"Potemkin schools" is used as the phrase to capture what a US science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) public speciality high school becomes as a result of its institutional branding. By way of an examination of the efforts of one teacher drawn into school branding through his "inquiry-based reform" of an Advanced Chemistry course,…

This paper reports a study on teachers' domain-specific beliefs about the chemistry curriculum for upper-secondary education in The Netherlands. Teachers' beliefs were investigated using a questionnaire focused on the goals of the chemistry curriculum. The design of the questionnaire was based on three curriculum emphases: "fundamental…

Discusses the problems facing writers of curriculum documents. Concentrating on the implementation problems in elementary science education, the author attempts to clarify how a careful design of curriculum materials can improve the implementation process and outcomes. States that, for initial implementation efforts, a structured approach is more…

We analyse two narratives of teacher-facilitator teams producing elementary science curricula and disseminating them to their peers. We draw on these stories to interpret how teacher-facilitators position themselves with respect to other educators (e.g. peer teachers and development-team members), to real and imagined students and parents, to…

Explores the efforts of a curriculum development team who set out to create a virtual frog for use in biology education, but instead, after several design studies, developed a virtual world called Frog Island. Argues for incorporating educational design studies into other educational development projects. (CMK)

Based on a model of local curriculum development, but incorporating the ideas first expressed by Goodlad in establishing a league of co-operating schools for the improvement of learning, this curriculum development project successfully infused the study of technology into the science courses of several British secondary schools. (RM)

A quality science curriculum should emphasize science in a social setting, include practical applications, stress local relevance, utilize the many dimensions of science in learning activities and teaching methods, and focus on the resolution of problems and issues while de-emphasizing the solution of text and teacher-made problems. (RM)

Discussed is the deliberative process--the verbal interchange that is carried on, usually by a group, with the intent that some kind of curriculum plan, policy, or program will emerge. A case study involving a curriculum committee deliberating over a new science program for their Ontario (Canada) school board is presented. (RM)