Showing papers on "Curriculum published in 1997"

Intelligent Tutoring Goes To School in the Big City

Abstract: This paper reports on a large-scale experiment introducing and evaluating intelligent tutoring in an urban High School setting. Critical to the success of this project has been a client-centered design approach that has matched our client's expertise in curricular objectives and classroom teaching with our expertise in artificial inte lligence and cognitive psychology. The Pittsburgh Urban Mathematics Project (PUMP) has produced an algebra curriculum that is centrally focused on mathematical analysis of real world situations and the use of computational tools. We have built an intelligent tutor, called PAT, that su pports this curriculum and has been made a regular part of 9th grade Algebra in 3 Pittsburgh schools. In the 1993-94 school year, we evaluated the effect of the PUMP curriculum and PAT tutor use. On average the 470 students in experimental classes outperformed students in comparison classes by 15% on standardized tests and 100% on tests targeting the PUMP objectives. This study provides further evidence that laboratory tutoring systems can be scaled up and made to work, both technically and pedagogically, in real and unforgiving settings like urban high schools.

Education and Saving: The Long-Term Effects of High School Financial Curriculum Mandates

Abstract: June 1997 Over the last forty years, the majority of states have adopted consumer education policies, and a sizable minority have specifically mandated that high school students receive instruction on topics related to household financial decision-making (budgeting, credit management, saving and investment, and so forth). In this paper, we attempt to determine whether the curricula arising from these mandates have had any discernable effect on adult decisions regarding saving. Using a unique household survey, we exploit the variation in requirements both across states and over time to identify the effects of interest. The evidence indicates that mandates have significantly raised both exposure to financial curricula and subsequent asset accumulation once exposed students reached adulthood. These effects appear to have been gradual rather than immediate -- a probable reflection of implementation lags.

Twenty‐five years of social and environmental accounting research

Abstract: Reviews 25 years of social and environmental accounting literature in an attempt to evaluate the position and answer the question posed in the title, as well as to provide a structure or classification for others to use. In order to structure the task, uses three time periods: 1971‐1980; 1981‐1990; and 1991‐1995, and classifies the literature into several sub‐groups including empirical studies, normative statements, philosophical discussion, non‐accounting literature, teaching programmes and textbooks, regulatory frameworks, and other reviews. Attempts, after the classification, to synthesize an overall chronological position. Concludes that there is something to celebrate after 25 years. However, the continued success of this field is dependent on a relatively small number of researchers, writers, and specialized journals without which there would be the danger of a collapse of interest and a loss of what has been gained so far. Consequently, the provision of a place in the advanced undergraduate and graduate curriculum is a major task for the next decade. Argues that appropriately qualified and motivated professionals are needed to contribute to environmental policy and management in both the public and private sectors. However, appropriate educational programmes have not been evident to date.

Educating citizens in a multicultural society

Abstract: Reconstructing Citizenship Education Teaching Social Studies for Decision Making and Citizen Action Epistemological Issues Ethnicity, Social Science, Research and Education the Persistence of Ethnicity - Research and Teaching Implications Multicultural Education and Curriculum Transformation Equity Pedagogy and Multicultural Education Democratic Racial Attitudes Educating Teachers, Leaders and Citizens Teaching Multicultural Literacy to Teachers Goals for the 21st Century.

Curriculum Integration: Designing the Core of Democratic Education

Abstract: Defining curriculum integration as a comprehensive approach rather than simply rearranging subjects, this text uses many classroom examples to explain the relationship between curriculum integration and the disciplines of knowledge.

Effectiveness of a Violence Prevention Curriculum Among Children in Elementary School: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract: Objective. —To determine if a commonly used violence prevention curriculum, Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum, leads to a reduction in aggressive behavior and an increase in prosocial behavior among elementary school students. Design. —Randomized controlled trial. Setting. —Urban and suburban elementary schools in the state of Washington. Participants. —Six matched pairs of schools with 790 second-grade and third-grade students. The students were 53% male and 79% white. Intervention. —The curriculum uses 30 specific lessons to teach social skills related to anger management, impulse control, and empathy. Main Outcome Measures. —Aggressive and prosocial behavior changes were measured 2 weeks and 6 months after participation in the curriculum by parent and teacher reports (Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist and Teacher Report Form, the School Social Behavior Scale, and the Parent-Child Rating Scale) and by observation of a random subsample of 588 students in the classroom and playground/ cafeteria settings. Results. —After adjusting for sex, age, socioeconomic status, race, academic performance, household size, and class size, change scores did not differ significantly between the intervention and control schools for any of the parent-reported or teacher-reported behavior scales. However, the behavior observations did reveal an overall decrease 2 weeks after the curriculum in physical aggression ( P =.03) and an increase in neutral/prosocial behavior ( P =.04) in the intervention group compared with the control group. Most effects persisted 6 months later. Conclusions. —The Second Step violence prevention curriculum appears to lead to a moderate observed decrease in physically aggressive behavior and an increase in neutral and prosocial behavior in school.

Genre and institutions : social processes in the workplace and school

Abstract: Analyzing genre - functional parameters science, technology and technical literacies the language of administration - organizing human activity in formal institutions death, disruption and the moral order -the narrative impulse in mass-media "hard news" reporting curriculum macrogenres as forms of initiation into a culture learning how to mean - scientifically speaking - apprenticeship into scientific discourse in the secondary school constructing and giving value to the past - an investigation into secondary school history entertaining and instructing - exploring experience through story.

A splintered vision : an investigation of U.S. science and mathematics education

Abstract: Introduction. 1. Unfocused Curricula. 2. U.S. Textbooks: Conflicting Demands, Cautious Visions. 3. U.S. Teachers: Responding to Splintered Visions. 4. How Has Our Vision Become So Splintered? 5. So What Can We Expect from U.S. Students? 6. Open Questions: How Do We Get Where We Want to Go? Appendix A: TIMSS Curriculum Framewords: Measuring Curricular Elements. Appendix B: Documents Analyzed. Appendix C: Means, Proportions, and Standard Errors for Teacher Data. Appendix D: List of Exhibits. Endnotes.

Toward a First Nations Cross-Cultural Science and Technology Curriculum.

Abstract: This article explores First Nations (Native American) science education from a cultural perspective Science is recognized as a subculture of Western culture Scientific and Aboriginal ideas about nature are contrasted Learning science is viewed as culture acquisition that requires First Nations students to cross a cultural border from their everyday world into the subculture of science The pathway toward the cross-cultural education explored in the ar- ticle is: (1) founded on empirical studies in educational anthropology; (2) directed by the goals of First Nations people themselves; (3) illuminated by a reconceptualization of science teach- ing as cultural transmission; (4) guided by a cross-cultural STS science and technology cur- riculum; and (5) grounded in various types of content knowledge (common sense, technology, and science) for the purpose of practical action such as economic development, environmental responsibility, and cultural survival Cross-cultural instruction requires teachers to identify cultural border crossings for students and to facilitate those border crossings by playing the role of tour guide, travel agent, or culture broker, while sustaining the validity of students' own culturally constructed ways of knowing © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Sci Ed 81:217 - 238, 1997

The educated mind : how cognitive tools shape our understanding

Abstract: The ills of education are caused, this text argues, by the fact that we have inherited three major educational ideas, each of which is incompatible with the other two These mutual incompatibilities, it continues, bring about clashes at every level of the educational process, from curriculum decisions to teaching methods The text presents an alternative It concludes with practical proposals for how teaching and curriculum should be changed to reflect this new conception and fit in with how we actually learn

The Jasper Project: Lessons in Curriculum, instruction, Assessment, and Professional Development

Abstract: During the past decade, members of the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt University have worked with hundreds of teachers and thousands of students throughout North America in the context of the Adventures of Jasper Woodbury problem-solving series--12 videodisc-based adventures plus video-based analogs, extensions, and teaching tips designed to improve the mathematical thinking of students from grades 5 and up, and to help them make connections to other disciplines such as science, history, and social studies. The experience of developing the Jasper series, testing it in classrooms, and re-designing it based on feedback provided The Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt with extraordinarily rich opportunities to learn from teachers, students, parents, administrators, and other community members. This book was written for two reasons. First, it helped the authors to organize the thoughts and experiences of over 70 members of the Learning Technology Center who worked on the Jasper project, and to collaboratively reflect on their experiences and relate them to the broader literature in cognition and instruction. Second, this book gives others a change to learn from the experiences of the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. The book is anchored around their experiences with Jasper, but the issues explored are relevant to any attempt to improve educational practice. This book tells a coherent story that helps readers explore issues of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and teacher learning (professional development) within a single context (Jasper) and how all these topics are interrelated. It also helps readers see the relevance of research programs for improving educational practice. Throughout, the need for maintaining a balance of laboratory and classroom research is emphasized.

Transforming schools into communities of thinking and learning about serious matters.

Abstract: In this article, a program of research known as Fostering Communities of Learners is described. This program is in place in several schools and classrooms serving inner-city students from 6 to 12 years of age. Based on theoretical advances in cognitive and developmental psychology, the program is successful at improving both literacy skills and domain-area subject matter knowledge (e.g., environmental science and biology). Building on young children's emergent strategic and metacognitive knowledge, together with their skeletal biological theories, the program leads children to discover the deep principles of the domain and to develop flexible learning and inquiry strategies of wide applicability.

"Completely Different Worlds": EAP and the Writing Experiences of ESL Students in University Courses

Abstract: One source of information that should inform decisions about English for academic purposes (EAP) writing courses is students' experiences in those courses and beyond. A survey of ESL students in the U.S. (Leki & Carson, 1994) has indicated that they experience writing differently depending on the source of information drawn on in writing a text: general world knowledge or personal experience; a source text or texts used as a springboard for ideas; or a source text (or other external reality), the content of which the student must display knowledge. This article, based on interview data, reports on how ESL students experience writing under each of these conditions in their EAP writing classes and their academic content classes across the curriculum. The findings suggest that writing classes require students to demonstrate knowledge of a source text much less frequently than other academic courses do. We argue that EAP classes that limit students to writing without source texts or to writing without responsibility for the content of source texts miss the opportunity to engage L2 writing students in the kinds of interactions with text that promote linguistic and intellectual growth. To explain and understand any human social behavior … we need to know the meaning attached to it by the participants themselves. (Nielsen, 1990)

The Assessment Challenge in Statistics Education

Abstract: This prospective book discusses conceptual and pragmatic issues in the assessment of statistical knowledge and reasoning skills and the use of assessments to improve instruction among students at college and pre-college levels. It is designed primarily for academic audiences involved in teaching statistics and mathematics, and in teacher education and training. The book is divided in four sections: (I) Assessment goals and frameworks, (2) Assessing conceptual understanding of statistical ideas, (3) Innovative models for classroom assessments, and (4) Assessing understanding of probability. Both editors are involved in assessment issues in statistics. The book is written by leading researchers, statistics math educators and curriculum developers.

Placing the history and philosophy of science on the curriculum : a model for the development of pedagogy

Abstract: This article focuses on two of the principal issues for science curriculum developers who wish to introduce the history and philosophy of science into the teaching of science — the jus- tification for, and the placement of, historical materials within teachers' schemes of work. First, it is argued that the history and philosophy of science must have a rationale that is integral to, and con- sistent with, teachers' main aims to have any chance of being considered for inclusion in a program of study. Second, the justification must point to places in schemes of work where the inclusion of history of science will directly contribute to students learning of science concepts and satisfy that principal objective. A new model for the inclusion of such material is proposed that directly ad- dresses both children's alternative frameworks and the historical and sociocultural context of the discovery. It is argued that this model offers potential for improved learning of the concepts of sci- ence and for learning about science. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 81:405 - 424, 1997.

Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula: A Practical Guide

Abstract: Preface. Acknowledgments. About the Authors. PART I: A FRAME OF REFERENCE. 1. A Learning-Centered Approach to Course and Curriculum Design. 2. The Expanding Role of Faculty in Accreditation and Accountability. 3. Staying Informed. 4. Scholarship and Faculty Rewards. 5. An Introduction to the Model and Its Benefits. 6. Diagramming. PART II: THE PROCESS. 7. Making the Decision to Go Ahead. 8. Getting Started. 9. Linking Goals, Courses, and Curricula. 10. Gathering and Analyzing Essential Data. 11. Thinking in the Ideal. 12. Adjusting from the Ideal to the Possible. 13. Clarifying Instructional Goals and Learning Outcomes. 14. Designing and Implementing Your Assessment Plan: Overview and Assessing a Curriculum. 15. Designing and Implementing Your Assessment Plan: Assessing a Course. PART III: DESIGNING, IMPLEMENTING, AND ASSESSING THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE. 16. Designing the Learning Experience: The Research on Teaching and Learning. 17. Designing the Learning Experience: Your Instructional Options. 18. Using Technology to Support Learning. Wallace Hannum. 19. Distance Learning. Wallace Hannum. 20. Meeting the Needs of Adult Learners. G. Roger Sell. 21. Addressing Diversity. G. Roger Sell. 22. Developing a Learning-Centered Syllabus. PART IV: YOUR NEXT STEPS. 23. Using Your Data: Curriculum and Course Revision. 24. Learning from Experience. Resources. References. Index.

Working for equity in heterogeneous classrooms : sociological theory in practice

Abstract: This volume provides the theory and research on which Elizabeth Cohen's "Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom" (1994), was based. It documents, with systematic data collection and analysis, how it is possible to abolish ability grouping without sacrificing the intellectual challenge of the curriculum. This illustration of the practical application of sociological theory and research strategies shows how they can be utilized in reconstructing classrooms to simultaneously achieve goals of equity and development of higher order thinking. The innovation of this approach, Complex Instruction (CI), has a systematic knowledge base that permits examination of implementation, staff development, equal-status interaction, and outcomes of achievement and cognitive development. The work of this group of researchers is testimony to the potential that sociological theory and research have for the field of education.

Guidelines for undergraduate degree programs on Model curriculum and guidelines for undergraduate degree programs in information systems

Abstract: The IS'97 report is the latest output from model curriculum work for information systems that began in the early 1970s and has matured over a twenty year period. This report represents the combined effort of numerous individuals and reflects the interests of thousands of faculty. It is grounded in the expected requirements of industry and represents the views of organizations employing the graduates. This model curriculum is the first collaborative curriculum effort of the ACM, AIS and AITP (formerly DPMA) societies and is supported by other interested organizations. The draft was reviewed at eleven national and international meetings involving over 1,000 individuals from industry and academia. All aspects of the computing field have had rapid, continuous change. As a result, university-level Information Systems (IS) curricula need frequent updating to remain effective. Since most academic units have mechanisms to maintain currency of curricula, why have professional society curriculum committees? If an IS academic unit were providing graduates solely to local business and government, the input on program contents could be derived from representatives of local organizations that hire the graduates. However, local employment is not the sole objective for undergraduate majors in Information Systems. Students from IS programs accept jobs in widely dispersed geographic areas. Therefore, availability of curriculum models enables local academic units to maintain academic programs that are consistent both with employment needs across the country and with the common body of knowledge of the IS field. The first IS curriculum models were introduced in the early 1970s. This early work was followed by model curricula developed by ACM and DPMA. Details of this history are reviewed in Appendix 2. Professional society curriculum reports serve several other objectives. One important use is to provide a local academic unit with rationale to obtain proper resources to support its program. Often, administration at the local institution is not aware of the resources, course offerings, computing hardware, software, and laboratory resources needed for a viable program. Administration may be unaware of the specialized classroom technology, library resources, or laboratory assistants essential for proper education of IS undergraduates. Finally, administration might not recognize the rapid turnover of knowledge in the field and the need for resources to support constant retooling of faculty. Curriculum reports provide recommendations in these resource areas as well as content for the necessary body of knowledge. They provide important information for local IS academic units to use in securing from their institution the necessary levels of support. The importance of the curriculum effort is based on continuing strong demand for graduates. A strong demand for IS professionals is forecast by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to continue through the year 2005 (Occupational Outlook Quarterly 1993). For example, the forecast increase in demand for system analysts is 110 percent for the period 1992-2005, averaging over 8 percent annually. Of all occupations analyzed, the systems analyst position is projected to have one of the highest demands. The IS field also remains attractive in regard to compensation. In 1993, raises in IS were second highest of all professions, only slightly below engineering (Sullivan-Trainor 1994). These growth and pay level factors indicate undergraduate degrees in IS will continue to be in strong demand over the next decade. In a time of restricted academic budgets, some IS academic departments have been under downsizing pressure from other academic disciplines in their own institutions, citing a decline in employment in central IS organizations. However, there is no lessening in demand for IS knowledge and ability in organizations; to the contrary, the demand is expanding as the functional areas of the organization gain more capability in IS. Many areas of the organization are now hiring IS majors for departmental computing activities. There is also strong demand for the IS minor by students in other disciplines who need IS expertise in order to be effective in their work and to assist in developing applications in their functional area. A third reason that the demand for IS courses will continue to increase is that students in related disciplines want to acquire basic and intermediate IS skills. Every discipline is experiencing growth in computer use, and students who enrich their IS knowledge are at a career advantage.

Tangled Up in School: Politics, Space, Bodies, and Signs in the Educational Process

Abstract: Based on two years of ethnographic fieldwork in an urban elementary school, this volume is an examination of how school division politics, regional economic policies, parental concerns, urban development efforts, popular cultures, gender ideologies, racial politics, and university and corporate agendas come together to produce educational effects. Unlike conventional school ethnographies, the focus of this work is less on classrooms than on the webs of social relations that embed schools in neighborhoods, cities, states, and regions. Utilizing a variety of narratives and analytical styles, this volume: * explores how curriculum innovations are simultaneously made possible by and undermined by school district politics, neighborhood histories, and the spatial and temporal organizations of teachers' and parents' lives; * situates the educational discourse of administrators and teachers in the changing economic and political climates of the city; * analyzes the motivations behind an effort by school and business proponents to refashion classrooms within the school into business enterprises, and of children's efforts to make sense of the scheme; * examines the role of the school as a neighborhood institution, situating it at the intersections of city planners' efforts to regulate city space and children's efforts to carve out live spaces through out-of-school routines; * contemplates the meaning of school as a site for bodily experience, and looks at how patterns of space and control in the school shaped children's bodies, and at how they continued to use body-based languages to construct maturity, gender, and race; and * investigates the school as a space for the deployment of symbolic resources where children learned and constructed identities through their engagements with television, comic books, movies, and sports. Tangled Up In School raises questions about how we draw the boundaries of the school, about how schools fit into the lives of children and cities, and about what we mean when we talk about "school."

Searching for excellence in business education: an exploratory study of customer impressions of service quality

Abstract: Examines the concept of service quality in business education with data collected from 388 students. Identifies seven factors which influence student evaluations of service quality. In descending order of importance these factors are: reputation, administrative personnel, faculty, curriculum, responsiveness, physical evidence and access to facilities. Describes the implications for controlling quality and for achieving excellence in business education.

What Makes Schools Effective? A Comparison of the Relationships of Communitarian Climate and Academic Climate to Mathematics Achievement and Attendance During Middle School

Abstract: Over the past few decades, scholars and policymakers have been perplexed about why students learn so little in some schools. Many researchers and reformers currently claim that school effectiveness hinges on communal organization. They contend that shared values and activities, positive adult social relations, positive teacher–student relations, and democratic governance enhance students’ school engagement and their academic achievement. Yet a competing theory—that of academic press—posits a more direct link between school processes and academic outcomes. This theory suggests that schools are effective when they offer demanding curricula and employ teachers whose educational expectations for their students are high. The present article used hierarchical modeling to compare the merits of these two theories. Analyses of longitudinal data on three cohorts of students (N > 5,600) from 23 middle schools indicated that communal organization was not related to mathematics achievement or attendance. Academic pres...

Music, Gender, Education

Abstract: Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Part I. Musical Meaning and Women's Musical Practice: 2. Affirming femininity: women singing, women enabling 3. From affirmation to interruption: women playing instruments 4. Threatening femininity: women composing/improvising 5. Towards a model of gendered musical meaning and experience Part II. Gendered Musical Meaning in Contemporary Education: 6. Affirming femininity in the music classroom 7. From affirmation to interruption of femininity in the music classroom 8. Threatening femininity in the music classroom 9. The music curriculum and the possibilities for intervention Bibliography Index.

Phonemic Awareness in Young Children : A Classroom Curriculum

Abstract: One of the most popular programs available more than 250,000 copies soldEasy and fun activities that take only 15-20 minutes a dayIncludes a flexible assessment test that allows group screeningMeets new federal requirements for scientifically based reading researchDeveloped by leading experts in reading instructionPhonemic Awareness in Young Children complements any prereading program. From simple listening games to more advanced exercises in rhyming, alliteration, and segmentation, this best-selling curriculum helps boost young learners' preliteracy skills in just 15-20 minutes a day. Specifically targeting phonemic awareness now known to be an important step to a child's early reading acquisition this research-based program helps young children learn to distinguish individual sounds that make up words and affect their meanings.With a developmental sequence of activities that follows a school year calendar, teachers can chose from a range of activities for their preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade classrooms. Plus, the curriculum includes an easy-to-use assessment test for screening up to 15 children at a time. This assessment not only helps to objectively estimate the general skill level of the class and identify children who may need additional testing but may also be repeated every 1-2 months to monitor progress. All children benefit because the curriculum accommodates individualized learning and teaching styles.Here is everything a teacher needs: Teaching objectivesLesson plans and sample scriptsActivity adaptationsTroubleshooting guidelinesSuggested kindergarten and first-grade schedulesInformal, group screeningA featured book in our Launching Literacy Kit!How Our Early Childhood Products Align with the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Outcomes Framework "

Constructivist teacher education : building new understandings

Abstract: Constructivist teacher education - theory and practice, Virginia Richardson Piagetian and emancipatory constructivsm, Jennifer Vadeboncoer constructivism - contradictions and confusions, Allan MacKinnon and Carol Seatter applying cognitive theory to teacher education, Nancy Winitzky and Don Kauchak thinking about teaching and teaching about thinking, Magdelene Lampert learning about how to plan in a constructivist manner, Sharon Feiman-Nemser using constructivist approaches, Jolie Mayer-Smith and Ian Mitchell the lived curriculum of a constructivist teacher education class, Francine Peterman meeting student teachers on their own terms, John Loughran and Tom Russell

The Reading Process

Abstract: Scholars from many disciplines are involved in studying reading. These include, but are not limited to psychologists, linguists, literary critics, psycholinguists, sociolinguists, semioticians, anthropologists, ethnographers, neurolinguists, educational researchers, curriculum workers, and those who study reading development and the teaching of reading. Except for occasional collaborations, each field has tended to work on its own, using its own methodologies and asking questions significant within the discipline. Sometimes attempting to bring these diverse vantage points together is like trying to construct an elephant from the descriptions of the blind men of Hindustan of their personal encounters with different portions of the elephant.

The Effect of National Standard and Curriculum- Based Exams on Achievement

Abstract: Our review of the evidence suggests that the claims of the advocates of standards and examination based reform of American secondary education may be right. The countries and Canadian provinces with such systems outperform other countries at comparable levels of development. In addition, New York State, the only state with a CBEEE, does remarkably well on the SAT test when student demography is held constant (Bishop 1996). CBEEEs are not, however, the most important determinant of achievement levels. CBEEEs are common in developing nations where achievement levels are often quite low [eg. Columbia and Iran]. Belgium, by contrast, has a top quality education system without having a CBEEE. More research on the effects of CBEEEs is clearly in order.

Chemistry Teaching - Science or Alchemy? 1996 Brasted Lecture

Abstract: Constructing a model of learning and applying it to lectures, laboratories, and curriculum design.