This curriculum inquiry explores scholarly influence by examining how Joseph J. Schwab's ideas travelled over time and how his research was disseminated. The study begins with Schwab's biography and a literature review, followed by descriptions of the research method and sources of evidence. Data analysis centre on (1) The influence of Schwab's…

This paper explores the ways in which the "nature of science" (NoS) has been interpreted, accommodated and justified within school curricula since science was first schooled in the mid-nineteenth century. It explores how different interpretations of "the NoS" have been invoked by those seeking to reform school science education…

The Government is committed to ensuring that the new National Curriculum compares favourably with the curricula in the highest performing jurisdictions, and sets rigorous requirements for pupil attainment which measure up to the highest standards set internationally. The Government is also committed to slimming the National Curriculum so that it…

The essential nature of public school student performance on standardized examinations is becoming increasingly apparent. As schools across the nation are examined more closely based on the science achievement of students, career and technical education programs will be expected to contribute to this effort. Through the lens of Ajzen and Madden's…

Why do the designers of environmental education do what they do towards the environment through education? More importantly, how do they account for their design decisions (plans and actions)? Using the theoretical and methodological framework of discourse analysis, we analyse environmental education designers' discourse in terms of the discursive…

The author reviews trends in the curriculum field, pointing out how it suffers from "ahistoricism." Schools must be responsible for countering cycles and fashions. Curriculum reform efforts should be an attempt to solve problems based on knowledge from previous experience. (MD)

This literature review is the first phase of an extensive review of curriculum reform in science, mathematics and higher order thinking across the disciplines. The first of eight sections is an executive summary addressing the major themes of the document. The second section deals with several general issues of curricular reform concerning…

In the fall of 1981 Kendall Demonstration Elementary School issued to its teachers new curriculum guides in four areas: Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Mathematics. In Language Arts the implementation was more comprehensive than in the other areas. This report describes curriculum evaluation activities conducted at Kendall during…

The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) Human Sciences Project developed, produced, and field tested 13 interdisciplinary, non-traditional, non-text science curriculum modules for early adolescents, ages 11 to 14. The Human Sciences Data File- HSPALL (ED 211 383) contains evaluation data from the 1973-1976 field testing of the Human…

The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) Human Sciences Project developed, produced, and field tested 13 interdisciplinary, non-traditional, non-text science curriculum modules for early adolescents, ages 11 to 14. A codebook (ED 211 382) contains the frequencies for the value of 23 variables for each of the 3,173 student-activity…

The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) Human Sciences Project developed, produced, and field tested 13 interdisciplinary, non-traditional, non-text science curriculum modules for early adolescents, ages 11 to 14. The Codebook for Human Sciences Activity Characteristics on Reviewer Evaluation File--HSACRE (ED 211 384) contains 8 variables…

The purpose of this study was to examine similarities and differences in how schools and school districts have successfully implemented the California mathematics and science curriculum frameworks. Implementation factors include: the use of cross-role teams and implementation plans; assistance; administrative commitment and pressure; program…

This investigation of the teaching of science in secondary schools is based upon the analysis of 58 courses in general science, 45 courses in biology, 27 courses in physics, and 30 courses in chemistry. The courses were obtained from schools in response to a request from the Office of Education for courses which had been revised since 1925. Some…