Curriculum reform

This typology of curriculum representations is partieularly instruetive for analysing the roots and fruits of numerous eurrieulum innovations efforts in seience edueation over the previous deeades. Curriculum reform typieally is aimed at redueing the ineongruenee between new ideas and eurrent student learning. ... 

Some common themes in recent efforts at curriculum reform emerged in the work of Anderson (1995). As these themes seem to have been at least partially successful in respect of other areas of the science curriculum, they could usefully underlie the formal curriculum requirements in respect of the triplet relationship. These themes value the paying of more attention to ... 

Anderson, R. D. (1995). Curriculum reform dilemmas and promise. Phi Delta Kappan, 77(1), 33-36. 

We are taught in business school (I am told) that every challenge is an opportunity. That is probably untrue in physical chemistry (and perhaps in commerce too), but there are certainly opportunities for us to enhance our teaching. I have identified three principal ones in Fig.lb, namely graphics, curriculum reform, and the conceptual basis of our subject. As for challenges, no opportunity is an island, and I like to think that the triangle summarizes the interplay between them and the strength that they acquire in combination. 

The Effects of Physical Chemistry Curriculum Reform on the American Chemical Society DivCHED Physical Chemistry Examinations... 

The physical chemistry curriculum reform efforts of the last two decades have succeeded in encouraging some revisions in the material in the lecture and in new or modernized exercises for use in the laboratory. More slowly, the mainstream standardized multiple choice examination has also kept pace with the curricular revisions. The content areas represented on the examination have changed with each successive revision of the examination, as have the types of questions asked. The content areas on the examination have become more representative of modem physical chemistry practice, while the items themselves have become more conceptually based. 

These projects influenced the mechanism for science curriculum reform in many countries through out 1960 s and beyond. 

The decision to choose between traditional and new curricula was left to schools. They may be considered as a good decision keeping in view the difficulties involved in preparing all teachers adequately and in a short-time, for large-scale science curriculum reform. 

We can conclude the discussion by observing that despite disappointment with outcomes of some earlier projects, the 1980 s brought a renewed commitment to science curriculum reform. In comparison to the earlier reforms the recent science curriculum initiatives identify the teacher or the teacher and learner as the focus of the reform so that curriculum improvement becomes essentially a matter of teacher development. Some curriculum initiatives have tried to accommodate metacognition by fostering students knowledge and awareness of, and thereby control over, their own learning. 

Promoting the inclusion of philosophical perspectives in the chemistry curriculum suggests a departure from common approaches, and hence offers a new perspective for future curriculum development efforts. Conventional approaches in curriculum design have typically included emphases on content knowledge (e.g. problem-solving in the context of substances, atomic structure and chemical reactions) or societal aspects of chemistry (e.g. effects of chemical pollution on the environment) in the writing of instructional activities. Numerous curriculum reform efforts have been based on these approaches. 

A second major curriculum reform project coming on the scene is the National Science Teachers Association s "Scope, Sequence, and Coordination of Secondary Science" (SSC) project. It seeks to attack the problem of science illiteracy by having every student study science (no tracking) in grades 7-12. Chemistry instruction will be spread out over several years time, and will progress from the concrete to the abstract. 

Although much money, time, and effort has been expended toward engineering curriculum reform, and some successful reform has been achieved, the problems remain daunting, partially because they are complex, surrounded by a lack of... 

Goldberg, D., Cangellaris, A., Loui, M., Price, R., and Litchfield, B. (2008a), iFoundry Curriculum reform without tears. Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Annual Conference ami Exhibition, AC-2008-1667. http //tinyurl.com/c4oaqu... 

M. Karpudewan, Z. Ismail and N. Mohamed, Pre Service Teachers Environmental Values an Indicator for Curriculum Reform to Address Education for Sustainable Development. Proceedings for World Conference on Science and Technology Education Sustainable. Responsible. Global Perth, Australia, 2007. 

Keywords Programs in design and innovation Engineering and liberal education integration Curriculum reform Science and technology studies (STS) Design studios Project-based learning... 

Kuiper, W. (1993). Curriculum reform and teaching practice (doctoral dissertation). Enschede University of Twente. 

Adams, J.E. (2000). Taking Charge of Curriculum Teacher Networks and Curriculum Reform. New York Teacher College Press. 

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