The implementation of "research-based" mathematics curricula is increasingly becoming a central element of mathematics education reform policies. Given the recent focus on grounding mathematics curriculum policies in research, it is important to understand precisely what it means for a curriculum to be research-based. Using the Curriculum Research…

The purpose of this study was to survey the Nuffield Science Teaching Projects' adoption and diffusion into British secondary schools. This report presents a narrative of the three-phase research strategy. The first year was of an exploratory nature aimed at elucidating the various forms that adoption and rejection of innovations could take, the…

This study was designed to assess the attitudinal outcomes of Introductory Physical Science (IPS) curriculum materials used in schools. Random samples of 240 students receiving IPS instruction and 240 non-science students were assigned to separate Solomon four-group designs with non-equivalent control groups. Random samples of 60 traditional…

As appendices to the final report on Project Physics (SE 015 500), this volume includes parts of the original documents concerning the project development. Articles published in the "Physics Teacher" are included in reprint form. Evaluation and research papers along with related materials issued in other publications are grouped into…

Attempts to assess the impact of the NSF science curriculum projects have been generally unsatisfactory. Much of the NSF impact on science education will probably continue to defy quantification. Whether or not the new curricula achieve their goal of increasing scientific literacy among the public can only be evaluated over the lifetimes of the…

Detailed descriptions about Project Physics are presented in this report covering the period from July 1, 1964 - August 15, 1970. The objectives of designing a humanistically-oriented course, attracting more senior-high students, and contributing to the advancement of knowledge of the factors influencing physics learning are discussed with a…

This research project provides an individualized format for a three-year integrated junior high school science curriculum. The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between student self-ratings on such variables as (1) ability to operate independently of the teacher, (2) use class time effectively, (3) develop their own plan for…

British science curriculum improvement projects on the elementary and secondary school levels are reviewed in this volume to indicate their implications for the development of second-generation programs in the United States. Included in the British second-generation program category are: the Scottish integrated courses, Nuffield combined science,…

This report describes development of the "Prepare Them for the Future" project, a K-3 activity-oriented science curriculum. The program, funded through two grants, was driven by the need to boost the distressed labor-based economy in rural western Pennsylvania. Data showed a drop of 1,100 coal-mining jobs between 1980 and 1986 in Indiana…

In 1987, the Cheshire Public Schools initiated a science curriculum review. Teachers, parents, and students recognized that the existing textbook-based elementary science program was a dismal portrayal of such a dynamic discipline. There was community consensus that reading about science and acquiring scientific vocabulary words were not the same…

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains the frequencies for the values of variables for cases that are the individual activities in the Surroundings module of the BSCS Human Sciences Program. Students rated each activity on a six-item, Likert-type scale and responded to open-ended questions about the activity. Surroundings was one…

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains frequencies for the values of 310 variables for 446 student cases that comprised the field test data from the testing of Knowing, a Level III module of the BSCS Human Sciences Program. This module was developed and field tested with eighth-grade students in middle schools and junior high…

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains the frequencies for the value of 23 variables for each of the 3,173 student-activity evaluation interactions (cases) for the 44 activities in the Human Sciences Knowing Module. Students rated each activity on an eight-item, Likert-type scale and responded to open-ended questions about the…

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains frequencies for the values of 1,275 variables for 734 student cases that comprise the field-test data from the BSCS Human Sciences curriculum project. This three-year interdisciplinary science curriculum, designed for 11- to 14-year-olds, was field-tested in seven middle and junior high…

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains eight variables that describe the characteristics of 623 activities or activity parts that comprise the activities used in the field test of the BSCS Human Sciences Program, 1973 to 1976, and 1977, in middle and junior high schools in the United States. The file also includes 52 variables…