This study examines an urban middle school teacher design team's capacity for creating integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curricula. Using Brown's pedagogical design capacity (PDC) theory, which highlights interactions between personal and curricular resources, this paper introduces an extended framework that includes…

Earth Systems Science (ESS) is emerging rapidly as a discipline and is being used to replace the older earth science education that has been taught as unrelated disciplines--geology, meteorology, astronomy, and oceanography. ESS is complex and is based on the idea that the earth can be understood as a set of interacting natural and social systems.…

Discusses development and use of an aquatic studies conceptual scheme which has been used in the Project COAST (Coastal, Oceanic and Aquatic Studies) at the University of Delaware. Sample concepts and results from field testing of the curriculum are included. (DH)

Delineates various conceptions of curriculum and uses one of these conceptions as basis for the development of a classroom learning environment instrument. Provides an overview of how a curriculum can be conceived as a social construction that arises through interaction of participants and explains how this instrument might be used by teachers and…

Defines educational importance, multidimensionality, and economy to be essential criteria in the selection of attitude scales for curriculum evaluation. Five scales meeting the requirements are selected and tested with 1,158 Australian seventh-grade students. Scores on the attitude scales and correlations of scores with socioeconomic status,…

Describes the development and validation of the Curriculum Adaptation Scheme (CAS) to aid curriculum developers in their curriculum adaptation endeavors. Provides a copy of the instrument. (DS)

Presents an in-house strategy for evaluating developed curricula. The strategy is demonstrated via the evaluation of the Individualized Science curriculum. (SL)

Examines the characteristics of the first generation of secondary science curricula reforms that emerged in the 1950's (such as PSSC) and the second generation of reforms that appeared in the following decade (such as Harvard Project Physics). The strengths and weaknesses of these two generations of science curricula are compared. (JR)

Explains the "deliberative inquiry model," a strategy developed for investigating science education in Canada. Assumptions of the model are addressed, with information on position papers, curriculum policies, textbook analysis, teacher surveys, and case studies provided. Indicates that the project has created momentum for deliberation…

Reviews independent studies that evaluate various national curriculum projects. Concludes that the number of studies is insufficient and that the major problem is the failure to give the same degree of systematic attention to evaluation and dissemination that has been given to curriculum development. (MLH)

Reviews and compares results of content analysis studies of selected high school science laboratory handbooks using the Laboratory Structure and Task Analysis Inventory (LAI). Findings from two biology, two chemistry, and two physics handbooks indicate highly structured investigations where students perform manipulative and observational…

Reviews the state of the art in current science education in terms of curriculum development, instructional procedures, and teacher training programs. Indicates that science education researchers should stop tinkering with piecemeal studies and start delineating the dimensions of dependent and independent variables in new curricula and pupils'…

This third of a three-article series describes impact resulting from the neglect of student involvement, unstated delimitations in scientific methodology, and overemphasis of performance objectives. Provides a list of four recommendations for further curriculum innovation. (CC)

Describes the background and 38 steps of the development of the Australian Science Education Project (ASEP) Curriculum. Discusses some implications and eight points using formative evaluation to improve science curriculum materials. (YP)