Physiology teaching-learning methods have passed through several changes over the years. The traditional model of education appears to be linked to the teacher, who resists the use of tools and methods designed to provide something different to the student, depriving the student of new things or even the motivation to realize the applicability of…

This paper presents the open learning initiatives of the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology to overcome certain barriers, such as enabling access, cost of replication, timely feedback, monitoring and continuous improvement of learning modules. Using an open-education model, like MIT's (Massachusetts Institute…

Mathematics education is rarely out of the policy spotlight in England. Over the last 10 years, considerable attention has been given to improving 14-19 mathematics curriculum pathways. In this paper we consider some of the challenges of enacting curriculum change by drawing upon evidence from our evaluation of the Mathematics Pathways Project…

Entrepreneurship is a novel course in the curriculum for students in the Information Technology (IT) degree program at La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia. In comparison to other IT-related courses, the Entrepreneurship course seeks to develop business management knowledge and skills; its learning design is thus different to that of other…

The paper reports a study of the project practices of four Indian middle school teachers, elicited through semi-structured interviews of individual teachers. The teachers also responded to a proposal to modify four aspects of existing project practices, viz. subject integration, assessment, group work, and management of resources. The aspects were…

The distribution of science and technology resources in China has encountered a series of problems including, for example, scattered resources, unnecessary duplication and ineffective management. To facilitate access to these valuable resources, the Beijing Science and Technology Committee, a local government agency, established the Beijing…

As secondary students' interest in science is decreasing, schools are faced with the challenging task of providing adequate instruction to engage students--and more particularly the disadvantaged students--to learn science and improve their science inquiry skills. In this respect, the integration of Web-based collaborative inquiry can be seen as a…

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how the idea of a Pedagogy of Hope is perceived, interpreted and realised at the Institute for Mathematics and Science Teaching of the University of Stellenbosch (IMSTUS). First some background information is given about the impact of the programmes which, it is argued, cannot be pinned to one Millennium…

This case study looked at 76 randomly selected preservice science teachers from Mbire and Guruve districts who were learning at the Mushumbi Centre in Zimbabwe and assessed their motivations for enrolling under the Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE)'s Virtual and Open Distance Learning (VODL) programme. It also looked at the challenges…

This article reports empirical work conducted by three university teacher education providers into how a major revision of the science curriculum in England, the "How Science Works" strand, has been translated into practice for 14-16 year olds in schools. Data were collected from pre-service teachers about their understanding,…

Schools are increasingly integrating multidisciplinary education into their programmes. The Minister of Education, Culture and Science has introduced a new, integrated science subject in secondary education in the Netherlands, called Nature, Life and Technology (NLT). This research note describes the design of a generic model for a professional…

In South Africa, poor performance of learners in mathematics across the school system is a problem demanding new solutions. One possible solution is to try to raise standards through the use of open educational resources (OER). This article presents and discusses findings from a case study of a collaborative OER development project initiated by…

Preparing graduates for the professions is increasingly recognised as involving a partnership approach to curriculum design, implementation and evaluation. Experiential placements play a critical role in developing discipline-specific knowledge and skills and also generic professional dispositions including relationships, communication, problem…

In 2002, HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) carried out a review of the contribution of the Scottish science centres to formal and informal science education as part of a broader review of all science centres in the United Kingdom. This report identifies many strengths in individual centres and across the network. It is clear that the centres…

From September 2006 schools across England and Wales will have to deliver the new KS4 Programme of study. The wide consultation initiated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in the year 2000 resulted in the piloting of the new criteria in 78 different schools and colleges. The piloting was performed by the awarding body Oxford…