A questionnaire survey of three groups of teachers who received copies of A Directory of Physics Resource Materials (for teachers, produced by industrial and commercial organizations, Ed. PF Bullett, The Association for Science Education, Hatfield, 1985, pp.22) establishes: the characteristics of the sample of teachers and of their schools; their previous knowledge and use of Industrially Produced Resource Materials (IPRM); the effect of the Directory in encouraging them to obtain further examples of IPRM; their access to and use of audio-visual aids (a necessary precondition for the use of some formats of IPRM); the use of various formats of materials in their teaching: and the means by which they are Informed about IPRM. Analysis of the replies indicates that this non-random sample of 99 teachers was generally aware of, and obtained, very few of the resource materials produced by industrial companies, and these materials largely failed to meet their perceived needs. The findings of two national surveys which are reviewed support these conclusions, and recommendations are made for producers of IPRM. Case-studies of six successful projects, which used teacher-writers and generated Industrial Resource Material (IRM), identify effective strategies and suggest approaches to future good practice. The lack of evaluation and effective dissemination of IRM are identified as crucial weaknesses in many current initiatives, and strategies of proven value are suggested which might find application in this context. A model of curriculum resource diffusion and utilization is suggested as providing a conceptual frame-work for the discussion of teachers' use of IRM and defines critical parameters which would allow measures of both diffusion and utilization in future research. The historical, economic and political perspectives of the school/industry Interface are outlined to provide the context for IPRM.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:232962 |
| Date | January 1988 |
| Creators | Bullett, Peter |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/98047/ |
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