When the process of curriculum mapping begins with the faculty's articulations of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes students should master upon graduation, a curriculum map results that enables faculty to review the curriculum for effectiveness, see the workings of the whole curriculum at a glance, plan assessments, and recognize where…

Curriculum mapping can be used to document, align, visualize, and assess curricular data, such as learning outcomes, assessment materials, instructional techniques, and student pre- and post-testing scores. A cross-disciplinary Curriculum Mapping Initiative currently underway at the University of Toronto Mississauga aims to: (1) develop guidelines…

Institutional effectiveness (IE) is required for colleges and universities by the six regional accrediting agencies for education in the United States, but the creation of cyclical, systemic, ongoing IE plans has proven to be a challenge for institutions, and especially for community colleges. The literature indicates faculty resist IE work when…

Drawing on cartography, urban design and visual data modelling, we consider how people navigate, or fail to navigate, the mental, physical and social spaces of knowledge communities. Cartographically inspired critical thinking offers opportunities to re-examine the assumptions and formal maps of post-secondary institutions, visualizing…

The consideration of threshold concepts is offered in the context of biological education as a theoretical framework that may have utility in the teaching and learning of biology at all levels. Threshold concepts may provide a mechanism to explain the observed punctuated nature of conceptual change. This perspective raises the profile of periods…

This article describes how science can lead whole-school curriculum change at key stage 3 (ages 11-14). Two thematic curriculum models are described. Model 1 shows how science specialists can develop student understanding of how science interrelates to a variety of other subject areas, while Model 2 shows how science might help to create a…

Barriers to the identification of gifted students from traditionally underserved groups have been well documented. Although contemporary definitions of giftedness give heed to both performance and potential, the literature provides little concrete direction for how "potential" can be recognized, particularly in underperforming students who have…

The overall aim of this article is to analyze the relationships between the roles of assessment in pedagogy, the interactions between curriculum assessment and pedagogy, and the study of pupils' progression in learning. It is argued that well-grounded evidence of pupils' progressions in learning is crucial to the work of teachers, so that a method…

Creativity, which has now entered the discourse in higher education alongside other agenda items such as enterprise, entrepreneurship and innovation, is an elusive and complex notion. It may evade the sort of definition, categorisation and compartmentalisation required to integrate it fully into the curriculum frameworks and assessment regimes…

Describes how concept maps can be used in biology teaching. Concept maps for genetics and ecology are presented as a model. How to use these maps as curricular and instructional tools and as a means of evaluation is also included. (HM)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to share practice on how two approaches to work-based learning (WBL) are used to develop the knowledge and skills of health care staff with different levels of experience and educational attainment within the Department of Nursing and the Department of Allied Health Professions at a post-1992 university…

Explores the significance of concept mapping for education and curriculum development. Discusses two main streams in curriculum paradigms and important processes, and the functions which concept mapping can have in education and curriculum development. Examines why students in educational institutions don't yet make systematic use of concept maps,…

A model of human information processing is summarized and discussed in terms of the implications of the model and its associated technologies for curriculum research and development. Description of the model focuses on its input and output systems and its memory systems, i.e., long-term memory (LTM). Semantic networks are described as a…

This is a record of the proceedings of the 30th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA). The theme of the conference is "Mathematics: Essential research, essential practice." The theme draws attention to the importance of developing and maintaining links between research and practice and…