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Research on Science Education

 
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Slide 12

Spiral by Design?

"important concepts and skills are used multiple times at a given grade level and spaced across grade levels"

Speaker's notes:

Is this an accident? Hardly. Here is a description of a design principle for one of the science curricula developed to align with AAAS science learning standards. Note that the concepts are supposed to be introduced multiple times across grade levels.

We need to be concerned about the nature of our science curriculum and standards. Perhaps the progressive declines across the school years in U.S. academic achievement in science are due, in part, to a curriculum and standards that try to do too much too superficially.

Yager, R. E. & Weld, J. D. (1999). Scope, sequence, and coordination: The Iowa Project: a national reform effort in the USA. International Journal of Science Education, 21(2), 169-194.