GED4837

Research on science and mathematics curriculum

Not offered in 1999

Professor R F Gunstone, Professor A J Bishop and Dr D R Hutton

12 points - 3 hours per week - Second semester - Clayton

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should understand approaches to the analysis of science and mathematics curricula; be able to identify shifts in the nature of these curricula over the last forty years and describe possible future directions; understand a range of views about the nature of science and mathematics and the implications; appreciate issues involved in and approaches to the up-dating of their own science knowledge.

Synopsis There are two broad components to this subject. The first is concerned with the nature of science and mathematics curricula, their origins, and possible future directions. The second component is concerned with science per se: science and mathematics, and mathematics in culture and society. This second component will be closely linked with the first through consideration of the ways science and mathematics are represented in curricula, and through consideration of ways new knowledge is or could be incorporated into the curriculum. Considerations of the curriculum will involve an exploration of major influences of the last forty years: first and second generation curriculum projects, and their purposes and consequences; the Science-Technology-Society and Science for All movements; the Realistic Mathematics and Ethnomathematics movements; ways in which issues of participation from both gender and minority perspectives have influenced curriculum thinking; approaches to analysing the nature and purposes of science curricula. Global trends towards national curricula and standards will be explored, and the Victorian Curriculum and Standards Framework publications analysed within this context.

Assessment Written report (1500 words): 20% - Seminar and poster: 20% - Two assignments (2000 words each): 30% each

Recommended texts

Bishop A J and others (eds) International handbook of mathematics education Kluwer, 1996
Gable D L (ed.) Handbook of research on science teaching and learning Macmillan, 1994
Howson A G National curricula in mathematics The Mathematical Association, 1991
Lokan J and others Maths and science on the line ACER, 1996
Roberts D and Östman L (eds) Problems of meaning in science curriculum Teachers College Press, 1998

Back to the 1999 Education Handbook