As a result, a major focus for this class will be to explore the conceptual change literature from a variety of these perspectives and examine curricula that represent these perspectives. This course analyes the relationships between principles from educational research and curriculum innovation.
Special attention is paid to the roles played by computer technologies.
In general, educational principles are too abstract, specific, or incomplete to be applied directly to curriculum reform. Furthermore, effective curriculum materials often combine the inspirations of talented teachers and insightful curriculum developers with principled design. As a result, progress in curriculum reform has been slow and sporadic, and effective innovations have been difficult to replicate or extend. To improve thsi situation, this class examines a wide range of innovations and seeks parallels and mediating influences. At the same time, participants analyze principles from research on learning and instruction and look for areas of convergence.