Implementation Of New Curriculum Research Articles

Theoretical and practical exploration of work-based learning curriculum with a case study

This contribution reviews the development of vocational education and training (VET) curriculum development in the last two decades in China, which is categorised into three models: curriculum with theory and practice in parallel (TPP), curriculum with theory in the service of practice (TSP), and integrated curriculum between theory and practice (ITP). It describes briefly also a VET curriculum reform project that adopts a design-based research approach. The main objective of this project is to explore curriculum models that can more effectively promote the development of learners’ holistic professional competences. Result shows that the new work-based curriculum, especially ITP, plays a positive role in promoting the professional action competence of students. The new curriculum also has been welcomed by employers. Difficulties in implementation of new curriculum are teaching capability and work experience defect of teachers, and the lack of self-directed learning competence of some students. The key problem to be solved in the future is how to effectively identify the courses and learning contents through effective qualification research.

Preparing Institutions to Implement Harmonized Medicine and Nursing Curricula Through the Use of Cross-Institutional Faculty Developers.

Effective implementation of new curricula requires faculty to be knowledgeable about curriculum goals and have the appropriate pedagogical skills to implement the curriculum, even more so if the new curriculum is being deployed at multiple institutions. In this paper, we describe the process of creating a common faculty development program to train cross-institutional faculty developers to support the implementation of national harmonized medicine and nursing curricula. A five-step approach was used, including a cross-institutional needs assessment survey for faculty development needs, the development of a generic faculty development program, the identification and training of cross-institutional faculty educators, and the implementation of cross-institutional faculty capacity-building workshops. A list of common cross-cutting faculty development needs for teaching and learning was identified from the needs assessment survey and used to develop an accredited, cross-institutional faculty development program for competency-based learning and assessment. A total of 24 cross-institutional faculty developers were identified and trained in 8 core learning and assessment workshops. A total of 18 cross-institutional and 71 institutional workshops were conducted, of which 1292 faculty members and 412 residents were trained, and three cross-institutional educational research projects were implemented. The success attained in this study shows that the use of cross-institutional faculty developers is a viable model and sustainable resource that can be used to support the implementation of harmonized national curricula.

University–Business Collaboration for the Design, Development, and Delivery of Critical Thinking Blended Apprenticeships Curricula: Lessons Learned from a Three-Year Project

University–Business partnership for collaborative curriculum design, development, and delivery is an important dimension of University–Business Collaboration (UBC), but scarce information exists on how to enhance partnership for the design, development, and implementation of new curricula. With these questions in focus, this article intends to present and discuss the perceived experience during a three-year European funded project, namely, Think4Jobs. This project exemplifies the significance and benefits of UBC in the design, development, and delivery of curricula that meet the evolving demands of the labour market while promoting Critical Thinking (CT) as a foundational 21st century skill to contribute to graduates’ employability. Think4Jobs project brought together a multidisciplinary team of researchers and business organisations from five European countries (Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, and Romania) with interests in promoting and developing CT and mitigating eventual competence gaps. The project’s success was attributed to key practices, including defining a common conceptualization of CT, employing Participatory Co-Design, and providing common training for university and business partners. Clear objectives, explicit roles, effective communication, and ongoing evaluation further enhanced the collaboration. Experiential learning, real-work problems, and case studies reinforced the curricula, bridging the gap between academia and the labour market. By embracing these insights, future UBC initiatives can empower graduates with the necessary skills to stand out in an ever-changing labour market, contributing to enhanced education and successful careers.

Development of communication skills through the introduction of interactive teaching methods in English lessons

The relevance of the study is due to the need for new educational programmes that will diversify the educational process and increase the effectiveness of language knowledge in live communication. The purpose of the study is to examine the main aspects of using interactive teaching methods in English lessons, considering the development of students’ communication skills. The following methods were used in the study: analytical, synthetic, comparative and comparative, which allowed delving into the theoretical aspects of using interactive teaching methods; observation and generalisation of experience, which became the main ones for this study, since their use considered the main positive phenomena in the field of interactive learning in recent years; the analysis was also used to assess the development of communication skills in the process of learning a language. The analysis of the main methods (project creation, interactive, and role-playing games, discussions) and forms of work that can be used in English lessons to develop communication skills is conducted. An assessment of its effectiveness in the application of communication skills has been added to the characteristics of each of the methods. Conclusions on the effectiveness of interactive methods are drawn, considering the age and level of knowledge of students. The basics of implementing interactive learning in an English lesson, in particular, communication between participants in the educational process (student – teacher – student), are considered. The expediency of using various online applications in mastering a foreign language in the classroom and outside of school hours is justified. The results of the study are compared with the results of other studies on this subject related to communication processes in English lessons and interactive learning. The study can be used to further investigate the impact of interactive methods on different student classrooms, for example, during experiments (conducting surveys and questionnaires), considering key educational issues related to the development and implementation of new curricula.

Evaluation of Educational Environment Using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure-12 – Abridged version of the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure-50 Questionnaire among Final Year M.B.B.S. Students in a Medical College in Ahmedabad

Introduction: Medical education in India is evolving/changing in view of implementation of new curriculum in undergraduate schools. Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) is one of the tools developed specifically to assess the educational environment of medical institutions as perceived by the students. DREEM-12, an abridged version of DREEM-50 had been developed which retains its factors structure, validity, reliability and at the same time avoids respondent fatigue. We used the DREEM-12 questionnaire to assess final M.B.B.S students’ perception about their learning environment at our institute. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done including 215 undergraduate students from the final MBBS. The DREEM-12 questionnaire was shared with all the participants as Google form. The mean score for each variable was calculated. Variable scores were summed up to get each domain score and interpreted. Results: We received responses from 60% of students. The highest score was given to faculty’s encouragement towards learning with a mean score of 3.1. Least score - 2.1 was given to the stress support system for students. In the cumulative score, students’ perception of teacher (SPOT) was 8.8 which is interpreted as “model course organizers,” while student’s social self-perceptions was 4.7 which infers “not too bad.” The overall DREEM-12 score of our study is 33.1, which is indicative of a “More Positive than Negative” educational environment. Conclusion: The stress support system has the lowest score which suggests that efforts should be made to provide continuous psychological support to students may be in the form of periodical assessment by psychologists to find vulnerable ones early and provide them timely help. Items in SPOT are scored highest, pertaining to faculty’s knowledge about the subject and their encouragement to students about their learning. As this was the first-ever study done at this institute using DREEM-12 it can serve as a baseline to monitor the effects of changes made over a period of time.

Connecting the Dots from Professional Development to Student Learning.

Following professional development (PD), implementation of contemporary topics into high school biology requires teachers to make critical decisions regarding integration of novel content into existing course scope and sequence. Often exciting topics, such as neuroscience, do not perfectly align with standards. Despite commitment to enacting what was learned in the PD, teachers must adapt novel content to their perceptions of good teaching, local context, prior knowledge of their students, and state and district expectations. How teachers decide to integrate curricula encountered from PD programs may affect student outcomes. This mixed-methods study examined the relationship between curricular application strategies following an inquiry-based neuroscience PD and student learning. Post-PD curricular implementation was measured qualitatively through analysis of teacher action plans and classroom observations and quantitatively using hierarchical linear modeling to determine the impact of implementation on student performance. Participation in neuroscience PD predicted improved student learning compared with control teachers. Of the two distinct curricular implementation strategies, enacting a full unit produced significantly greater student learning than integrating neuroscience activities into existing biology units. Insights from this analysis should inform teacher implementation of new curricula after PD on other contemporary biology topics.

Australian super veteran secondary school music teachers: Motivated and valuable

Veteran teachers are defined as having over 15 years’ teaching experience. This research introduces a new career stage of ‘super veteran’ for music teachers that have worked for 30 plus years and seeks to identify the influences on, and contributions of, Australian secondary school music teachers of this career stage. This article reports on survey data gathered in a larger qualitative study that contained a national survey and interviews. The analysis of the interview data in the larger study is yet to be completed. Likert-type scale questions were used for demographic data collection and open-ended questions explored influences on music teacher work practice. Of the responses, 32 were from super veteran secondary school music teachers. These teachers were motivated by working with students and felt valued by them and their parents. Super veterans continued to be engaged in professional development, found work–life balance a constant challenge and many were planning to continue teaching. This research has implications for school leaders in encouraging, valuing and utilising the expertise of super veteran secondary school music teachers. It suggests tailoring professional development for this career stage, gives feedback on the implementation of new curriculum and indicates strategies for stress management and work–life balance.

Constraints Facing Successful Implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum in Kenya

Kenya is in the process of shifting from content-based to competency-based system of education. Teachers are likely to face challenges when implementing a new curriculum especially in relation to the content and subject demarcations, the underlying assumptions, goals, teaching approaches and assessment methods. In this regard, this study was conducted to investigate the constraints likely to face successful implementation of the competency based curriculum in Machakos County, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive survey design targeting all the 8,320 teachers in all the 828 public primary schools in Machakos County, Kenya. Stratified random sampling was used to select 342 teachers in charge of grades one to three where competency based curriculum was being implemented. A questionnaire and an observation checklist were used as tools for data collection. The study established that teachers were not fully prepared for the implementation of new curriculum; infrastructures available in schools were not adequate for successful implementation of competency based curriculum; the government hurriedly implemented CBC in schools without first addressing challenges such as understaffing, inadequacy of teaching and learning material and unfriendly teaching and learning environment. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education should invest more on teacher training and involve teachers in curriculum change process to create a positive attitude among them for successful implementation of Competency Based Curriculum.

Essential Factors Influencing Preparation of Physics Laboratory in New Curriculum: Photo Voice Study

This research was stimulated by the situation of Indonesian curriculum especially in physics that requiring the balancing between basic competence of knowledge and skills. Currently, the main problem is the basic competence of skills become the second orientation, therefore, it should be more attention. Physics laboratory is the essential room in supporting the implementation of new curriculum, K13. Through a qualitative study, this research used interview process to pre-service and in-service physics teachers in East Java Indonesia. Totally, 4 in-service physics teachers and 9 pre-service-physics teachers were invited in the semi-structured interview process by utilising photo voice approach. The research captured seven factors as well as the attitudes towards new physics curriculum, which categorised into: practical application, curriculum content, academic anxiety, need analysis, globalisation effect, assessment effect, and government policy. Meanwhile, each factor was implicated to other factors.

P100 - Organizational Readiness for Implementing a Nutrition Curriculum in Early Care and Education

Background (Background, Rationale, Prior Research, and/or Theory): Preschool educational standards increasingly emphasizes nutrition education as a promising obesity prevention strategy. Success of implementation of new curricula likely vary based on the readiness of the context. An assessment of the readiness of the context may allow implementation to be more successful. Objective: This study presents results from adaptation of the Organizational Readiness for Implementation Change (ORIC) instrument to assess educators' readiness to implement the nutrition education curriculum Together, We Inspire Smart Eating (WISE). This study presents psychometric properties of the ORIC in this new setting and assessment of association with perception of barriers. Study Design, Setting, Participants, Intervention: Educators and administrators (N = 359) completed the ORIC before receiving education on the implementation of WISE. Participants were primarily lead teachers (45%) with at least some college education (64%). Outcome Measures and Analysis: The ORIC instrument (N = 12 items rated on 5-point likert scale) has demonstrated validity and reliability in health care settings. Participants were asked to rate nine potential barriers to implementation. Results: The reliability for the 12 items was (α = .97). An exploratory factor analyses (EFA, eigenvalue = 1) indicated one factor. An EFA constrained to replicate previous work with two factors was not supported. Examination of careless response include split half reliability (α = .92) and an examination of the number of repeating responses (34% used the same response for all items) suggested respondents did not distinguish items uniquely. However, the validity of the total ORIC was supported by the expected association with the number of barriers perceived by participants (r=-30). Conclusions and Implications: The ORIC had high internal consistency and demonstrated convergent validity in this sample. However, indicators of careless responding were elevated suggesting that the ORIC may benefit from a reduction of items. Alternately, it may be possible to present the items in a format that emphasizes the unique contribution of each question. Funding: NIH, FNS.

PEACE EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN THE CONTEXT OF EDUCATION SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD)

Many efforts have been done by Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) in Indonesia in redesigning curriculum in primary schools as well as secondary schools related to peace education as requirements in implementing sustainable development goals (SDGs). The purpose of this paper is to (1) unpack some concepts and theoretical point of views on global education and peace education in the context of education sustainable development (ESD); (2) discuss policies and programs lead by MoEC in Indonesia in redesigning soft skills on peace education in the context of education sustainable development (ESD); (3) identify indigenous aspects in supporting and enriching teaching learning activities on peace education in the context of education sustainable development (ESD). Based on analyses conducted for this study, three points are noteworthy: (1) policies and programs concerning with the implementation of new curriculum that give more spaces on peace education in the context of education sustainable development (ESD); (2) some indigenous aspects in supporting and peace education in the context of education sustainable development (ESD); and (3) schools efforts in developing peace education program andresolution on conflicts in terms of core curriculum as well as extra curriculum in order to avoiding conflicts and meet with the challenge of living global citizenship in 21st century and changing technological, social, economic, national and global environment.

Mathematical Understanding of the Underprivileged Students through GeoGebra

A student’s mathematical understanding in high school from poor families in the district of Ciamis is still low. After reviews the various literature and earlier research, consequently, researchers convince that learning mathematics with GeoGebra can help students improve for the better understanding. Our long-term goal of this research is to support the implementation of new curriculum, namely ICT-based learning mathematics. Another goal is to give a basic mastery skill regarding mathematics software to students from underprivileged families. Moreover, the specific objective of this study is to examine the students’ mathematical understanding from underprivileged families after the implementation of learning with GeoGebra. We use a quantitative comparative research method to determine differences in the mathematical understanding of students’ from underprivileged families before and after mathematics learning with GeoGebra. Accordingly, the students of senior high school from underprivileged family in Baregbeg, Ciamis district, are the population of this study. This research is using purposive sampling. The instrument is in the form of a test question, which is the test of mathematical understanding. Research results show that the mathematical understanding students’ from underprivileged families after the mathematics learning with GeoGebra becomes better than before. The novelty of this research is that students understand the material of trigonometry through the use of modules, aided by GeoGebra in learning activities. Thus, the understanding has an impact on improving students’ mathematical understanding. Students also master the use of GeoGebra Software. Implementing these two things will be very useful for the next lesson.

The effect of Phet Simulation media for physics teacher candidate understanding on photoelectric effect concept

Indonesian new Curriculum for senior high school students required student-centered learning. One of the curriculum implementation constraint was the difficulty of providing learning media. PhET simulations media is one of the options that can help implementation of new curriculum on learning. However, the use of this media in Indonesia still needs to be studied comprehensively. The learning was conducted on students of physics education Study Program in sebelas maret university in 2013. The sample consisted of 62 students that was taking quantum physics course. The method that was used in the research was descriptive qualitative. The method that was used in learning was demonstration’s method that used PhET media and accompanied by a question and answer and groups discussion. The data was collected using multiple choice test and interview through email. We found that any students still did not understand about photoelectric effect concept. They were confused when asked about the thick material and cross section of the targets as related with the regardless of electrons in the photoelectric effect event. Other than that, the concept of the waves as a particle and its relation with the kinetic energy of the electrons was not understood by most students.

Implementing Portfolios in Teacher Training:Why we use them and why we should use them

Problem statement: After the implementation of new curricula in 2005, portfolios have become commonplace in teacher training programs in Turkey. Even though the use of portfolios is quite popular, the studies have shown that portfolios are mostly used to assess student learning outcomes, while the effectiveness of the educators and teacher training programs is usually unnoticed. For this reason, this study will focus on the contributions of portfolio utilization to educators and training programs. Purpose of Study: This study investigates the use of the portfolios in teacher training programs and analyses the contribution of portfolio utilization to educators, teacher training programs, and students. Method: An action research design was adopted involving 25 third grade social studies student teachers, who were randomly chosen from a sample of 128 students by selecting every fifth student on the classroom list of a semester-long course (14 weeks) in the 2012-2013 academic years at a state university in Turkey. This is a qualitative research study based on four open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews that were conducted with eight educators. Findings and Results: The findings indicated that portfolio utilization helps educators make modifications in their traditional roles and encourages them to adopt more student-centred approaches. In addition, portfolios assist in clarifying the program scope and goals and makes learning outcomes transparent. Furthermore, portfolios are a viable, effective, and appropriate tool in documenting student teachers’ learning and professional development. Conclusions and Recommendations: The results of the research show that educators should take the utilization of portfolio into account not just to increase students’ learning and assessment but also because of its additional benefits to educators and programs through many factors, such as being informed about the qualities and effectiveness of the program and daily lectures, putting the constructivist philosophy of the program into practice, creating a more democratic environment, ensuring one-to-one interaction with the students, providing individualized learning, and using assessment as an integral part of learning and promoting dialogue with colleagues. Keywords: Portfolio assessment, alternative assessment, teacher training, student-centred learning, learning to teach, active learning.

Internacionalização do Ensino Superior e as Instituições de Ensino Privado no Brasil

A implementação de novas grades curriculares dos cursos de saúde nas universidades privadas é uma tarefa complexa. Ocupando espaço importante na formação profissional do ponto de vista qualitativo, as concepções pedagógicas nestas instituições obedecem à economia do conhecimento, sendo fortemente influenciadas pela internacionalização da educação e pelos desígnios do mercado. Essa lógica, crescente entre as instituições de ensino superior no Brasil, influencia não só os princípios de concepção e deimplementação de modelos curriculares, mas também as estratégias e instrumentais pedagógicos e as relações docente‑discente‑instituição de ensino‑população. Esse artigo pretende discutir alguns dos aspectos históricos e contemporâneos envolvidos na concepção da Universidade no Brasil e alguns dos impactos determinados pela internacionalização da educação superior. Observamos que, no processo de internacionalização da educação superior, a universidade privada brasileira experimenta uma relação assimétrica com os países centrais, ocupando uma posição subalterna, submetendo‑se às decisões das corporações transnacionais.

Developing mathematics teachers’ competence through parallel lesson study

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine practicing mathematics teachers’ learning through parallel lesson study in China. Lesson study in China has been practiced for decades. Parallel lesson is an enriched mode of lesson study to address the implementation of new curriculum.Design/methodology/approach– The expansive learning perspective has been used to explore the ways practicing teachers learned to improve teaching through the transformation of learning objects and boundary crossing.Findings– Two cases are illustrated and compared to highlight features of teachers’ learning through parallel lesson study. The practicing teachers developed their competence in transforming instructional objectives and task selection and implementation. In addition, they also developed professional vision in alignment with the reform-oriented curriculum.Originality/value– This study makes significant contribution to understanding teachers’ learning through lesson study in China. Meanwhile, it also demonstrates how the theory of expansive learning could be used as a conceptual framework to examine teachers’ learning through lesson study.

Introducing a transdisciplinary curriculum to foster student citizenship: a challenge beyond curricula reform

The article discusses the implementation of new curricula in the Engineering School of the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Mexico City, Campus Azcapotzalco. The curricula aim at fostering student citizenship, and at training transdisciplinary practices. First, the concepts of citizenship and transdisciplinarity are introduced and discussed, with an emphasis on Nicolescu's concept of transdisciplinarity that emphasises the integration of formal, experiential and direct knowing. The article makes a plea for such integration in curricula so they become like rich ecologies incorporating various ways of knowing. Then, the implementation process is analysed, addressing resistance encountered and changes made, up to the final curricula acceptance. The article concludes that designing transdisciplinary curricula implies the introduction of a new paradigm that: 1) needs to be broadly discussed; 2) involves training of the academic staff; 3) asks seeing curricula in a real systemic way placing each course within the context of the broader whole.

Surviving the Implementation of a New Science Curriculum

Queensland schools are currently teaching with the first National Curriculum for Australia. This new curriculum was one of a number of political responses to address the recurring low scores in literacy, mathematics, and science that continue to hold Australia in poor international rankings. Teachers have spent 2 years getting to know the new science curriculum through meetings, training, and exploring the new Australian curriculum documents. This article examines the support and preparation for implementation provided in two regional schools, with a closer look at six specific teachers and their science teaching practices as they attempted to implement the new science curriculum. The use of a survey, field observations, and interviews revealed the schools’ preparation practices and the teachers’ practices, including the support provided to implement the new science curriculum. A description and analysis of school support and preparation as well as teachers’ views of their experiences implementing the new science curriculum reveal both achievements and shortcomings. Problematic issues for the two schools and teachers include time to read and comprehend the curriculum documents and content expectations as well as time to train and change the current processes effectively. The case teachers’ experiences reveal implications for the successful and effective implementation of new curriculum and curriculum reform.

El reto de formar a periodistas participativos: reflexiones docentes

Active audiences and media industry are changing the traditional model of journalism graduate, demanding multi-skilled and social media-savvy young journalism graduates. Based on this premise, this research analyzes the implementation of new curricula in Spanish university in the age of social media and collects the reflections of its protagonists. 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with faculty teaching participatory journalism.

The Implementation of the New Lower Secondary Science Curriculum in Three Schools in Rwanda

In 2006, Rwanda began implementing an Outcomes Based Education (OBE) lower secondary science curriculum that emphasises a student-centred approach. The new curriculum was designed to transform Rwandan society from an agricultural to a knowledge-based economy, with special attention to science and technology education. Up until this point in time the implementation of the intended curriculum has been barely researched and is poorly understood. Thus our primary research question is, ‘To what extent is the intended national curriculum actually implemented in Rwandan schools?’ To explore this question, we examine the implementation of the new science curriculum in three socially and environmentally diverse schools. Using the Rogan–Grayson curriculum implementation model as a theoretical framework, we explore the link between the level of curriculum implementation and the schools' capacity to innovate. We do this through the observation of lessons and school environment and by means of structured interviews with school administrators, teachers and students. As far as the observed lessons are concerned, there is a wide variation in levels of lessons both within and between schools. With the exception of 3 out of 20 observed lessons, almost none of the lessons throughout the three schools showed any appreciable achievement of the curriculum objectives. It appears that there is only a tenuous link, if any, between the implementation level and the capacity of the school to innovate. Our research explores implementation in a unique environment—in a country recovering from genocide and where the language of instruction has changed from French to English. In the context of international development in education, one critical question has emerged from these findings: under what conditions can the teaching as intended by an OBE curriculum become routine for teachers? A possible answer to this question is discussed. The common and specific challenges to Rwandan schools with respect to the implementation of new curriculum are also discussed and some proposals are made to overcome these specific challenges.