase one used general ideas and many instruments; phase two focused on specific questions arising from phase one. Findings suggested that relating curriculum content to ability to think about and explain a task was a prerequisite for student satisfaction. (CP)

Evaluates the effectiveness of a course using a constructivist approach in reducing Dutch secondary school students (n=190) misconceptions about force. Concluded that the lessons were effective in changing students' ideas in regard to forces in rest situations and frictional forces and that learning effects were equally distributed over student…