RESEARCHING THE EXPERIENCE OF SOME COUNTRIES ON SUPPORTING MEASURES FOR STUDENTS IN SELECTING CAREER-ORIENTED SUBJECTS IN IMPLEMENTING THE GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM

This study was conducted to describe a high school engineering curriculum, identify teaching strategies used to increase math and science literacy, and discover challenges and constraints that occur during its development and delivery, as well as what strategies are used to overcome these obstacles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the engineering instructor. In addition, students were observed and curriculum documents, teacher lesson plans, and teacher resources were examined. Concepts created the platform for delivery, curricular trial and error was at work, science and engineering competitions were leveraged as a basis for learning activities, and project based learning and teaching was critical. There was a clear emphasis on creative thought and work. Assessment of student learning was dubious and elusive and stakeholders tended to be uneasy with this new pedegogy. Financial and instructional support through business partnership and administrative support were found to be critical strategies used to overcome obsticles identified. David Stricker is an Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin-Stout. He can be reached at strickerd@uwstout.edu 64 JOURNAL OF STEM TEACHER EDUCATION A Case Study: Teaching Engineering Concepts in Science The focus on improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for America’s children can be traced back to the days of Sputnik and beyond. However, compared with advancements then, it has been argued that today technological development and industrial growth are increasing at an exponential rate with expanding global application (Brophy, Klein, Portsmore, Rogers, 2008). Consequently, amid concerns that the United States may not be able to compete with other nations in the future due to insufficient investment today in science and technology research and STEM education, funding initiatives such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (U.S. Department of Education, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Saving and Creating Jobs and Reforming Education) and “Race to the Top” competitive grants have been enacted in 2009 in an effort to offer substantial federal support for such initiatives (U.S. Department of Education. President Obama, U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan Announce National Competition to Advance School Reform). The support structure for STEM education does not end with tax dollars. Large private companies such as Time Warner Cable have committed $100 million in media time, and the MacArthur Foundation is supporting “National Lab Day” that will include, among other initiatives, a year-long effort to expand hands-on learning methods throughout the country. Specifically, within the STEM focus, engineering education supports the attainment of a wide range of knowledge and skills associated with comprehending and using STEM knowledge to achieve real world problem solving through design, troubleshooting, and analysis activities (Brophy, et. al., 2008). The arguments for including A Case Study: Teaching Engineering Concepts 65 engineering education into the general education curriculum are well established. Some are motivated by concerns regarding the quantity, quality, and diversity of future engineering talent (American Society for Engineering Education, 1987; National Academy of Engineering, 2005; National Research Council, 1996; International Technology Education Association, 2002) and others by the basic need for all students, in their pursuit of preparing for life, work, and citizenship in a society inundated with technology, to possess a fundamental understanding of the nature of engineering (Welty, 2008). In an attempt to address this issue, there have been a number of curricula designed to infuse engineering content into technology education courses (Dearing & Daugherty, 2004). Each of these programs proposes teaching engineering concepts or engineering design in technology education as a vehicle to address the standards for technological literacy (International Technology Education Association, 2000/2002). Similarly, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) publication Technically Speaking (Pearson and Young, 2002) emphasizes the need for all people to become technologically literate to function in the modern world. However, despite this clear need, within the technology education profession itself, the appropriate engineering curriculum required for implementation, particularly at the high school level, remains unclear. Indeed, engineering curricula exist that have been designed for implemetation, not in technology education, but rather in math and science classrooms. As a result of the choices available to teachers and school administrators, the extent to which the most effective way of delivereing engineering content to high school students remains unclear. 66 JOURNAL OF STEM TEACHER EDUCATION

The new general education curriculum was officially announced by Ministry of Education and Training in July, 2017. In that curriculum, experiential activity is compulsory and experiential activity in Maths is mentioned. It aims at making a basic and complete innovation of the quality and the effectiveness of general education. It combines teaching knowledge, educating people with vocational orientation; makes s good contribution to changing the education focusing mainly on teaching knowledge into the one that helps develop the learners' quality and competence totally; and harmoniously develops the virtue, mind, physical strength, aesthetics; well develops the learners' potentials. Basing on the study results of the research group at provincial level in 2017 and in 2018 and those of Vietnamese and international researchers, in order to carry out training mission and to train maths teachers capable of constructing the experiential activity themes for lower secondary students, we put forward the procedure and the content of the designing of experiential activity themes in teaching Maths to lower secondary students congruent with the new general education curriculum in Vietnam.

This study aims to examine the status quo of college students' perception of college creativity and personality education, and to pinpoint students' demands in relation to those classes as part of the general higher education curriculum. The core findings of this study are as follows. First, 108 students (24.8%) perceived creativity and personality education to be carried out satisfactorily at their school, while 155 students (35.6%) thought otherwise. The latter group of students found the main reasons for the failure of these classes to lie in a heavily result-oriented focus and alack of understanding of creativity and personality education. Second, students believed that film and music were the most appropriate instructional media to be used in creativity and personality classes. Third, students favored classes with hands-on experiences, such as field trips or site visits. Fourth, future-oriented ness was the most valued basic construct for creativity and personality education. Fifth, there were high demands for dispositional factors in creativity education and interpersonal relationships in personality education. Based on these findings, this study seeks to propose a new strategy for integrating creativity and personality education in colleges' general education curricula.

Many institutions of higher education are reimagining their general education curriculum or adding new, innovative programs to their course offerings. Faculty driving such innovation, while experts in their disciplines, often lack experience with instructional design and the benefits it subsequently brings to these types of programs. At the same time, process-driven, traditional approaches to instructional design may not feel relevant to some faculty. In this chapter, the authors describe the Learning Design Collaborative, a new model for instructional design built on the principles of intentional learning, authentic learning, and student engagement. Placed within the context of a faculty learning community, this experience has been used with faculty developing courses for the first-year signature experience of a new general education curriculum. Implications of this initiative suggest the importance of continually evaluating instructional design models, opportunities for implementing the model in other programs, and a relationship with other emerging instructional design models.

Many institutions of higher education are reimagining their general education curriculum or adding new, innovative programs to their course offerings. Faculty driving such innovation, while experts in their disciplines, often lack experience with instructional design and the benefits it subsequently brings to these types of programs. At the same time, process-driven, traditional approaches to instructional design may not feel relevant to some faculty. In this chapter, the authors describe the Learning Design Collaborative, a new model for instructional design built on the principles of intentional learning, authentic learning, and student engagement. Placed within the context of a faculty learning community, this experience has been used with faculty developing courses for the first-year signature experience of a new general education curriculum. Implications of this initiative suggest the importance of continually evaluating instructional design models, opportunities for implementing the model in other programs, and a relationship with other emerging instructional design models.

Most American colleges and universities offer gateway biology courses to meet the needs of three undergraduate audiences: biology and related science majors, many of whom will become biomedical researchers; premedical students meeting medical school requirements and preparing for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT); and students completing general education (GE) graduation requirements. Biology textbooks for these three audiences present a topic scope and sequence that correlates with the topic scope and importance ratings of the biology content specifications for the MCAT regardless of the intended audience. Texts for "nonmajors," GE courses appear derived directly from their publisher's majors text. Topic scope and sequence of GE texts reflect those of "their" majors text and, indirectly, the MCAT. MCAT term density of GE texts equals or exceeds that of their corresponding majors text. Most American universities require a GE curriculum to promote a core level of academic understanding among their graduates. This includes civic scientific literacy, recognized as an essential competence for the development of public policies in an increasingly scientific and technological world. Deriving GE biology and related science texts from majors texts designed to meet very different learning objectives may defeat the scientific literacy goals of most schools' GE curricula.

The power of general education curriculum comes from the enduring classics. The authors apply research methods such as questionnaire survey, interview, and observation to investigate the state of general education curriculum implementation at N University and analyze problems faced by incorporating classics. Based on this, the authors propose that universities should rationally review the practical value of “classics” in general education and enhance the effective integration of classics into general education curriculum by improve the texts for teaching, instruction methods, teaching personnel, and assessment modes, to achieve general education’s objective of cultivating the “whole person.”

The author presents a three-step process for helping teachers determine how accessible their general education curriculum is for students with disabilities. Checklists, examples, and rubrics guide teachers in analyzing and assessing those dimensions of the general education curriculum that hinder or enhance success for learners with mild to moderate disabilities. Suggestions for strengthening the curriculum and considering creative avenues for modifications are also provided. Special educators who use this process and collaborate with general educators to enhance weak curriculum attributes accrue two major benefits : (a) they improve learning for students with mild to moderate disabilities as well as typical students and students at risk for school failure and (b) they make placement decisions for students with disabilities that are more methodical and individualized, and that may result in the general education setting being the least restrictive environment.

This paper focuses on the movement known as ‘teachers as researchers’, which has become an international phenomenon, and posits that it may be compatible with the policy of the ‘New General Education Curriculum’ of Vietnam. In order to examine teachers’ perceptions of their ability to undertake such research the methodology employed was qualitative in nature and consisted of two phases including a survey questionnaire with open ended questions administered to respondents in 100 high schools and secondary schools in 35 locations in cities and provinces in Vietnam, followed by in-depth interviews with four practitioners. It analyses the context, examines the challenges, and recommends strategies in order to develop teachers as researchers in the Vietnamese context. The main findings include that teachers currently lack interest in carrying out research because initial teacher training does not equip them sufficiently, they thus do not have confidence that they possess the relevant skills, and they perceive that there are limitations in support and leadership in schools, especially in relation to incentives to carry out research. The paper recommends that policy makers and school leaders take the necessary measures as soon as possible in order to encourage teachers to undertake research on practice since this would enhance the quality of teaching and students’ learning outcomes and contribute to the effective implementation of the new general education curriculum.

This study examined student perceptions of the Association of American Colleges and Universities' essential learning outcomes and the general education curriculum at a research-extensive university via the Student Perceptions of the Curriculum for Liberal Education Survey. Results indicate a gap between learning outcome importance and opportunities to develop outcomes.

This study examined student perceptions of the Association of American Colleges and Universities' essential learning outcomes and the general education curriculum at a research-extensive university via the Student Perceptions of the Curriculum for Liberal Education Survey. Results indicate a gap between learning outcome importance and opportunities to develop outcomes.

What sort of curriculum is fit to for general education? This is the question that first has to be addressed when talking about the curriculum and teaching in general education. This paper proposes a view that independent of the field the student is working in general education should address the question of how to be human. Thus this paper uses a class on the ”Philosophy of Life” to clarify its position. The paper consists of three parts. The first part discusses which kind of class is fit for the curriculum of general education, the second part takes ”Philosophy of Life” as an example how to teach classes in general education, In the end the goal of general education is defined as leading students to become an ”educated person” and thus fulfill the ideal of university education.

Current research on students with extensive and pervasive support needs (EPSN) examines the effectiveness of evidence-based instructional strategies within general education classes on the same curriculum content being taught to their same-age classmates without disabilities. This research demonstrates that students with EPSN in general education classes make more Progress on both general education curriculum content and embedded essential skills than students with EPSN in segregated classes. In response, internationally students with EPSN increasingly are being taught in general education classes. With this change in context, education teams make decisions about the curriculum content taught the students with EPSN, impacting the extent to which they have access to general education classmates, curriculum, and instruction. When teachers and administrators are not up to date on research, they face a conundrum about the curriculum content to offer students with EPSN, and their ensuing instruction. To date, four curriculum foci have been used and appear in the literature: (a) child development sequences; (b) functional activities; (c) alternate achievement standards or learning outcomes intended to be aligned with the general education curriculum content standards; and (d) general education curriculum content standards. The fourth focus is supported by the research and ensures students with EPSN have access to: (a) opportunities to learn the general education curriculum content; (b) specially-designed instruction embedded within general education instruction; (c) instruction across general education classes, activities, and routines to support generalized use of skills; and (d) instruction with their same-age classmates who do not have disabilities. With this focus, teams identify components of general education content that are most meaningful for a student with EPSN to participate in activities during classes and in the community and identify the supports and services that facilitate the student’s acquisition and use of the curriculum content.

Introduction . The transition to a new technological regime leads to social-economic and technological changes that require representation not only in the sphere of professional education but also in general school education. Processes of modernization of the content and curriculum of general education particularly acute become applicable in the subject area “Technology”, which is the basis for formation of technological culture of the graduates and successful development of their professional education. The aim of the publication is to justify the need for changes in the content and means of technological education in connection with the transition of society to a new technological structure, changing nature of work and basic production techniques. Methodology and research methods . The methodological basis of the study was the concept of substitution of technological regime and the concept of change of organizational cultures that determine the regularities of changes in the means and nature of work in society. The research methods involve the analysis of the current state of the system of technological education; problem statement and conceptualization; expert survey, generalization. Results and scientific novelty . The necessity of the content and means of technological education is proved. The mentioned above necessity defines the quality of future vocational training of students according to the changing requirements of labour market, the last achievements in the technical field and technologies; serves as a warranty of maintaining competitiveness of national economy in global scales of social-economic and technological development of world production. The common regularities of changes in technological education under the influence of change of technological regimes (industrial revolutions) are described. The essence of the contents and means of technological education is disclosed. The measures of such training implementation are proposed. Practical significance . The article can be used by researchers of technological education of students; authors of new approaches and modernization concept development of technological education content.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a model for collaboration between general education and special education teachers using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to align common core state standards with instruction for students with special needs. A history of how UDL came to be and how it is now a strategic tool to support all learners is explored. Best practices are offered as supportive instructional strategies. An example of how UDL can be aligned with Common Core State Standards and the goal(s) found in an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) will also be provided. This model supports collaboration between general education and special education teachers in an effort to ensure that general education curriculum can be accessed by students with special needs.