The Teaching and Learning Cycle: Integrating Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

The philosophies of educators and government entities guide the teaching and learning cycle of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The educator’s worldview plays an important part in developing these concepts which is demonstrated throughout history. Studying the history of the educational philosophers reveals their beliefs about curriculum, instruction, and assessments and the effects on education today. It shows the importance of integrating all three concepts in the educational process creating the teaching and learning cycle

Inclusive education and social competence development

Students with special educational needs are exposed to the same social and cultural effects as any other child. Their social and emotional development also evolves under those influences and they, too, must adjust to the conditions of their environment. In several cases, however, an inadequate learning environment keeps these children from experiencing and learning social skills and abilities (such as self-confidence and independence). Inclusive education for children with special educational needs is not common practice in Hungary even though it is equally well suited to fostering different social skills and abilities in children with either average or non-average development. This paper endeavours to argue for the importance of having inclusive education in Hungary by discussing examples abroad, with special emphasis on research and practical implementations in Great Britain

An Analysis of Factors Influencing the Teaching of Biological Evolution in Louisiana Public Secondary Schools.

Louisiana public school biology teachers were surveyed to investigate their attitudes toward biological evolution. A mixed method investigation was employed using a questionnaire and open-ended interviews. Results obtained from 64 percent of the sample receiving the questionnaire indicate that although teachers endorse the study of evolution as important, instructional time allocated to evolution is disproportionate with its status as a unifying concept of science. Two variables, number of college courses specifically devoted to evolution and number of semester credit hours in biology, produced a significant correlation with emphasis placed on evolution. The data suggest that teachers\u27 knowledge base emerged as the most significant factor in determining degree of classroom emphasis on evolution. The data suggest a need for substantive changes in the training of biology teachers. Thirty-five percent of teachers reported pursuing fewer than 20 semester credit hours in biology and 68 percent reported fewer than three college courses in which evolution was specifically discussed. Fifty percent reported a willingness to undergo additional training about evolution. In spite of the fact that evolution has been identified as a major conceptual theme across all of the sciences, there is strong evidence that Louisiana biology teachers de-emphasize evolutionary theory. Even when biology teachers allocate instructional time to evolutionary theory, many avoid discussion of human evolution. The research data show that only ten percent of teachers reported allocating more than sixty minutes of instructional time to human evolution. Louisiana biology teachers were found to hold extreme views on the subject of creationism as a component of the biology curriculum. Twenty-nine percent indicated that creationism should be taught in high school biology and 25--35 percent allocated instructional time to discussions of creationism. Contributing to the de-emphasis of evolutionary theory, as a unifying theme of biology, is the courtesy extended to classroom teachers to determine what topics are emphasized. The inclusion of evolution in curriculum documents is not sufficient to ensure that evolutionary theory is regarded as a unifying theme of biology. School administrators, science supervisors, and local school boards have a clear responsibility to articulate strong support for requiring classroom discussions of evolutionary theory

Argumentation in school science : Breaking the tradition of authoritative exposition through a pedagogy that promotes discussion and reasoning

The value of argumentation in science education has become internationally recognised and has been the subject of many research studies in recent years. Successful introduction of argumentation activities in learning contexts involves extending teaching goals beyond the understanding of facts and concepts, to include an emphasis on cognitive and metacognitive processes, epistemic criteria and reasoning. The authors focus on the difficulties inherent in shifting a tradition of teaching from one dominated by authoritative exposition to one that is more dialogic, involving small-group discussion based on tasks that stimulate argumentation. The paper builds on previous research on enhancing the quality of argument in school science, to focus on how argumentation activities have been designed, with appropriate strategies, resources and modelling, for pedagogical purposes. The paper analyses design frameworks, their contexts and lesson plans, to evaluate their potential for enhancing reasoning through foregrounding the processes of argumentation. Examples of classroom dialogue where teachers adopt the frameworks/plans are analysed to show how argumentation processes are scaffolded. The analysis shows that several layers of interpretation are needed and these layers need to be aligned for successful implementation. The analysis serves to highlight the potential and limitations of the design frameworks

IMPACT: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning. Volume 5, Issue 2, Summer 2016

Impact: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning is a peer-reviewed, biannual online journal that publishes scholarly and creative non-fiction essays about the theory, practice and assessment of interdisciplinary education. Impact is produced by the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning at the College of General Studies, Boston University (www.bu.edu/cgs/citl)

The New Face of Creationism: The Establishment Clause and the Latest Efforts to Suppress Evolution in Public Schools

Over seventy-five years after the impassioned debate be- tween William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow echoed through a hot Tennessee courtroom, the controversial confrontation over science, religion, law, and education can still be heard in legislative halls, courtrooms, schools, and homes across the nation. The now infamous Scopes Monkey Trial of 19253 brought the debate between religious fundamentalism and modern day scientific theory to the forefront and sparked twenty state legislatures to consider measures to prohibit the teaching of evolution in public schools. Nearly a century later, the dispute rages on. Twenty states considered anti-evolution measures in both the 1920s and the 1990s. Whether the incorporation of certain religiously motivated theories of the earth\u27s origin into public schools violates the fundamental separation between church and state is a question that continues to plague this country today. Since Charles Darwin first introduced the concept of evolution in his 1859 book The Origin of Species, Christian fundamentalists have rejected this scientific theory, contending that it conflicts with a literal reading of the Bible and its teachings that all living species were created by divine power. This Biblical-based tenet regarding the earth\u27s origin is commonly known as creationism, and its followers, creationists, have developed various strategies that endeavor to remove the teaching of evolution from public schools and incorporate creationism into science curricula. Despite Supreme Court jurisprudence that laws banning and criminalizing the teaching of evolution, and laws mandating the teaching of creationism, violate the Establishment Clause, creationists continue to develop new tactics to voice their opinions and beliefs. Currently, Christian fundamentalists are using three strategies designed to remove evolution and, in certain instances, incorporate creationist theory into public school curricula. One strategy is to attempt to remove evolution from state science curricula, and correspondingly, from state-mandated tests. Another strategy that creationists have employed is the use of a disclaimer, read before teaching evolution, to caution students that evolutionary theory is not to be taken as fact and is not intended to discount other beliefs that they may have regarding the earth\u27s origin. Thirdly, legislatures across the nation have enacted statutes requiring that evolution be taught as a theory, not a fact. The success of this legislation has fomented a new response to evolution known as Intelligent Design.\u27 This latest movement encourages teachers to present the controversy between Darwinism and creationism, and then point to evolution\u27s inability to provide all scientific answers. The proponents of these three recent strategies have justified their actions as legal by relying on certain language in Supreme Court precedent suggesting that states and local school from state-mandated tests

Entrepreneurship education in Italian universities: trend, situation and opportunities

The aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the present situation and recent evolution in entrepreneurship courses and curricula in Italian universities. The analysis is based on a census of entrepreneurship courses and curricula run by Italian universities in 2004 and 2010. Entrepreneurship education in Italian universities is in its early development. Up to 2004 only a few universities had courses dedicated to entrepreneurship and the majority of them dealt with the development of the business plan. This situation has only slightly improved in the following years. Courses and curricula are mostly within business schools while very few exist in engineering and science schools. This situation contrasts with the need for entrepreneurship education in the Italian economy. Given the importance of traditional sectors in Italian industry we need to stimulate start-up in high-tech sectors: the development of entrepreneurship courses in engineering and in other science curricula could play an important role in this sense. At the same time we need to favor the growth process of small firms; this requires people who are able to play an entrepreneurial role in established firms.entrepreneurship education, university courses, intrapreneurship, entrepreneurial competences.

Excellence for all: A gifted and talented approach to whole-school improvement

"This booklet is one of a series of publications designed to support secondary schools in developing Gifted and Talented (G&T) education as part of a whole-school approach to improving provision and outcomes for all pupils. They form part of a suite of National Strategies guidance and resources supporting school improvement and raising attainment." - Prefac