Establishing a Research Agenda: The Critical Issues of Science Curriculum Reform. Report of a Conference Held at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (Atlanta, Georgia, April 8, 1990) (original) (raw)

In April 1990 a group of 30 educational researchers, sociologists, scientists, analysts, and fund agency staff convened for a meeting to discuss issues critical to science curriculum reform. The meeting, stimulated by national calls for science curriculum reform to prepare a scientifically literate citizenry, had as its objective to generate a research specifications document that could be used by curriculum developers, educational policy researchers, publishers of curriculum materials, funding agency staff and school personnel both to inform the process and gauge the impact of current science curriculum reform efforts. It was clear from discussions and precis that the process of curriculum reform, like the educational process itself, is embedded within myriad cultures-those of the classroom, school community, government, and the larger society-and that a research agenda must necessarily include not only questions about the influence of policy, values, beliefs, and commitments at each level, but also questions about the interactions among these levels. This paper focusses on the report of that meeting, i.e., the nature of curriculum, the forces and factors that influence curriculum and reform, and recommendations for conducting research related to curriculum reform. Sections include: (1) "Executive Summary"; (2) "Participants"; (3) "The Need for a Research Agenda"; (4) "Understanding Curriculum Reform"; (5) "Exploring Research Issues"; and (6) "Recommendations." Recommendations are as follows: (1) long-term, comprehensive research projects must be initiated; (2) communication and collaboration must he valued; (3) teacher education must be transformed; and (4) new ways to report curriculum reform research must be explored. (55 notes) (KR)