The inclusion of Nature of Science (NOS) in the science curriculum has been advocated around the world for several decades. One way of defining NOS is related to the family resemblance approach (FRA). The family resemblance idea was originally described by Wittgenstein. Subsequently, philosophers and educators have applied Wittgenstein's idea to…

This book presents a description of the major curriculum philosophies that have influenced educators and schooling over the last century. The author analyzes four educational visions (Scholar Academic, Social Efficiency, Learner Centered, and Social Reconstruction) to enable readers to reflect on their own educational beliefs and allow them to…

The effects of a success-oriented compensatory science program called DISCUS were determined on underachievers described as students with normal scores on intelligence tests but who maintained a grade point average below "C." Two hypotheses were formulated to focus on the attendance patterns of these students and the number of school activities…

Classroom interaction research of the traditional kind is probably not worth the effort involved because it does not have its tasks or questions correctly formulated. There is no central widely available framework or paradigm that permits the ordering of the questions being asked by the researcher or locates the core phenomena that we should be…

Intended for English teachers and administrators involved in curriculum design, this monograph describes the Language Learning Project, an investigation into current school practices in the teaching of English language in the Australian junior secondary school, with particular reference to teaching directed toward the attainment of language…

Despite scholarly disagreement about the nature and purposes of social studies education, the most widely adopted elementary social studies textbook series tend to be remarkably uniform, consisting of compendia of facts organized within the expanding communities curriculum structure. Content selection and explication tend to be guided primarily by…

The purpose of the study, part of the research and curriculum development of the Anthropology Curriculum Project, was to compare the facilitative effects of pre- and post-organizers on the learning of structured anthropology materials at the sixth-grade level. Organizers were defined, in this thesis, as written material that serves the function of…

This dissertation report, stemming from research and curriculum development activities of the Anthropology Curriculum Project, investigates the facilitative effects of pre-organizers, post-organizers, and no-organizers on the learning of anthropological concepts in the third grade. The investigation was an outgrowth of interest in Ausubel's theory…

This article discusees various motives of educators who involve themselves in curriculum research, reviews seven research methodologies (including surveys, content analysis, and sociolocial studies), and applies John Elliot's sociological taxonomy of educational research to English language and literature curricula. (AM)

The literature on curriculum comprises three areas. The first is made up of the articles that advocate, describe, criticize, discuss, or pontificate. These articles contain little by way of discerning theoretical analysis and nothing by way of persuasive empirical evidence and are not considered here, though their influence on actual school…

This survey of recent research identifies major trends in American geographic education and evaluates some of the recent research. The document builds on two previous works on research in geographic education: "Research in Geographic Learning," Journal of Geography, 1972, and "Research Needs in Geographic Education, Suggestions and Possibilities,"…

A survey of Illinois secondary school speech teachers was conducted in 1970 so that a profile of the secondary school speech teacher could be constructed from the perspective of how teachers view themselves. Replies were received from 55 teachers representing 37% of the sample and 12% of Illinois schools with speech activity programs. Among the…

Process oriented educational research has failed because it has relied too heavily on scientific method and has neglected "unscientific" but important questions. Educational research should study the society and how social forces influence teaching practices. Teachers can not be expected to change at will. They are constrained by pre-existing…

One of the major issues in education is curriculum relevancy. To make education more relevant, curricula have been revised and redesigned; but many of these revisions have failed to be implemented at the classroom level because teachers and administrators are incapable of changing the classroom environment. Traditional 19th century instruction…