Chapter 8, "Locating sense of place in the school curriculum", begins with general reflections on curriculum, particularly in relation to the so-called "knowledge society" and critical pedagogy. It then reviews some of the literature both theorising and advocating for a place-responsive curriculum in the context of compulsory…

Research on science teaching and learning commonly makes use of reductionism to specify conditions of science learning. In my studies of academics'-of-science-teaching-&-learning (academics'"-of-st&l") research practices and values, I discuss how philosophic inquiry shifted my research practices from reductionism to critical (or,…

In this chapter, eight foci relevant for science educators are presented and illustrated by paradigmatic examples and discussed in two parts. The first part "from science education to practice and authorities" discusses the four foci of: (1) developing concepts for instruction; (2) responding to the needs of schools; (3) connecting…

Science and mathematics share a common purpose: to explore, understand and explain the pure beauty of our universe and how it works. Using mathematics in science enquiry can enhance children's understanding of science and also provide opportunities for children to apply their mathematical knowledge to "real" contexts. The authors…

As federal legislation requires that English language proficiency (ELP) standards are aligned with content standards, this article addresses issues and concerns in aligning ELP standards with content standards in English language arts, mathematics, and science. It starts with a brief description of federal legislation for alignment between ELP…

For the past 20 years the author has taught an Honors College course combining astronomy and the humanities. The purpose of this note is to give examples of methods that can be adapted to classroom use for topics including night sky paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and Claude Monet, historical events influenced by astronomical factors,…

Changes to the mathematics and science curriculums are designed to increase rigour in mathematics, and place greater emphasis on mathematical content in science subjects at key stages 3, 4 and 5 (ages 11-18). One way to meet the growing challenge of providing increased emphasis on mathematics in the science curriculum is greater collaboration…

Using socio-ecological theory, this study explores best practice (educational practices correlated with higher student performance) in middle-school science. Seven schools with consistently higher student performance were compared with three demographically similar, average-performing schools. Best practice included instructional approaches…

As the US continues to strive toward building capacity for a workforce in STEM fields (NSF, 2006), educational organizations and researchers have constructed frameworks that focus on increasing competencies in creativity in order to achieve this goal (ISTE, 2007; Karoly & Panis, 2004; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2007). Despite these…

The need for a borderless learning experience is apparent for many subjects, but is particularly important for the science major. We are living in an era when a strand of hair or piece of gum can identify a criminal, and the blueprint of our genes has been mapped out completely. Continuing to educate students merely in the "how to" of…

Part of a series of annotated bibliographies dealing with issues and problems raised by educators involved with population education programs, this publication addresses curriculum development in population education. Curriculum development is the most important component of a population education program, for it is through curriculum materials…

The many ways social studies is taught and learned in elementary and secondary schools across Canada are examined. There are five parts. Part 1, "The Nature of the Social Studies," discusses what social studies is, describes the educational history of Canadian social studies, and examines the need and techniques for implementing a global…

This document contains 41 papers and 11 poster session presentations from a conference on research-to-practice in adult, continuing, and community education. The following are among the papers included: "Learning in a Multicultural Environment" (Mansur Abdullah, Cory Eisenberg, Willard C. Hall Jr., Pauline Valvo); "How to Engage in…