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Reading skill is important to improve children's higher-order thinking skills. But PISA reading results show that children in Turkey are not sufficient for this skill. That's why this study aimed to investigate the cognitive levels of reading outcomes included in the Turkish course curriculum in terms of The Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy related to PISA reading competencies. The learning outcomes that constitute the data source of the research were taken from the secondary school Turkish language course curriculum published by the Teaching and Education Board of the Ministry of National Education in 1981, 2006, and 2019. After completing a document analysis on the reading outcomes, the data obtained were evaluated with descriptive content analysis. The results showed that relational level stands out in terms of percentage of reading outcomes, and this level is mostly in the 2019 curriculum. While the uni-structural level has been decreasing over the years, relational and extended abstract levels have increased. Even if an extended abstract cognitive level has increased over the years, it is still one of the least levels in the curriculums. When subskills of reading are compared, the most widely used is the reading comprehension theme. As a result of the study, it was concluded that there is a need to be handled in a coordinated manner in the reading outcomes of the curriculums in terms of cognitive skills and reading subskills.

STEM activities integrate various disciplines and are organized around domain-specific concepts and skills. What is achieved in terms of learning is related to how well the important STEM education characteristics are reflected in the implemented and integrated activities. This study aims to develop and evaluate a measurement tool for determining the characteristics of STEM activities by using a case study method. The STEM Activity Evaluation Form was developed based upon a literature review and experts' opinions. The observation-based form was applied to 21 different STEM activities, grouped in four categories: curiosity arousing activities, encouraging and upskilling activities, research and design projects, and one science fair. Students in science education partook in the activities in an eight-month period. The evaluation form has four categories: STEM learning environment, activitation of students, STEM content and practices, and connecting STEM. Application of the form revealed that the tool is useful to determine the appropriateness of activities with respect to the nature of STEM education.

In the particular case of Spain, student and teacher difficulties associated with the mathematical discipline have been evidenced in PISA and TEDS-M reports. As we consider that the teachers' difficulties are connected to the students' performance, we propose a multi-disciplinary approach to deliver specific didactic/mathematical knowledge to the trainee teachers. Such additional instruction shall be meaningfully connected to the real needs of the schools, so a service-learning approach is proposed here. In the present manuscript, the trainee teachers have co-designed educational escape rooms (in coordination with local schools) with the aim of mobilizing curricular knowledge. The goal of the educational escape rooms is to foster the mathematic-related competencies by establishing meaningful connections to other curricular disciplines (music-related knowledge, in the case of this study). This paper reports on the particular experience developed with a group of students (trainee teachers) while designing their educational escape rooms, focusing on the particular case of a specific student to evidence the formative potential of the procedure. The didactic suitability of the proposed escape room has been analyzed and professional development has also been discussed, showing the mobilization of relevant professional skills and fostering the related music and mathematical didactic competencies by shifting the teaching perspective from an algorithmic point of view to a more "reasoning and designing" strategy. This constitutes an evidence of the formative potential on the co-design of educational escape rooms, when designed in the frame of a service learning approach.

The aim of this review is to analyse and evaluate the inclusive and innovative curriculum design and demonstrate delivery practice to measure the effectiveness on diverse groups of individual students. In this respect, this review applied some established theories, principles and models of curriculum design including hidden curriculum that may be useful in different forms and levels of learning and planning for teaching and learning in the context of post compulsory education. This review highlighted the researchers own teaching and learning experience with diverse groups of learners and promotional inclusivity at higher educational institutions.

This paper seeks to study curriculum as a form of organization of the learning process from the perspective of the learner, in online learning contexts. Departing from a theoretical and conceptual analysis of curriculum, understood as the conception, organization and structuring of the learning process, we analyzed different adults' representations of online learning and their general conceptions of curriculum. The empirical data came from the application of a questionnaire, distributed online (study I, 833 participants), and semi-structured interviews (study II, seven participants). The results contribute to the reflection on curriculum in a digital context, and to describing the curriculum organization of the learning process adopted by each individual. We found that space and time, in addition to strategies and actors are the most dynamic curriculum components in these circumstances. The formal contexts in which institutionalised learning and the curricula in force therein, occur are central to the development of the personal learning curriculum. This leads us to question the possibilities and ways of reconfiguring curriculum, of conceiving it differently, in digital learning contexts.

Home economics operates in the academic, curriculum and social realms, as well as in everyday life. Due to its multidisciplinarity, it includes and interconnects the contents of different disciplines (e.g., healthy lifestyle, nutrition, dietetics, textiles, home, family, consumption, personal and family economics, design and technology), which are considered in terms of meeting the needs of the individual, family, and society. Home economics education and literacy play an important role in acquiring knowledge and skills that help raise the quality of life of the individual, family, and society. With the development of society, the needs of both the individual and the family are changing; therefore, changes are also needed in home economics education, which is reflected in the updating of the subject curricula. The goals and contents in the curriculum must reflect and meet the needs of the current society and take into account the cultural dependence and social determinism of the home economics field. To a certain extent, the current curriculum of the subject home economics in Slovene elementary schools already includes some content areas that have been recognised as important for meeting the needs of society. These relate to healthy lifestyle, nutrition, health, textiles, consumption, economics, family, environment and sustainable development. Given the perceived needs of society, the use of household appliances, home contents, and first aid should be additionally included in home economics education in Slovenia, and students should be encouraged to develop social and communication skills. It is also necessary to consider the appropriate placement of the subject in the curriculum, as it is necessary to implement home economics education in the entire elementary school education. Doing so will enable the acquisition of knowledge and skills needed in society and, therefore, the appropriate level of home economics literacy of the individual.

The purpose of this study is to reveal the views and recommendations of the preschool and primary school teachers on the literacy preparation in Turkish preschool education. The study is designed as phenomenological research. The participants of the study are 12 preschool and 9 primary school teachers who have been teaching actively in the western part of Turkey. The qualitative data was collected through face-to-face interviews and analyzed through content analysis. The findings of the study show that preschool teachers have some confusion on literacy preparation and readiness. While preschool and primary school teachers are of the same opinion about the need for literacy preparation in preschool education, they have different opinions about the literacy preparation activities conducted in preschool education. While preschool teachers think that they get preschoolers ready for literacy, primary school teachers think that first graders in their classes do not come literately ready from preschool education. Teachers participated in the study; think that the lack of collaboration among preschool and primary school teachers, some deficiencies in preschool education curriculum and in the education system, and the preschool teachers' imperfect knowledge in the literacy readiness are the possible reasons of inadequacy of readiness for literacy in preschool education. They recommend systematic collaboration among teachers, review of preschool education curriculum and providing professional support for preschool teachers to support literacy readiness in preschool education.

The teaching of 21st century skills are essential for student learning in our knowledge driven society. Competencies such as critical and creative thinking and their connection with higher order cognitive processes have received attention within the educational community. Teachers are mandated to teach the content and skills reflected in provincial curriculum documents. These curriculum documents should embody the competencies that educators have identified as been important to student learning. In this mixed method convergent design study, we examine the alignment among the intended curriculum, the enacted curriculum and the assessed curriculum in a Patterns and Relations strand from the Grade 9 Mathematics Program of Studies in order to determine the extent to which teachers are teaching and assessing the competencies reflected in the curriculum documents. Results indicate that learner expectations do not clearly identify the cognitive levels and curriculum alignment of the cognitive levels is low (0.073). Recommendations include a clear connection between curriculum documents and cognitive level processes.

The aim of the study is to determine the opinions of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers about the objective, content, teaching and learning process, and assessment and evaluation elements of the secondary school English language curriculum implemented in Turkey. The study adopted the case study design, one of the qualitative research methods. The participants of the study consisted of 14 EFL teachers from seven different public schools in Turkey. The participants were selected using criterion sampling model. The data were gathered during the fall semester of 2020-2021 academic year via an open-ended question form developed by the researcher. Content analysis was used for analysis of the data gathered. The results showed that the opinions of the participants about the objective element of the secondary school English language curriculum were generally positive. On the other hand, it was concluded that the curriculum was not appropriate for students' needs, interests and readiness levels. In addition, insufficient time for activities, limited number of activities and insufficient course hours were noted as negative aspects by the participants.

Curriculum evaluation is a process carried out to decide the effectiveness of training programs. In this process, the strengths and aspects of the training programs that are open to improvement are emphasized. Therefore, curriculum evaluation studies are an important part of curriculum development. In this respect, it is important to consider the research studies on curriculum evaluation studies together in order to develop curriculum. This study aims to review the postgraduate theses completed on the evaluation of curricula in Turkey between 2007 and 2019 according to several variables and to determine the research trend in this field. The method of the research was formed by systematic review. In this context, 586 postgraduate theses written on curriculum evaluation were reviewed. It was determined that the theses showed a balanced distribution according to years and were generally at master's level. The postgraduate theses were mainly based on quantitative research methods, and in recent years, there has been a tendency towards qualitative and mixed-method studies. Questionnaires and interviews were used in the theses mostly prepared in accordance with the survey model and the data were collected from teachers and students. In the one-fifth of the theses on the evaluation of curricula which were examined within the scope of this research (105 theses), it was determined that curriculum evaluation models were taken into consideration and that the most preferred model was Stufflebeam's CIPP model. Following this model, Erden's "Element-Oriented Curriculum Evaluation Model" and Tyler's "Objective-Centered Evaluation Model" were also preferred frequently. [This article includes an extended summary in Turkish.]

This article presents an illustrative and instrumental case study of participatory design and co-production as used in curriculum renewal for a bachelor's degree in library and information studies (LIS). It outlines the process of constant review and reflection to improve the next round of development. The authors use the lenses of participatory design and co-production to shed light on the development of a completely new curriculum (syllabus) for a degree and three undergraduate qualifications. Drawing on their experience, organizational documentation, and the literature, they analyze the success of the development as collaborative engagement and co-production for improving practitioner-academic engagement, and for improving the quality and relevance of LIS qualifications to the professions. The advantages and disadvantages of using participatory design and co-production are discussed from the perspective of curriculum and course development, industry/profession involvement, and faculty needs, in the light of the higher education context in New Zealand. Despite the challenges of using these approaches, the process has been very positive for all the participants. Strong relationships have been developed with industry, and the program has benefitted from diverse perspectives.

This article describes a faculty response to two challenges of online education: diversity engagement and professional socialization. Reviewing the literature, we develop a rubric to help assess the potential of new assignments for meeting these challenges. Using that rubric, we assess several assignments and projects that students evaluated positively, to better articulate the efficacy of the assignment in meeting our diversity education goals and future barriers to access. We conclude by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of our model for assessing diversity awareness and professional socialization in the LIS curriculum.

Most professions experience at least some real or perceived divide among practitioners who engage in the work of the profession daily and those who train practitioners. As a result, practitioners question the value of this training. The goal of the current study was to learn more about this divide in Library and Information Science (LIS) and uncover potential solutions. In six focus groups (FGs), practicing academic and public librarians discussed curriculum in light of the requirements of the profession. Findings suggest that practitioners still perceive a divide among themselves and LIS educational institutions. Participants generally viewed the MLIS as little more than "the ticket that you get punched" to get a job. A consistent concern across participants was the irrelevance of skills training, suggesting the need for MLIS programs to engage often with local practitioners to identify workplace trends and required skills. Participants also noted that the communities served by the profession exist as an abstract idea in the MLIS, because students do not interact directly with the people who make up these communities. Findings suggest that the MLIS can reassert its value through a renewed emphasis on core values of the profession, which are not learned on the job. Therefore, while the divide persists, the conversation with practitioners outlined in the current study is itself a means of closing it. This study contributes to the literature on LIS education by highlighting the value of FGs as a method within this literature.

Global economic and social challenges in the World require fundamental changes in quality assurance in higher education institutions at the national and international level. Higher education institutions are encouraged to adjust study programs, which would meet the current requirements and needs of the labor market and individuals. Integrated curriculum is one of the measures, which could transform traditional educational paradigm and contribute to higher quality and relevance of learning and teaching. Therefore, this article addresses development and implementation issues of the integrated curriculum with the aim to provide the concept of integrated study program and discuss the opportunities for its application in educational institutions. The theoretical part of the paper gives a brief review of the meaning of the concept of integrated curriculum, the basis for development of such study programs and the connection of such curriculum with requirements of the labor market. Accordingly, the practical part presents the findings of empirical research about the implementation of integrated curricula in Kaunas University of Applied Sciences. The results of the study revealed integrated curriculum meets the students' expectations when the assessment of such programs is ensured constantly.

Education is still a leeway towards achieving individual's personal growth as well as professional development. Further and Higher Education (FHE) are even more crucial in accelerating the achievement of these goals. Consequently, graduate students explore endless opportunities to enroll for postgraduate programs, hoping to gain financial independence, economic freedom, and improved standard of living after completion. Since graduate programs offer such tremendous career and life-changing opportunities, it is imperative to investigate if programs like the master's in business administration are still relevant in today's fast-moving business environment. This phenomenology study systematically utilizes underlying assumptions of research-based learning to assess a core aspect of universities' MBA curriculum, that is writing a dissertation. It examines the value added by dissertation to graduates' long-term career goals. Data for the study was obtained from fourteen MBA graduates through unstructured in-depth interviews. All the graduates currently work as full-time employees in their respective organisations, who were drawn from four main departments namely marketing, education, accounting and the IT industry. Our findings are thought provoking, yet compelling, in the sense that participants expressed mixed opinions concerning whether the dissertation prepared them for their current job roles. Most of them attributed their career successes to luck and hard work. Good communication and leadership skills also played major roles. Only few of them did acknowledge honing such skills while writing their dissertation during the research process. The implication of this research to stakeholders of higher education institutions, and policy makers, are also discussed.

This article is an update on a university-wide overhaul of its pedagogy, curriculum and delivery to support the expanding non-traditional, new generation learners while enhancing opportunity and success for traditional learners. The Block Model developed by Victoria University (VU), Australia for its undergraduate cohort, was a bold response to support all students including its high proportion of First-in-family (FiF), low socio-economic status (LSES), and non-English-speaking background (NESB) students. In this radical new hybrid Block model, students study one unit/subject at a time over four weeks. The article reports on preliminary results after two years of implementing the VU Block Model. While both traditional and new-generation cohorts significantly improved their performance, there was a higher improvement in the pass rates of LSES, NESB and FiF students, compared to the improvements in the traditional cohorts of students. These initial results confirm the value of the institution-wide strategy to expand opportunity and enhance success for all.

The Faculty of Medicine at Mandume Ya Ndemufayo University began teaching in 2009, taking on the challenge of outcomes-based education and aiming to train qualified professionals according to the needs of the community. This article aims to describe and analyze how the teaching of physiology is organized in the medical program at this university. This is a descriptive study of the course pedagogical plan from 2009 to 2020. The results revealed that there is a correspondence between learning outcomes of the Physiology course, the competencies set out in the Profile of the Angolan Doctor, and internationally established sets of competencies. Some weaknesses were identified in relation to the development of skills, pedagogical methodology, and the evaluation process. The recent educational context of this medical school poses great challenges, which require the contextualization and periodic adjustment of its pedagogical plans.

With water shortage and increasing demand for water, education may have an important role in promoting the sustainable management of water resources. Educational curricula are the key resources used by teachers for students' teaching and training purposes. This study assessed water culture and water education-related criteria and standards in programmes and school curricula for Primary, Middle and upper Secondary school education in Morocco. It also investigated teachers for suggestions and views regarding methods for water-related topics and concepts implementation. The main tools used consisted of a content analysis grid for programmes and educational guidelines. A questionnaire and interviews were administered to 95 teachers of different subject areas, belonging to the three investigated school levels. Findings showed that the occurrence of water education criteria and standards is weak in school curricula of the investigated school levels. They were explicitly or implicitly addressed depending on the subject areas. The main topics consisted of water cycle definition, water as a vital source, water pollution sources, water economy interest. However, no reference has been made to water law, its accessibility, aesthetics and water-related professions.

This article examines children's literature written by African American teachers during the first part of the twentieth century. Drawing on theories of racialization, I analyze children's books written by two African American teachers: Helen Adele Whiting (1885-1959) and Jane Dabney Shackelford (1895-1979). I argue that their books represented more than an effort toward greater Black representation in schools; they also served as a contribution to a larger discourse on Blackness and identity that emerged during the "New Negro" movement. In this view, African American teachers were not mere passive recipients of an outside Black culture, but rather intellectual actors involved in the production of racial identity during the interwar period.

Background: Engineering curricula often consist of separate courses that do not form a cohesive learning experience. Researchers revised an undergraduate computer engineering curriculum at an urban university, seeking to improve motivation and achievement in an important population that is traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. Contribution: The university serves a diverse student body with a high percentage of first-generation college students. Curriculum reform is important for improving student learning experiences and retaining students in STEM fields. This study provides evidence for benefits of such curriculum reform with this population. Research Questions: The purpose of the study was to determine if the revised curriculum improved student motivation and achievement, and to what extent students felt it prepared them for their future careers. Methodology: This was a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental study, using both within- and between-subjects designs. Quantitative data collected were pre- and post-motivational inventories and grades. Qualitative data included interview data and open-ended survey responses. Findings: Analyses revealed that post-course motivation, when controlling for precourse motivation, was significantly higher for the experimental group in three motivation subscales and students in the experimental group had significantly higher grades in the course than those in the control group. Qualitative data showed participants felt the revised courses built off of each other and helped them learn skills they would need in their careers.

Selecting and implementing a new mathematics curriculum program that is both high quality and is supported by stakeholders is a challenging endeavor. In this article, the authors share a year-long process in which a school district's (SD) elementary mathematics committee (EMC) engaged in exploring, testing, and selecting a curriculum program to recommend to the district for adoption. This process included lesson study to support teachers in exploring and testing curriculum programs. The authors discuss key strategies the EMC and facilitators used to establish trust and build community within the group, EMC teachers' learning throughout the process, and shifts in practice the EMC recommended for the SD. This roadmap can be effectively applied at the middle and high school levels as well. [Introduction and Reflection are written by Angela T. Barlow, David Custer, and Clayton Edwards.]

Despite calls for social justice and inclusion in higher education, there is still growing structural inequality in terms of access to education, which extends to structural and economic oppression of marginalised groups. Student inclusion in design, creation and evaluation of curricula is lauded in research as essential for student belonging, with open textbook production as one way in which student co-creation is being explored. Yet, little work has been done to look at the challenges involved when traditional power dynamics are disrupted in partnering with students. Highlighting the collaborative endeavours that lecturers undertake with students in open textbook production and the challenges therein, this paper draws on Yuval-Davis' (2011) work on student belonging and Fraser (2005) on social (in)justice, to explore the nexus of three complementary themes: open textbooks, students as partners, and student belonging in higher education. Data were derived from a set of interviews conducted with three open textbook authors at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on their efforts to foster co-creation practices with students in their classrooms as part of open textbook initiatives. Findings reveal that student cocreation of open textbooks has the potential to shift, or at the very least tilt, power balance and give students agency. Academics who undertook open textbook production with student co-creators respected students' expertise and in turn, students felt a sense of value in their departments, which enabling a sense of belonging. We highlight how the reality of student co-creation is complex as academics have the intention to shift the traditional power dynamics between lecturer and student; however, examples here show this kind of transformation is gradual and continuous and often difficult to implement when the institutional culture remains hierarchical.

This article contributes to debates on how the history curriculum should be organised (i.e., thematically, or chronologically). It also contributes to the limited empirical research that employs a sociocultural approach to history education and the limited empirical research on history education in Singapore. Drawing on semistructured interviews with seven Singapore participants on their ideas about the nature and purpose of learning history, this article explores the implications of bringing together the disciplinary and collective memory approach to history education on students' historical thinking and national identification.

Online news literacy training has been so far insufficiently conducted and evaluated, and even less so with younger news consumers. Against the backdrop of online news cognitive processing, interventions against misinformation, and inquiry-based learning, we designed, conducted, and evaluated a pilot online news literacy training with 36 elementary school students from Germany. In a causal comparison, quantitative data from N = 29 students attest high participant acceptance and substantial effects of the inquiry-based training on participants' ability to correctly assess online news credibility, and on the corresponding cognitive processing route, moving this from intuitive to analytic processing. Despite the small sample, the experiment was only underpowered regarding the between-subject effect, whereas the power was sufficient for all other effects. These encouraging findings of the pilot training may be the result of knowledge reorganization associated with inquiry-based learning. Further educational research and practice are needed to understand the efficacy of the training at scale.

In recent decades, several countries have made efforts to close the historic gender gap in physics through curricular reforms. Research indicates that while the acute underrepresentation of females in physics courses and related careers is linked to a number of interlaced social, contextual and motivational factors, the personal relevance of physics curricula is important. Some researchers argue that physics has been historically perceived as a "masculine" domain which operates through contexts that are unfamiliar to females. Introduction of a "girl-friendly" physics curriculum is one of the prominent measures employed to mitigate this concern, with researchers arguing that a context-based/humanistic physics curriculum will improve gender inclusivity and thereby increase females' motivation to learn physics. However, this approach has been criticised as a "feminisation" of the physics curriculum. This paper uses a mixed-methods approach underpinned by expectancy-value theory, to analyse 247 students' perceptions of an Australian senior secondary physics curriculum and investigates the claim that including "female-friendly" topics will make physics more appealing to females. Findings suggest that while most students found their physics curriculum interesting and personally relevant, neither females nor males found the "feminine" topics particularly appealing. Both male and female students also found there was a lack of mathematical applications, and they identified descriptive topics, such as those addressing social and historical contexts, as uninteresting and irrelevant in a physics curriculum. This paper concludes that gender was non-significant in student perceptions of a senior secondary physics curriculum.

This study was part of a larger longitudinal study in which we focused on measuring reading acquisition and observing the impact of SES, curriculum and gender on reading subtest scores. In Part 1 of our study (in review), we reported on findings for students in Grade 1. For Part 2 of our study, we report on our findings for students in Grades 3 and 5 and offer a comparison across the three elementary grades. Participants for the current study included 657 students from Grade 3 (n = 328) and 5 (n = 329) representing low-cost, middle-cost and high-cost schools in Bangalore, India. The students' reading skills were measured using progress-monitoring tools and we utilized a mixed-effects hierarchical growth model to observe reading growth. The results suggested that both SES and curriculum had the most significant and positive effect on skills acquisition. These results will shed light on reading assessment and intervention practices in the Indian context.

Many world history teachers in the US have tried to pluralize world history teaching from a more global perspective. This research focuses on how American teachers with an intention to change their current history teaching select Asian history topics and challenge traditional Western knowledge on Asia. I review world history scholarship to see how Asia is located within the curriculum, and literature to investigate the relations between knowledge and power dynamics. I individually interviewed eight teachers who teach a world history curriculum at public high schools in the Midwestern region of the US. Research findings showed that teachers felt comfortable in integrating ancient Asian history more into the history curriculum. For medieval history, teachers needed to obtain new knowledge for Asian history and they faced a dilemma in fundamentally challenging the Eurocentric framework. For recent history, teachers listed several pedagogical reasons for limited coverage of Asian history. These findings show that history teachers keep integrating Asian agency in their struggle towards globalizing history teaching.

CIPP, which stands for Context, Input, Process and Product, an evaluation model, is one of the most widely applied curriculum evaluation models in education. This document-based study sought to determine the historical development of CIPP as a curriculum evaluation model. Here, the reasons why the CIPP evaluation model was conceptualised are discussed. In addition, the original major features of the CIPP Model are compared with the changes in the model since it was conceptualised. Moreover, reasons for making changes to the CIPP Model are explained and factors that are considered influential are analysed. Further, contributions of the CIPP Model to the broadening of curriculum evaluation in recent years are discussed. This is to provide essential insights into the role of the CIPP Model in forming a sound evaluation practice in education.

The literature on information literacy identifies several significant challenges inherent in designing and providing comprehensive first-year programs, including reach, sustainability, instructional design, the flipped classroom, and assessment. In summer 2020, in response to the requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic, the User Experience and Student Success (UESS) Department at Tisch Library of Tufts University developed an innovative approach to instruction that addressed these challenges. The new concept optimized online learning in both asynchronous and synchronous modes and created a sustainable program for the future. This article outlines the process used to develop this program, its learning outcomes, and the results of both student learning and programmatic assessment.

This paper reports the results of the Inf@nziaDigiTales3.6 project on the design, development and evaluation of an augmented reality application to support situated learning experiences in a smart city. The users of the application are primary school children and the case study refers to recognition of road signs as geometric shapes. The objective is to allow children to comprehend the meaning of road signs of a city and to guide them in the recognition of the geometric shapes and colors connected to these signs. The mobile application is based on the paradigm of games and uses a virtual character with the role of intelligent tutor. The results of the evaluation confirm the expected benefits related to the adoption of augmented reality and mobile technologies, mainly in terms of involvement, pleasantness and willingness to repeat the experience. The results show that the re-mediation of augmented reality and the intelligent tutoring system have influenced the memorization processes of figures and colors, as well as of the contents of most of the signals presented. The application has been also deployed on smart glasses and shown in the context of an international event for children and teenagers, the Giffoni Film Festival 2018.

Perceptions of teachers and students about curriculum viability inhibitors are equally important yet may differ. Divergence can lead to destructive friction and adversely affect curriculum viability. Our team aimed to find the perceptions of teachers and students on inhibitors affecting the viability of an implemented medical curriculum, report their convergence or divergence, and explore approaches to reduce divergence. Through a mixed-method approach, using valid and reliable questionnaires, we found the curriculum under review had no clear inhibitors. Whereas teachers exhibited complete agreement that no educational programme inhibitors existed, students did not fully agree. Upon qualitative inquiry, using focus group discussion with students and teachers, we found that 'improving the communication gap', 'enhancing the role of faculty and students in curriculum', and 'improving the assessment process' can reduce the friction between teachers and students. This study provides an approach that identifies the curriculum viability inhibitors and solutions to address them.

The Higher Education (HE) sector is currently faced with an unprecedented reorganisation of the current delivery of teaching and learning with technology playing an increasingly significant role in shifting traditional pedagogies to a more blended learning approach. This article investigates the challenges faced by academics responding to this new style of pedagogy and recognises the need for an operational framework to support this transition. The emergence of the 'digital lecturer' changes the role of the academic in designing, adapting and delivering educational products that are fit for purpose in a technology enabled learning environment. Underpinned by pedagogic theory, research based on participant observation over a three-year period of the staff experiences delivering a technology enabled blended learning approach, the article presents a solution of "a framework supporting HE professionals transitioning module content towards a technology enabled blended learning approach."

Civic education in undergraduate institutions is of vital importance to the civic health of society, but faculty often find it difficult to incorporate civic components into existing courses and lack the resources to incorporate civic outreach into their curriculum. As a result, research has shown that time spend on civic engagement is limited. Additionally, civic engagement is rarely discussed, much less encouraged, outside of political science or other social science classes. In this article, we assess the outcomes of a unique co-curricular civic engagement research and learning program in which undergraduate students are required to work with an external partner, usually a municipal agency or nonprofit, to complete an independent research project. Using quantitative and qualitative student evaluations, we find that students had an overwhelmingly positive experience with the program. They especially appreciated the opportunity to work on "real world" issues in an interdisciplinary setting. They also expressed a desire for a longer program that extended beyond a single semester. We discuss the potential implications of these findings.

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) who run independent sections for larger lecture courses typically receive insufficient feedback. Course evaluations, already flawed by numerous biases, offer an amalgam of student reactions to lecture and section, even when comments specifically laud or criticize section instructors. Course designs also vary greatly: Some professors meet regularly with their team of GTAs; others delegate to a lead GTA; and many simply let their GTAs do anything that gets students talking. Instead, we advocate a team-orientation approach: Lesson Study. Modifying the use of Lesson Study in science education, in turn adapted from a Japanese approach gaining popularity among K-12 educators, we concentrate on mentoring that emphasizes collaborative learning, rather than likeability surveys. Sections use a common assignment, which facilitates GTA participation in design and evaluation. The team meets in advance to confirm common pedagogical goals and again after sections to debrief. Insights may lead to immediate adaptations in subsequent assignments in the same term or revisions to the original assignment in subsequent semesters. Overall, this approach centers the collective articulation of lesson plan design and delivery through deliberately reflective practices that benefit both faculty members and GTAs.

Reinforcement of differences in educational systems and school curricula may be expected in Europe due to societal crises and transformations. Thus, it is likely that cultural "variants of a capitalist spirit" and different concepts of economic education will become evident in a corresponding curriculum analysis. In this study, we focused on cultures of economic education at the level of grammar school curricula in a federal, multilingual context. We aimed to compare subject content in curricula and identify structural characteristics (e.g. regional language, graduation rates, and cantonal university) associated with differences in subject content. Taking Switzerland as an example, we compiled a representative dataset with 47 curricula and qualitatively analyzed subject content. The results showed that subject content clearly differs in terms of curriculum language, but no clear pattern was found regarding other structural characteristics. We concluded that cultural "variants of a capitalist spirit" are present differently across language regions. This perspective on local differences may help us to understand conflicting goals and measures when facing economic crises on a global level.

The life experiences of Indigenous students are often overlooked in school learning, thereby causing dissonance in learning. To address this issue, this study incorporated local and traditional ecological knowledges of community in this year-long course of 'place-based Indigenous education for sustainable development', using place-based design principles, which provided many experiential learning opportunities for the students to develop cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral aspects of sense of place. To ensure self-determination of Indigenous peoples in educational research, this study engaged and empowered knowledgeable Elders, community members, and Indigenous teachers in this community-based participatory design research. From student worksheets, student interviews, classroom observations, and teacher feedback, we found that students began to think about hometown and its sustainability issues in a broader perspective as they enhanced their local knowledge and sense of place. Follow-up research can be conducted to determine the generalizability of this model in cross-cultural contexts or for Indigenous youth, as the notion of sense of place is rather holistic and contextualized.

Coding (or computer programming) helps equip children with an intellectual structure that is valuable for their lifelong learning and development. The proliferation of innovative coding platforms, especially screen-free programmable robotics, has made it possible for coding to be integrated into early childhood education (ECE). However, how the coding curriculum has been designed and used in ECE settings, as well as its effectiveness, is understudied. This scoping review evaluates, synthesizes, and displays 20 studies on coding curriculum in early childhood published in 2012--2021, involving curriculum design, coding platforms, pedagogical approaches, research methods, and research findings. The review contributes to a mapping of existing work focusing on coding curricula in early childhood, thus demystifying and clarifying the characteristics and effectiveness of these intervention programs. Its findings also shed light on the improvement mechanism and solutions of early computing education in both quantity and quality.

The epistemic components of science are included in instruction through the three-dimensional learning of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students use the Science & Engineering Practices to engage the Disciplinary Core Ideas through the perspective of the Crosscutting Concepts. The NGSS focus on the epistemic aspects that all sciences share, but the domain-specific epistemic aspects, referred to here as ways of knowing, are still important to include in science education because they require different pedagogical methods. In this paper, I show how curriculum developers can incorporate the ways of knowing of the Earth & Space Sciences into their units through the choice of Practices and Crosscutting Concepts in the lesson-specific learning performance statements. I start by identifying the most common Practice-Crosscutting Concept pairs of the Earth & Space Sciences performance expectations and comparing them to the literature on the ways of knowing in the geosciences. The performance expectations represent the multiple modes of inquiry and systems thinking characteristic of the Earth & Space Sciences. Yet, they don't effectively represent other aspects of the Earth & Space Sciences, like visualization, spatial reasoning, deep time, and large size and spatial scales. I then encourage curriculum developers to move beyond the example of the performance expectations by providing suggested Practice and Crosscutting Concept pairs and groupings that can be used by curriculum developers to communicate these other aspects. I also include example unit outlines to show what the suggestions might look like in application.

The main aim of this study is to assess university students' perceptions of climate change (CC) and sustainable development (SD). It also reviews existing curricula of various degree programs and obtains students' opinion on how to integrate these concepts into the curricula and improve teaching methods and students' learning. In total, 400 students from two of the oldest and renowned public sector higher education institutions (HEIs) in Lahore, Pakistan participated in this study. The results revealed that students have better perceptions of CC than of SD even though very few degree programs cover these concepts in their curriculum. Generally, the students perceived that human beings' interference with the natural settings through their development actions is the main reason for climate change. They prefer environmental protection over economic growth. It is concluded that the integration of courses on CC and SD and promoting action-oriented case study research in the curriculum of the degree programs being offered by the HEIs can help improve learning. Hence, the HEIs of developing countries with similar socio-economic contexts need to do more to train our future generation of professionals to facilitate achieving the goal of sustainable development.

In the United States, some professions are anchored by certifications and licensures to demonstrate an individual is qualified to practice in that professional domain. Broadly speaking, licensures are non-academic credentials required by federal or state law for individuals to practice in that field (Gilmore and Williams 2007). In contrast, certificates and certifications are voluntarily obtained credentials that can signify an individual's level of knowledge in a profession. At many universities, certificates are undergraduate or graduate credentials that can be obtained either in conjunction with or separate from a full degree. Distinct from this, certifications are credentials granted by professional organizations when a candidate has passed a qualifying exam or other demonstration of competence. Specifically for job seekers or those new to a profession, certifications can "persuade certifiable professionals, their employers, and their customers that those who are certified exhibit high levels of job performance" (McKillip and Owens 2000, p. 50). In this article, the authors propose a model of curriculum design that can be used to assess the degree to which curriculum "measures up" to professional bodies of knowledge and, thus, prepares graduates with the knowledge and skills that employers are seeking in today's workforce. This process includes both existing and novel techniques to assess curriculum. The context of this work is in a graduate program offering a master's degree in organizational leadership with focus areas in human resource development or technical communication, as well as certificates in project management and human resource development.

In Scandinavia, plurilingualism has been embraced as an important goal in language curricula. However, research shows that teachers struggle to understand what plurilingualism is and how it can be implemented. To address this lack of clarity, we analysed the curricula for the three main language subjects of schooling in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden with the purpose of identifying which pluralistic approaches can be found in them. We based our analysis on the three main approaches described in "The Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures": integrated didactic approach (IDA), intercomprehension between related languages (ICRL) and eveil aux langues (EAL). We found several similarities across the Scandinavian countries, but also some major differences, suggesting that plurilingual education in these countries will likely have different learning outcomes for the students. For example, IDA is lacking in the Swedish curriculum, and the goals for ICRL are more ambitious in Denmark than in the other countries. Furthermore, Norway and Sweden include national minority languages in their pluralistic approaches, whereas no attention is given to language diversity in regions with close political bonds to Denmark, such as the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland.

One of the main problems of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is the low retention rate of students and a high no-show rate. Meanwhile gamification has been gaining notoriety in the last decade within the education field. This systematic literature review explores the impact gamification has had in MOOCs, how their success is being measured, what are the theories normally associated with these gamified learning environments, and what game design elements are used as well as their implementation and outcome. We've reviewed 22 papers dating from 2014 to July 2019. Our findings are positive in terms of the outcomes, with a general increase in participation and retention on gamified MOOCs.

In the past decade, several states have introduced comprehensive sexuality education standards for public schools, but the impact is unknown because mechanisms to monitor adherence and improve quality have been lacking. In this study, we pilot-tested an approach for high school students to assess sexuality education standards mandated by the California Healthy Youth Act. We introduced a 15-minute online survey administered at the conclusion of sexuality education instruction. Results from thirteen Los Angeles high schools indicated that the approach was acceptable, feasible, and valid. It provided actionable data about which standards were being followed and whether the classroom environment was conducive to learning.

School-based citizen-science can be a powerful means to engage youth in environmental education, yet developing robust science curricula around citizen-science activities is tremendously challenging. Prior research provides limited examples and very little guidance for curriculum designers. To support the designers of school-based citizen-science curricula, this research article presents a participant-observation case study of designer thinking and processes in creating and integrating in-class curriculum with citizen-science fieldwork. Interviews, observations, and documents of designer work aimed at supporting middle school students' learning of climate change were analysed to gain insight into designer thinking, challenges, and resolutions. Findings indicate how designer work evolved through various measures, including appraisal by external advisors, inspiring examples, surveys of teachers' implementations, and written pre-post assessments of student learning throughout the phases of analysis, development, and evaluation of the curriculum. Four key considerations for designing school-based citizen-science curricula emerged from the data: creating the learning environment around the fieldwork; tackling concerns about data quality and utility; making scientist-designed fieldwork engaging to students; and balancing scientific and educational goals. These considerations are discussed in light of relevant literature, and educational implications for design and research are presented.

This research paper aims to characterize Mathematical Reasoning (MR) in teaching and learning of mathematics in high-school education. To achieve this goal and reveal the status of Mathematical Reasoning as a concept, we analyze the content of curricula and official textbooks of the initial and second year of high school in Morocco. Our analytical framework focuses on the commognitive perspective, exploiting the different components of MR presented in literature. The results obtained from this study using a quantitative approach show that MR occupies a central place in mathematics education at Moroccan high school, but the use of some structural and procedural aspects is still too limited.

In Ghana's Polytechnics/Technical Universities, the Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes are ran to provide the country with its middle-skilled manpower base in science, engineering, technology, commerce and art for socio-economic development. However, the HND Industrial Art Programme of Tamale Technical University begun in 2008/2009 academic year and has since run up-to-date with options in Painting and Decorating (P/D), Leatherwork, Textiles and Ceramics without any form of evaluation to ascertain its impact in the country despite the numerous calls from stakeholders. Therefore, the study sought to examine the impact of the HND Industrial Art Programme of Tamale Technical University on the Art Industry in Ghana. To conduct the study, the main objective was to evaluate the scope and content of the curriculum of the HND Industrial Art Programme with reference to its implementation in the University. The Concurrent Triangulation Mixed-Method research design involving both qualitative (case study, document and descriptive analysis) and quantitative research were adopted to undertake the research. Questionnaire, interview and observation guides were relied as tools to collect data for the study. A sample population of 223 (present students: 57, graduates: 137, lecturers/technicians: 13 and industrial attachment supervisors: 16) was selected using purposive, random and snowball sampling techniques. From the study, the major finding is that, the curricula of the programme's options provided students with knowledge and skills required in their respective industries as conceived by the Department. Nonetheless, with time and advancement in technology as being noted in the industry, some of the courses require review to catch up with industry standards. The findings from the study have implication on the training of students in the Country. It is therefore recommended that appropriate steps should be taken in conjunction with relevant stakeholders to have a holistic review of the curriculum to make it relevant.

Assessment is a crucial and essential component of successful instruction and learning. As a result, teachers must examine their actions in the classroom through a process of reflective practices (self-observation and self-evaluation) and think about why they do it and if it works. This essay examines the reflective practices of Ghanaian teacher educators regarding the evaluation of social studies and history curricula. It made use of the sequential explanatory mixed method as a methodology drawn from questionnaires, interviews and document reviews. The findings disclosed that teacher educators in Ghana's colleges of education have low efficacy and poor reflective practices when it comes to affective domain assessment. The study suggests that the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) should ramp up the instruction of the methods for evaluating the affective domain in coordination with Ghanaian universities. For Social Studies teacher educators, consistent professional development programs on the methods for assessing the affective domain should be organised. The universities in Ghana should train Social Studies History teacher educators in the field in the area of measurement and evaluation with particular emphasis on the construction of appropriate test items for determining expected outcomes.