No description available.

Knowledge of curriculum is a significant component of mathematical knowledge for teaching. However, clearly understanding knowledge of curriculum requires further refinement and substantial research. This study consists of three papers that aim to explore prospective and practicing middle school teachers’ Knowledge of Curriculum for Teaching Simple Algebraic Equations (KCTE). The first paper reviews trends in and the evolution of standards and policies and synthesizes significant findings of research on mathematics curriculum and Knowledge of Curriculum for Mathematics Teaching (KCMT). Through this synthesis, the paper examines policy changes and research relevant to mathematics curriculum and KCMT and anticipates future research approaches and topics that show promise. Building on the context provided by the first paper, the following two papers investigate KCTE from the perspectives of prospective and practicing middle school mathematics teachers. For the second paper, data was collected from a convenience sample of 58 prospective middle school mathematics teachers and a subsample of six participants. The findings of this study identify patterns of key mathematical topics in the teaching sequence of simple algebraic equations, compare the participants’ sequences with experts’, reveal participants’ orientations toward KCTE, draw connections between participants’ KCTE and their knowledge of content and teaching, and establish relationships between participants’ KCTE and their knowledge of content and students. Four middle school mathematics teachers participated in the third study. The results indicate that state-level intended curriculum is the most prevailing component of participants’ KCTE. Furthermore, from a vertical view of curriculum, participants’ awareness of their students’ lack of basic mathematical knowledge impacted their KCTE. The paper also identifies the role of the state-level intended curriculum in participants’ KCTE, alternative approaches to curriculum implementation that participants used to respond to the multiple intelligences of their students, and the participants’ lack of lateral curriculum knowledge in KCTE. Together, these three papers offer a closer look at KCMT with a focus on simple algebraic equations. This research broadens our understanding of prospective and practicing middle school teachers’ KCMT and discusses implications for professional development.

This diploma thesis focuses on the curriculum topic of insects from two perspectives. The first view is intended (presumed) curriculum, the second implemented (achieved) curriculum. To determine the intended curriculum, a curriculum analysis of the insects contained in 6th grade primary biology textbooks and the corresponding level for grammar schools was used. Based on the analysis a didactic test is compiled, in order to determine the mastery of the subject matter by pupils the implemented curriculum. The results show a lower value of the intended (about 53%) than the implemented curriculum. In addition, the rate of the implemented curriculum, depending on the individual sub-circuits curriculum about insects, was found to be unbalanced.

How do we as art educators help adolescents maintain artistic creation as a way of visual expression? This study reviews artistic approaches among kindergarten through eighth grade students as they relate to the U-curve model of development (Davis, 1997; Pariser & van den Berg, 1997). As an art educator, my observation has been that as students approach seventh and eighth grades they lose confidence in their art making abilities as they try to draw in a realistic manner. When asked if they think they are artists, most are certain that they are not. This lack in confidence is in stark contrast to the lower elementary students, who when asked the same question, are certain that they are artists and create in an uninhibited manner. The problem addressed in this thesis is the decline in artistic confidence in older children and ways we as art educators can help adolescents maintain artistic creation as visual expression. A survey was conducted in response to this problem that explored the artistic approaches of kindergarten through eighth grade students to address the decline of artistic activity in older children. This survey included questionnaires that were given to the seventh and eighth grade students I taught to help answer the question as to why adolescents become more inhibited and lose the desire to create art the same way they did when they were younger. The questionnaires were given to each student before and after the Core Knowledge based art curriculum asking students if they thought they were artists and how confident they were in making art. The findings showed a measurable increase in students' self-confidence as artists after experiencing a Core Knowledge based art curriculum. A review of current textbooks revealed that not enough curricula which included contemporary practices were included in many elementary and secondary art programs. Only 2 percent of the art textbooks examined included units that dealt with contemporary art and postmodern practices after 1980. Much is being taught in art history and the historical functions of art, leaving large gaps in contemporary art and postmodern practices. A Core Knowledge based art curriculum was designed in response to the ostensible demise of art making as a way of visual expression in adolescent children. Historical practices bridged with contemporary practices such as appropriation, Conceptual art, and Installation art are included in the curriculum and designed to boost students' confidence and interest in artistic creation. A Core Knowledge based art curriculum for seventh and eighth grades consists of three units: Pre-modern, Modern, and Postmodern. Three periods of time, the Renaissance, High Modernism, and Contemporary art are covered within these units. The first two lesson units, the Renaissance and High Modernism, lead up to the Contemporary art unit which includes Conceptual art and culminates in an installation piece. Each unit contains two lesson plans. The first lesson in each unit covers historical aspects of that particular era, and the second lesson ties current practices with the historical content of each specific unit. Within each unit, students explore different ways of making art through appropriation, borrowing ideas, Conceptual art, and Installation art. As students build on various concepts and learn new ways to make art, they are more able to sustain artistic creation as visual expression through new methods and materials. The three lesson units included in the Core Knowledge based curriculum are not only designed to sustain artistic creation and help students to gain self-confidence in their own abilities, but also to gain a better understanding of the contemporary art world around them. Students' understandings are broadened as they learn about the artists and art movements from previous eras and their connections to artists, ideas, and art movements today.

No description available.