Conducted during the Institute for Steelband Playing held in 1988, this study's aim was to understand how Trinidadian people view, experience, explain, and order specific elements of their musical world, with the goal of providing an information base for establishing steelband programs in Canadian schools. The study focused on (1) How did the…

This paper suggests the need for a broader conceptualization of both instructional design and of instructional design theory, suggesting that this broader view is necessary to establish a truly comprehensive and functional theory base. Theories come in many forms: they can be formal systems of laws and propositions, narrative explanations and…

This practicum paper presents a thematic K-12 social studies curriculum to meet an expressed need of social studies teachers of a school corporation to upgrade the teaching of social studies. The teachers wanted the subject to be more relevant to students' lives and to incorporate a more holistic approach. Content overview of the K-12 currriculum…

This publication, part of a series entitled "Guide to Secondary Education in Europe," contains a brief description of secondary education in Bulgaria. Chapter 1 offers a general overview of Bulgarian education, including educational policy and innovation, research and development, and information delivery services. The second and third…

This paper addresses the issue of defining the concept of core curriculum by first examining some of the literature on the subject, discussing why there is resistance to defining "core," citing common uses for the term "core curriculum," and exploring the historical roots of core curriculum. Next, the paper describes eight…

This paper describes certain fundamental realities and choices that planners and teachers of core curricula at the college level must take into account in order to devise programs of quality and integrity. Six common sense realities and the choices they demand are presented and discussed. First, core programs must avoid reducing the teaching and…

This report discusses some of the characteristics and benefits of an interdisciplinary curriculum, as well as practical considerations involving the introduction of such a curriculum in elementary and secondary schools. To successfully introduce an interdisciplinary curriculum, teachers and administrators need to: (1) integrate the curriculum; (2)…

This book addresses issues relevant to the development of a coherent curriculum. A "coherent" curriculum is one whose parts are unified and connected by a sense of the whole. Following the foreword by Arthur W. Steller and the prologue by James A. Beane, the introduction (1) by James A. Beane raises a number of questions related to the search for…

The purpose of this paper is to prove that including a significant theoretical component in instructional technology curricula has numerous advantages. The discussion is confined to curricula offered at universities, typically at the graduate level. Three topics are discussed: (1) the current state of instructional technology programs; (2) why…

This book is a collection of essays about science-technology-society (STS) education for school science that examines new challenges and new questions in the domain of STS education. The book does not employ a purely academic approach found in science studies, yet almost every chapter shows some reflection on the historical, philosophical, or…

The concepts of imagery, mathemagenic behaviors, and generative imagery are reviewed; and the learner's use of visual imagery is discussed. Several studies have supported the idea that imagery is an active mental process that gives birth to learning. The concept of mathemagenic control or manipulation is of interest to the instructional designer.…

In describing reading proficiency--the relative difficulty or ease that an individual reader experiences reading a particular text--researchers have recognized the importance of both text- and reader-based factors. This digest focuses on the factor of purpose, as determined by the reader or the instructional context. Having a purpose means having…

These guidelines are designed to help teachers and school districts answer questions related to the national history standards as they develop their own local curriculum. The work is built upon the original guidelines from the Bradley Commission on History in the Schools. This booklet is divided into two parts: (1) "Introduction"; and…

The University of Oregon (UO) and Captain Robert Gray Elementary School formed a partnership where UO students used the elementary school as a case study for curriculum research. This document gives an overview of the 7-step process the students used to align the school's curriculum with Oregon's content and performance standards. The text opens…

This book offers detailed descriptions of different approaches to curriculum integration and applies them to elementary, middle, and high school settings. Eight chapters in the book include: (1) "What Is Integrated Curriculum and Why Is It Important?" which sets the current context, and, by applying the story model, concludes that…