Curriculum Journal 

About: Curriculum Journal is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Curriculum & National curriculum. It has an ISSN identifier of 0958-5176. Over the lifetime, 937 publications have been published receiving 18834 citations.

Classification of Learning Outcomes: Evidence from the Computer Games Literature.

Abstract: Following up on an earlier issue of The Curriculum Journal (Vol. 16, No. 1), this article focuses on learning outcomes in the context of video games. Learning outcomes are viewed from two theoretical frameworks: Kirkpatrick's levels of evaluation and the CRESST model of learning. These are used to analyse the outcomes claimed in journal articles that report empirical work, indicating the usefulness of the frameworks, and the necessity to consider the role of affective learning. The article ends with some comments on the relationship of instructional design to effective games and learning outcomes.

Teachers' summative practices and assessment for learning – tensions and synergies

Abstract: This article concerns the use of assessment for learning (formative assessment) and assessment of learning (summative assessment), and how one can affect the other in either positive or negative ways. It makes a case for greater use of teachers’ judgements in summative assessment, the reasons for this being found in the research that is reviewed in the first sections of the article. This research, concerning the impact of summative assessment, particularly high-stakes testing and examinations, on students’ motivation for learning and on teachers and the curriculum, reveals some seriously detrimental effects. Suggestions for changes that would reduce the negative effects include making greater use of teachers’ summative assessment. However, this raises other issues, about the reliability and validity of teachers’ assessment. Research on ways of improving the dependability of teachers’ summative assessment suggests actions that would equally support more effective use of assessment to help learning. The later sections of the article address the issues and opportunities relating to the possibility of assessment that serves both formative and summative purposes, with examples of what this means in practice, leading to the conclusion that the distinction between formative and summative purposes of assessment should be maintained, while assessment systems should be planned and implemented to enable evidence of students’ ongoing learning to be used for both purposes.

Towards a framework for critical citizenship education

Abstract: Increasingly, countries around the world are promoting forms of ‘critical’ citizenship in the planned curricula of schools. However, the intended meaning behind this term varies markedly and can range from a set of abstract and technical skills under the label ‘critical thinking’ to a desire to encourage engagement, action and political emancipation, often labelled ‘critical pedagogy’. This article distinguishes these manifestations of the ‘critical’ and, based on an analysis of the prevailing models of critical pedagogy and citizenship education, develops a conceptual framework for analysing and comparing the nature of critical citizenship.

A Longitudinal Study of Teacher Change: What Makes Professional Development Effective?.

Abstract: This preliminary analysis is part of the baseline phase of a longitudinal study designed to investigate the professional development of primary and secondary teachers across England. The study addresses four key research areas. The prevailing models of professional development for teachers in England are identified in this baseline phase and the scene is set for the remaining areas of investigation to be addressed (annual data collection sweeps will continue).

Let's get beyond community and practice: the many meanings of learning by participating

Abstract: This article is an attempt to tease out what is so often termed learning through participation. Drawing on the analysis undertaken by the Learning Outcomes Thematic Group, the use of the participation metaphor in TLRP projects is discussed. The conclusion arrived at is that its use appears mainly to focus on behaviour and engagement in practices. After looking at the cognitive potential to be found in both cultural psychology and in the work that has its origins in interactionism and developmental psychology, the article cautions against simply seeing participation as another way of looking at behaviour and how it is shaped by context. It calls for a recognition of the cognitive elements in socio-cultural and activity theory frameworks and their capacity to explain how we learn new practices. It argues that a focus on coming to know or sense making requires a discursive shift that allows a rethinking of what is meant by acquisition. The implications of these frameworks for assessment are also touched upon.