Gifted programs have long relied upon creative challenges (activities in which students are asked to create a product or an idea in response to specific teacher directions) to spark ideas, collaboration, and exploration. These challenges, however, have often been devoid of context. Gifted students are pulled out of the classroom to build a bridge…

A New Turkish Physics Curriculum has been constructed between the years 2006-2009. It is to the gaining of new perspectives. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to reflect on the nature of the New Turkish Physics Curriculum (NTPC). To this end, the authors focus on the five themes of the NTPC using a document analysis method: basic reasons…

Environmental art education is growing in popularity in college and university programs as the arts begin to play a more prominent role in environmental and sustainability education. As this emerging field of study is an interdisciplinary endeavor that draws from the more established fields of visual art education and environmental education,…

This article describes the mechanism through which cultural variability is a source of learning differences. The authors argue that the Universal Design for Learning can be extended to capture the way learning is influenced by cultural variability, and show how the UDL framework might be used to create a curriculum that is responsive to this…

Establishing relevant applications for the science curriculum can be a challenge. However, the key that opens science for students is within a teacher's grasp: It is as simple as bringing science connections into his or her classroom through community resources and taking the students to the science that is available. The author encourages…

The curriculum policies for students with special needs across Australia have been reviewed. The Curriculum Framework in the Australian Capital Territory is used to inform their school based curriculum. The Northern Territory Curriculum Framework describes what learners are expected to achieve and what learners have achieved. The New South Wales…

In Canada, a national framework proposes to integrate learning outcomes into existing K-12 curricula to teach the values, skills and behaviours of sustainability. This article describes a research project designed to identify existing curricula that may contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD). The province of Newfoundland and…

Recently "Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements" ("CAPS") were introduced in South Africa in response to confusion precipitated by previous curriculum documents. The purpose of this paper is to explore that confusion in the subject 'Physical Sciences' and consider the nature of the transformation from the previous…

I conducted a two-year case study of a cohort of two middle school mainstream teachers, one a mathematics and science teacher and the other a language arts teacher, and one elementary teacher involved in the LSciMAct ("Transforming Literacy, Math and Science Through Participatory Action Research") professional development project. The…

In its quest for boosting Hong Kong's world-class standing in higher education, the Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau implemented the 3+3+4 reform, which represents a major overhaul of higher education curriculum; the addition of one year of studies to create a four-year undergraduate degree track is set to replace its three-year track in…

This qualitative action research study examines the form (where and how) and function (specific use) of Educational Technology in developmental curricula at a community college. The study uses theoretical frameworks of Educational Technology and Instructional Systems Design to review and analyze curricular materials (print and electronic) and…

This dissertation dually explores the topics of classroom management theory as it occurs in teacher preparation programs in American colleges of education and of curriculum syllabus design of undergraduate education classes teaching such. It begins with the classroom management and teaching pedagogical knowledges gained through my experience as a…

"By nearly every measure, Americans are less engaged in their communities and political activity than generations past." So write the editors of this volume, who survey the current practices and history of citizenship education in the United States. They argue that the current period of "creative destruction"--when schools are…

In this paper, we assess students' performance in Elements of Statistics, one of the popular courses in general education, using data from UWF (University of West Florida) for fall 2008, fall 2009, and fall 2010 semesters. We analyze associations between students' performance in the course and several performance related factors including: college…

A multidisciplinary team developed and pilot-tested a curriculum, delivered by trained lay educators, to increase self-efficacy for physical activity among elderly food stamp recipients. Curriculum development was guided by a comprehensive literature review. Process evaluation was used to revise the curriculum and to assess lay educator training…