Session Information
03 SES 06 A, Changing the Science Curriculum
Paper Session
Contribution
Like in many other countries, mathematics and science curricula in Dutch secondary education are characterized (amongst others) by poor coherence within and across subjects, a lack of relevance for students (ROSE study, Sjoberg & Schreiner (2006), and content overload. As a result, most students (and often especially girls) lack interest in mathematics and science, few students choose these subjects as part of their program in senior secondary education or pursue tertiary science-based studies (cf. CVS, 2003).
In an attempt to address these problems, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, established four committees for the reform of Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Mathematics programmes at senior secondary education, with the mandate to develop new examination programmes based on a so-called ‘context-based approach’ (CVS, 2003; Goedhart, 2004). Inspiration for this approach and the development of new programmes has come from Salters’ Chemistry and 21st Century Science in the UK and Chimie im Kontext in Germany. The committees have developed draft examination programs, syllabi, as well as lesson modules to exemplify the intended reform. In addition to the reform of these four single subjects, from August 2007 a new science subject called ‘Nature. Life and Technology’ (NLT) has been developed and implemented, integrating the single sciences and mathematics into one subject.
The reforms have been organized around subject-specific pilots, with the involvement of 7 to 14 secondary schools per subject. About 200 schools are currently implementing the optional NLT programme. At the completion of the pilots (end of 2010), the Reform Committees will advise the Ministry about the feasibility of the nation-wide implementation of their new programmes.
The curriculum proposals and their implementation are subject to an independent evaluation, conducted by the Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development. The aim of this evaluation is to answer the following questions:
1. To what extent are the curriculum reforms put into practice consistent with the intentions formulated and propagated by the various Reform Committees?
2. To what extent do the intended curriculum reforms result in programs that are feasible for teachers and students?
Starting point for the curriculum evaluation is the typology of curriculum representations (table 1; van den Akker, 2003; Kuiper, 1993).
Table 1: Typology of curriculum representations
Intended
Ideal
Rationale or basic philosophy underlying the curriculum
Formal/Written
Intentions as specified in curriculum documents
Implemented
Perceived
Curriculum as interpreted by its users
Operational
Actual process of teaching and learning
Attained
Experiential
Leaning experiences as perceived by learners
Learned
Resulting learning outcomes of learners
Based on this typology the two main questions have been specified into four sub-questions:
- What are commonalities and differences in tenets, guiding principles and working approach formulated and applied by each Reform Committee, especially as regards the context-based approach? (ideal - formal/written)
- What are interpretations and perceptions of pilot school teachers concerning the intended curriculum reform? (perceived)
- What are experiencesof pilot school teachers with enacting the intended curriculum reform? (operational)
- What are learning experiences and opinions of pilot schools students concerning the intended curriculum reform? (experiential)
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Commissie Vernieuwing Scheikunde havo/vwo (CVS). (2003). Chemie tussen context en concept. Ontwerpen voor vernieuwing. [Chemistry between context and concept: Designing for reform] Enschede: SLO. Goedhart, M. (2004). Contexten en concepten: een nadere analyse. [Context and concepts: an analysis] NVOX. Tijdschrift voor Natuurwetenschap op School, 29(4), 186-190. Kuiper, W. (1993). Curriculumvernieuwing en lespraktijk [Curriculum reform and teaching practice]).(Dissertation). Enschede: Universiteit Twente. Sjoberg, S. & Schreiner, C. (2006). How do learners in different cultures relate to science and technology? Results and perspectives from the project ROSE. APFSLT: Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, 7(1). Forword. van den Akker, J. (2003). Curriculum: An introduction. In J. van den Akker, W. Kuiper, & U. Hameyer (eds.), Curriculum landscapes and trends (pp. 1-13). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
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