Hameyer, U.

van den Akker, J.

English

University of Twente Research Information

seEuropean ConferenceonEducational ResearchBOOK OFSUMMARIESVolume 1University of TwenteThe NetherlandsJune 22 - 25, 1992ICOLOFONEditors:Tjeerd PlompJules PietersAndries FeterisEditorial assistance:Harmen AbmaJeroen BremanConny de KoningOlivia KramersRenate SchraaCover:Hanna SnijderPrint:DuoprintUniversity of TwenteDepartment of EducationP.O. Box 2177500 AE EnschedeISBN 90-365-0534-8Copyright CO 1992 by Department of Education, University of Twente4ACTIVITY-BASED LEARNING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS:IMPLEMENTING A CORE CURRICULUM PRINCIPLE INELEMENTARY SCIENCE EDUCATIONU. Hameyer, Institute for Science Education (1PN), KielUniversity and School of Education, Germany; J. van denAkker, Department of Education, University of Twente,Enschede, The NetherlandsA comparative cross-country analysis of curriculum renewal will be discussed. Thestudy is called IMPACT which is the acronym for Implementing Activity-BasedLearning in Elementary Science Teaching.. IMPACT was carried out in theNetherlands, Sweden, United States and Germany. In this project we studiedlasting processes of curriculum renewal in the realm of activity-based learning inelementary science teaching of 9 and 10 year old children. The methods we usedare base' on qualitative data analysis and comparison of 15 in-depth casestudies. We mapped out what productive schools have in common, for instancesufficient capacity to establish good climates and conditions for putting activity-based curriculum ideas into practice. The contribution will focus on themethodology of IMPACT, the conceptual model called PROMISE (Process Modelof Institutionalization and Self-Renewal), selected preliminary findings, and astructural look at basic conditions necessary to facilitate lasting curriculumrenewal.Lasting school development currently gains growing interest among curriculumresearchers. Classical studies often investigated short-term changes covering afew months. Explorative studies, longitudinal designs and sound theories areneeded to analyse the school curriculum as being practiced over time spans ofmore than a year or two (see Miles/EkholmNandenberghe 1987).Our contribution will focus on results from an international study called IMPACTwhich is the acronym for »Implementing Activity-Based Leaning in ElementaryScience Teaching.l. The findings and case studies will be available In 1992(Hameyer/Akker/Anderson/Ekholm 1992/93 and Ekholm/Hameyer 1992/93).In IMPACT, we studied lasting processes ofcurriculum renewal with emphasis onconditions under which activity-based learning in elementary science teaching of 9and 10 year old children became part of routine working patterns in effectiveschools. The methods we used to study processes of institutionalization whichencompass 3 to 7 years are based on qualitative data analysis and systematizedcross-case comparison.153'toIt is particularly revealing to explore productive schools from Inside and to learnfrom their organizational biography. In IMPACT we comparatively map out whatproductive schools have In common, for Instance sustained capacity to establishgood working climate, cooperative efforts, and other institutional requirements forputting activity-based curriculum ideas as a common principle of basic educationinto lasting practice.We describe practice profiles of 15 schools from four countries (US, theNetherlands, Germany and Sweden). Exemplary lessons are studied whichemphasize activity-based learning, and we add empirical information about thedegree to which students organize their learning activities on an Increasin-gyautonomous level. Further we investigated how principals encouraged the processof curriculum development and to what extent the environment such as parents,authorities, support personnel, and educational policy-makers stimulate or impedethe process.The IMPACT cases have been selected and analyzed according to a frameworkwhich we were able to elaborate. The result is a conceptual model calledPROMISE - Process Mode! of Institutionalization and Self-Renewal. This modelwill be explained further in the contribution and illustrated by results and casestudy vignettes. We will focus on the curriculum aspect of IMPACT which itself alsocovers organizational factors of change processes on the school level.The curriculum aspect of IMPACT shows up that activity-based learning gainedstrong emphasis in all our schools with the aim to enrich experiential knowledgeand meaningful learning. The schools we studied partly reshaped their curriculumpractice profile by new patterns of teaching professional staff development, school-based cooperation, and creating stimulative learning environments which allow forstudents' active experimentation.Note 1The research was conducted in Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, and theUnited States of America (see Hameyer/Wiechmann 1991 ) The frameworkemerged from interdisciplinary cooperation of researchers from the followinginstitutions: Kiel Institute for Science Education, Germany, University of Twente,the Netherlands, University of Colorado, USA, and University ofGoteborg/Karlstad, Sweden.154

Activity-based learning elementary schools:implementing a core curriculum principle in elementary science education

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Activity-based learning elementary schools:implementing a core curriculum principle in elementary science education

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