Explores curricular change in higher education, supplementing the familiar story of slow change with some academic episodes that have been energetic and innovative. The stereotype of curriculum stagnation should not be allowed to mask how much change takes place in higher education; academic lethargy is both illusory and exaggerated. (SLD)

Presents perspectives on curriculum reform in higher education from some recognized curriculum reformers. These suggestions for others involved in curriculum reform center on being true to the institution's own needs and traditions, thinking "big," finding emotional support, faculty motivation, faculty leadership, and evidence of student…

Discusses the value of introducing folklore into the curriculum to help students learn about their sense of place in the community. Describes various pertinent Web sites, including the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, the American Folklore Society, and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. (LRW)

Presents an overview of the origin of the industrial engineering discipline and how the subject was taught in the early stages of its development. Describes current changes in the curricula to meet new requirements in industry. (Author/CCM)

Responses from 300 accredited nursing schools indicated that they used eclectic conceptual frameworks for curriculum; the most common component was the nursing process. Associate degree programs were more likely to use simple-to-complex organization. Diploma programs were more likely to use the medical model than baccalaureate programs. Frameworks…

Describes the importance of information technology literacy as a precursor to information literacy. Discusses the differences between the two literacies; instructional systems design; a methodology for identifying task knowledge to build an information literacy curriculum; and mental models that can be used to facilitate acquisition of task…

Provides a tentative framework for a new science curriculum. Draws on the work of John Dewey in stating that the principal task of public education, including science education, is the strengthening of democratic practice. Suggests a move away from curriculum wish lists and towards consensus documents such as the Benchmarks for Science Literacy…

In the past several years, curriculum reform has received increasing attention from educators in many countries around the world. Recently, Taiwan has developed new Science and Life Technology Curriculum Standards (SaLTS) for grades 1-9. SaLTS features a systematic way for developing students' understanding and appreciation of…

"Naive theory" is the explanation and interpretation given by young children according to their understanding of the world. It has significant applications in early childhood education. Valuable applications include evoking and challenging children's naive theory in educational activities. Pedagogical strategies and educational cases are provided…

On 1 August 1989, the introduction of a National Curriculum of subjects to all maintained schools throughout England and Wales brought compulsory science education into the primary sector for the first time. As a direct result of its elevated profile and an immense amount of hard work and effort by teachers and other professionals responding to…

There is currently a trend toward the development of methodologies to measure Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curriculum integration and its resultant impact on student learning outcomes. Simplistic, negative correlations between numbers of classroom computers and standardized literacy and numeracy test results provide headlines for…

Summarizes literature in engineering design related to constraint-based modeling. (Author/KHR)

A statewide environmental education (EE) grants program operated in Florida from 1990 to 2003. Interviews of grant recipients were undertaken to explore and describe the contributions of these funded projects to EE in the state. This report of the descriptive review presents and summarizes findings from these interviews. Grant funds increased the…

Cosmology education has become an integral part of modern physics courses. Directed by National Curricula, major UK examination boards have developed syllabi that contain explicit statements about the model of the Big Bang and the strong observational evidence that supports it. This work examines the similarities and differences in these…

The definition of "definition" cannot be taken for granted. The problem has been treated from various angles in different journals. Among other questions raised on the subject we find: the notions of "concept definition" and "concept image", conceptions of mathematical definitions, redefinitions, and from a more axiomatic point of view, how to…