Curriculum Design

In recent years, several New England projects have promoted professional development and curriculum design in optics and photonics. Funded in part by the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF), these projects have prepared middle and high school teachers, college faculty and career counselors from more than 100 New England institutions to introduce fiber optics, telecommunications and photonics technology education. Four of these projects will be discussed here: (1) The New England Board of Higher Education's (NEBHE) Fiber Optics Technology Education Project, (FOTEP) was designed to teach fiber optics theory and to provide laboratory experiences at the secondary and postsecondary levels. (2) Springfield Technical Community College's Northeast Center for Telecommunications Technologies (NCTT) is developing curricula and instructional materials in lightwave, networking and wireless telecommunications technologies. (3) The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics project ComTech developed a 12-week, hands-on curriculum and teaching strategies for middle and high school science and technology teachers in telecommunications and focused on optical communication (fiber optics). (4) NEBHE's project PHOTON is preparing middle, secondary and postsecondary instructors to introduce theory and laboratory experiences in photonics, including geometric and wave optics as well as principles of lasers and photonics applications.

The article used curricular documents affiliated with 3 different subgenres of Catholic schooling. The author suggests a critical reading of these curricular materials for the purpose of better understanding the kinds of educational messages sent to students through a) the hagiography of saints affiliated with the schools as well as in the b) documents produced by religious orders for lay and avowed teachers meant to propagate a unique schooled experience. In the process, the author draws upon curriculum theory as a way to critique the largely unquestioned kinds of theology-as-pedagogy that become intrinsically influential for teachers and students.

I propose a rich theoretical understanding on Afro-Latino student development based on critical race theory, culturally responsive pedagogy and practice. Addressing racial disparities is about engaging students thereby making their lives better. I believe that creating Afro-Latino pedagogy will create a community of practice in which inquiry is a cornerstone of continuous student self-redefinition through improvement in culturally responsive systems.
We need educators to get involved with Afro-Latino students, our history and the way we occupy space in the Americas in order to address this gap in education.

Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share in Education: The Children in Permaculture Manual is a ground-breaking book, which shines a permaculture lens to inspire child-friendly, sustainable education.

Full of innovative information, a new curriculum, hundreds of inspirations for activities, session plans, holistic pedagogy and reflection questions, this book will inspire educators to get outdoors and learn from nature.

It is for primary, nursery and kindergarten teachers, policy makers, permaculture designers, Forest School leaders, Scout leaders, parents, carers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and anyone else who is interested in holistic education for sustainability and resilience.

The book may be bought from here: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/books/children-in-permaculture-manual

"(From the Executive Summary...)
Introduction
This report presents the findings of an evidence review designed to summarise what is known about good practice concerning the content of, and access to, the school curriculum for students with special educational needs. The review focused on post-primary settings where the issue is particularly pertinent; the focus of education shifts from being student-centred at primary level to being much more subject-focused in post-primary settings.

The research team delivered two literature reviews: one national, one international. Each was designed to draw out key issues around curriculum and access to the curriculum for students with special educational needs – including gaps and trends in the evidence base – to help the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) plan its future research agenda.

The project aims to:
* deliver a narrative review of research from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to identify key issues and themes within the area of curriculum and/or curriculum access at post-primary level for students with special educational needs relevant to the Irish context
* deliver a systematic review of the international literature on these priority themes for students with special educational needs at post-primary level
* summarise key findings from the reviews to enhance understanding of curriculum issues in order to assist the NCSE to plan further empirical research as necessary, and to formulate policy advice on the matter to the Minister. "

Peirce's notions of diagrammatic reasoning and hypostatic abstraction are relevant to educational research in areas where diagrams and abstraction play an important role. In this paper, I analyze an example from statistics education in which diagrammatic reasoning created opportunities for hypostatic abstraction. For instance, where students initially characterized data points as being 'spread out,' they later said, 'the spread is large.' This is a prototypical example of hypostatic abstraction-taking a predicate as a new object that can have predicates itself. More generally, the notion of diagrammatic reasoning proved helpful to identify the key learning processes involved in learning to reason about statistical concepts.

In the chronicle of the American education John Dewey has been mentioned as a legend, in the multiple senses of the word. Some have looked at him as just another stone in education’s burial ground, some have treated him as an individual whose life and work have been blown out of proportions, and others have revered him as the philosopher and doctrinarian of the American education, the man who had put flesh and muscle on an educational frame that had been missing direction and purpose. The goal of this paper is to review the framework of Dewey’s educational theory, to examine the implications of one of his most notable and notorious declarations in the light of his educational perspective and the socio-educational circumstance that motivated it, and to assess whether his educational perspective is still relevant for the curriculum of today, or must be relegated to the large educational archive of the United States and of the world.

Knowledge based economy recognizes human capital as the intellectual capital and knowledge as a critical tool for enhancing competitiveness of a country.With an annual average GDP growth has been 6% to 7% since the start of the 21st century, India has made impressive progress in economic growth. The Global Competitiveness Report, 2019 of World Economic Forum (WEF) suggests the role of competitiveness to sustain future growth and income. The report demonstrates a strong correlation between competitiveness and per capita income and that without improving competitiveness; less competitive Economies may find it difficult to sustain even their present levels of income. Improving the fundamentals of competitiveness improves resilience to shocks. Available literature also suggests that if India becomes globally more competitive, it can raises its per capita export substantially and could create over 30 million well-paying jobs. Though factors like policy environment and infrastructure strengthening are important in providing a competitive edge to the nation, a competitive mindset is equally important. A question which eludes a convincing answer since long is that despite being a nation of capable people, why does India lag behind in global competitiveness? There is an apparent need to skill nation’s workforce with attributes that lead to a competitive mindset and this study is aimed at understanding the perception of academia about such attributes. Suggestions have also been made as how to amalgamate the imparting of such attributes with formal programmes at the level of higher education.

ABSTRACT: Many programs have been developed to help schools enhance students' health and reduce the prevalence of drug use, violence, and high-risk sexual behaviors. How should educators choose among these? This article describes selection criteria based on theory, research, and best educational practice that identify key social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and program features. The SEL competencies for students include 17 skills and attitudes organized into four groups: awareness of self and others; positive attitudes and values; responsible decision making; and social interaction skills. The 11 program features critical to the success of school-based SEL programs emphasize curriculum design, coordination with larger systems, educator preparation and support, and program evaluation. Developed by the Collaborative to Advance Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the SEL framework can be used to guide selection of research-based prevention programs that address health, substance abuse, violence prevention, sexuality, character, and social skills.

a. Wat is de stand van zaken m.b.t de ordeningsprincipes die binnen de genoemde vakken warden gebruikt? b. Hoe is de onderlinge afstemming en aansluiting tussen de genoemde vakken w.b. de leerstofordeningsprincipes? c. Warden de ordeningsprincipes consistent gebruikt? d. Zijn de ordeningsprincipes vergelijkbaar voor wat betreft de onderbouw en de bovenbouw? 3. Leerlnhouden a. Bestaan er overlappingen w.b. de leerinhouden van de 5 genoemde vakken? Waarmee precies, hoe groot zijn ze? Dldactlsche werkwljzen a. Hoe ver zijn de ontwikkelingen gevorderd w.b. de didactische werkwijzen binnen de genoemde vakken? 1.3 Onderzoeksopzet De VALO geeft er de voorkeur aan dat er in de huidige onderzoeksopzet in drie fasen wordt gewerkt: 1. bronnen-analyse en ontwikkeling intervlewschema t.b.v. interviews bij instituten/instanties; 2. afname interviews en 3. verwerking en rapportage. De werkwijze In het onderzoek is als volgt. Als respondenten zijn in eerste instantie met name vakdidactici van de universitaire en nleuwe lerarenopleidingen, de vakinspectie en andere eventuele deskundigen ('key-persons') die zicht hebben op de materie (zoals medewerkers van de SLO), benaderd.

This paper assesses a particular initiative to facilitate access to HEIs (Higher Education Institutes) to non-traditional students. However, due to the initiative's origins as a non-accredited certificate for asylum seekers and refugees, specific attention will be paid to the immigrant community. This paper assesses the details of a new programme in Irish politics and political leadership for non-traditional students in Ireland. It will present the curriculum and document the teaching strategies that were selected while exploring the role for universities and political science departments, in particular in facilitating integration. Student-centred learning provides the overarching framework for the curriculum. Three teaching approaches-KWL, service learning, and enquiry-or problem-based learning-have been selected as the pedagogical underpinnings of this Certificate programme. The paper explores all three approaches and provides examples of how these will be employed. Finally, this paper concludes with a discussion of how the programme could be adapted in other jurisdictions and its uses in integrating citizens from new communities across European democracies.

Een Pedagogisch-Didactische KernStructuur® (PDKS®) bestaat uit een diagnostische, met name op kerndoelen en curriculumspecificaties gebaseerde systematiek voor het ontwerpen en realiseren van ‘Optimaliserend Onderwijs’ en de bijbehorende speel-/leerprocessen voor elk kind of elke leerling. In dit document wordt een nieuw ontwerp van een praktijkgerichte PDKS®-systematiek uitgewerkt die is ingebed in een webapplicatie ten behoeve van gebruik in instellingen voor vóór- en vroegschoolse educatie en in scholen voor PO en VO. Doel van dit digitale curriculumbeheersysteem is om het voor genoemde instellingen, scholen en leerkrachten / docenten gemakkelijker te maken het onderwijs en de speel-/leerprocessen verantwoord te individualiseren. Dit wil zeggen: deze onderwijs- en leerprocessen adequaat voor te bereiden en in te zetten ter ondersteuning van de ontwikkeling en de leerbehoefte, het leerniveau en het leertempo van individuele leerlingen en groepjes leerlingen in een flexibel groeps- of klasverband. De groeps- of klasorganisatie van leerlingen wordt onafhankelijk(er) van leeftijd en leerlingen kunnen verantwoord, individueel of samen, de eigen speel-/leerprocessen méér zelf reguleren. Via de hier ontwikkelde, informatietechnologisch ingebedde PDKS® kunnen essentiële onderwijs- en leerprocessen worden geïntegreerd. Bijvoorbeeld diagnostiek gebaseerd op individuele én landelijke indicatoren (dubbele diagnostiek), passende instructie en speel-/leerprocessen, vrije curriculumactiviteiten, curriculuminformatie en -beheer, en systematische evaluatie op verschillende onderwijsniveaus (leerling, groepje, groep/klas, school, bovenschools, landelijk). Samenwerking met jeugdzorg wordt eenduidiger, gemakkelijker en méér preventief. De combinatie van resultaten van landelijk genormeerde toetsing en de schoolgebonden evaluatie van leerarrangementen levert tevens concreet zicht op de feitelijke ‘schoolkwaliteit’.

Culturally Responsive instruction must be differentiated to effectively embed elements to address students’ different cultures, needs, skill levels and goals. Regardless of the students in the classroom the teacher must be able to reach all of them to create a climate of inclusion and heightened engagement.  Carr, etc al. in the text “Making Science Accessible to English Learners and Making Mathematics Assessable to English Learners” provide a framework that can guide a teachers’ lesson planning and instruction. This includes instruction not only for ESL students but, SEL and a culturally diverse student population.

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is emerging as a popular approach and paradigm for organizations to gain competitive advantage via managing their software applications and IT infrastructure as a set of interacting services. As the SOA market value is posed to increase to 10.3USD billion (WinterGreen-Research, 2009) by 2015, it is crucial that IS schools in Australia are providing the relevant industries with competent IS professionals that possess the necessary skills and are capable of understanding the impacts/implications of SOA deployments in order for them to design and create services of value. This paper examines the organizational and technological impacts/implications on organizations and discusses the skills and knowledge required by SOA-IS professionals and compares these with the requirements with the Australian Computer Society’s (ACS) common body of knowledge created for accreditation of Australia university curricula.

This paper presents an approach to design Electronic Systems Curricula for making electronics more appealing to students. Since electronics is an important grounding for other disciplines (computer science, signal processing, and communications), this approach proposes the development of multidisciplinary projects using the project-based learning (PBL) strategy for increasing the attractiveness of the curriculum. The proposed curriculum structure consists of eight courses: four theoretical courses and four PBL courses (including a compulsory Master's thesis). In PBL courses, the students, working together in groups, develop multidisciplinary systems, which become progressively more complex. To address this complexity, the Department of Electronic Engineering has invested in the last five years in many resources for developing software tools and a common hardware. This curriculum has been evaluated successfully for the last four academic years: the students have increased their interest in electronics and have given the courses an average grade of more than 71% for all PBL course evaluations (data extracted from students surveys). The students have also acquired new skills and obtained very good academic results: the average grade was more than 74% for all PBL courses. An important result is that all students have developed more complex and sophisticated electronic systems, while considering that the results are worth the effort invested.

The curriculum is the bridge from the mission and philosophy of the college to the learning experiences of the students. The Christian educator is committed to a philosophy of curriculum that will bring all of life under the Lordship of Christ and enable the student to think, love, and live Christianly. The project is no less ambitious than the organization of biblical truth into a construct that encompasses and interfaces all the aspects of human knowledge and living. The Penn View Bible Institute Systematic Theology II course is offered as one means to build such a system into students' lives, with theology as the integrating force.

El presente trabajo reúne y explica lo que del Currículo más allá del contenido se debe tener en cuenta, y es necesario hacer énfasis en este tema ya que lo más común es ver que incluso los docentes y/o los integrantes de un cuerpo educativo toman como referencia el contenido para describir lo que es un currículo y lo que se busca es dejar claro que el contenido es todo aquello que se puede enseñar y todo lo que por consecuencia se puede aprender y que esto sólo representa una fracción de todo lo que en el currículo influye.

This paper reports on the implementation of an ambitious bilingual instructional programme in the P'urhepecha-speaking region of Michoacán state in Mexico, the Meseta Tarasca. A curriculum of indigenous language preservation and cultural affirmation, overturning the previous Spanish-only programme, has been developed by a group of indigenous teachers in two P'urhepecha elementary schools, 'Miguel Hidalgo' of San Isidro and 'Benito Juárez' in the neighbouring village of Uringuitiro. Today, the P'urhepecha language is the nucleus of the curriculum. With the previous curriculum largely discredited, the bilingual teachers embarked on a project that would both provide instruction to children in a language they understand, and contribute to the preservation of their indigenous language, which in these communities, in all cases, is children's first language (L1). Being cognizant of the importance of learning Spanish as a second language, a major current planning and curriculum design priority is to find a way to integrate Spanish language instruction into the academic subject areas in accordance with current models of content-based second language teaching.

Toronto boasts a large and diverse system of public alternative schools: schools where democratic practices, student access and a commitment to public education are fundamental. There are academic schools; schools with thematically focused curricula; schools driven by social movement principles such as antiracism and global education; schools for students who do not thrive in mainstream schools; and schools with alternative scheduling and delivery practices for students who must work. The schools are small, supporting personalized relationships among teachers and students, with teacher-driven curricular programs that are responsive to student interests. Curricular innovation is made possible because alternative schools are only loosely coupled with the rest of the public education system, but they still must comply with school system regulations. This paper describes how teachers’ work and the structural elements of alternative schools support school-based innovation.

Capstone is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary (2009) as a “crowning achievement or final stroke, the culmination or acme”. As the pinnacle of a student’s academic experience they mark a unique opportunity for students to showcase their knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired during their time in an academic program through a comprehensive, intensive, and integrative individualized experience. In a capstone experience, students synthesize, integrate, and/or apply their previous knowledge, in a way that demonstrates mastery while building a deeper level of understanding.The student created products generated from the capstone experience should be designed to help assess crucial learning outcomes of the BMF completer program in which the student is enrolled. Additionally, demonstration of general education and/or interdisciplinary outcomes should also be evident in the capstone such as effective written and oral communication, critical thinking, information accessing and information processing, and problem solving (Buzzetto-More and Pinhey, 2007).

A capstone course is a transformative educational experience predicated on student-centered constructivist pedagogy. In a capstone course, the tutor is not the foci of erudition, rather there is a shift of responsibility as the instructor becomes a facilitator who guides the tutee on their self-charted scholarly expedition (Buzzetto-More, 2013).

Various incarnations of student capstone courses can be found in higher education, most commonly within undergraduate and graduate nursing, education, computing, engineering, and/or or business programs. While still considered an unusual occurrence in K-12 teaching and learning in the United States, recognition of the benefits of capstone experiences has been growing steadily, albeit slowly, during the past fifteen years.

The pioneer of public K-12 capstone experiences is the State of Rhode Island. Under the Rhode Island Diploma System, students demonstrate proficiency through multiple sources of evidence gathered over time. State assessment results count for no more than 10 percent of this evidence. Other factors considered include: portfolios, capstone projects, public exhibitions, and the State's Certificate of Initial Mastery. As the culminating achievement of a student’s K-12 studies, the Rhode Island Capstone Project requires students to focus in-depth on a core question, the product of which plays an essential part in demonstrating that a student can meet applied learning standards, RI Grade Span Expectations, and other content standards (Rhode Island Skills Commission, 2012).

There are many different models for capstone course delivery and conducting these courses is a complex task. Clear, Goldweber, Young, Ledwig, and Scott (2001) addressed the complexity of creating, implementing and delivering a successful capstone experience. They explained that there are a number of important issues that need to be addressed. These questions include: Goals of the Course; Characteristics of Projects; Project Deliverables;Prerequisites and Preparation; Grading and Assessment; Administration and Supervision; and Reflection, Analysis and Review.

Capstone experiences are highly constructivist and almost always project based whereas project, or problem based learning, it is a constructivist form of instruction where students engage in critical thinking, synthesis, evaluation, multilayered decision making, goal setting, problem solving, and collaboration (Page, 2006). Further, the exploratory and inquiry oriented nature of project based learning activities helps to build and/or reinforce information literacy skills (Buzzetto-More, 2009; Kuhlthau and Todd, 2007) where students demonstrate the ability to: plan, select sources, find and locate information, engage in critical analysis, apply multilayered decision making, and generate meaning (Page, 2006).

Teaching a capstone course is an exciting and ever changing experience. It requires an ongoing and
meaningful dialogue to occur between tutor and tutee, the unique nature of which stimulates learning in
a way that is without parallel. As such, an enthusiastic and supporting attitude is paramount.

Communities@Work provides a broad suite of quality community programs of social value and practical benefit. Our vision is for a resilient and socially inclusive community that cares for the well-being of all. Communities@Work's Centre of Professional Learning and Education provides quality professional learning and support for the education and care sector.

Language plays a crucial role in the development of human society. It is the main means of communication between individuals, groups and countries. Nowadays, more and more people are learning English as a foreign or second language, and their key objective is to get expertise in English. The abrupt changes in the broad field of economy, business, science, technology and education have triggered the youth and coming generation to improve their communication skills. Language acquisition involves four modules of teaching that includes Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing. The teachers have to be dynamic and updated to teach these language skills to the students. The researcher has interviewed the participants on various aspects involved in teaching-learning process to find out the root cause of the problems encountered by students studying at Jazan University to attain the speaking and the writing skills. The problems are further critically analysed, evaluated to derive at conclusi...

O presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar as ementas das disciplinas obrigatórias que compõe o currículo dos licenciandos do curso de Educação Física da UFRJ, observando se e como a Inclusão é tratada durante sua formação. Para este fim, utilizamos como referencial de análise e discussão a estrutura conceitual sobre Inclusão, compreendida em três dimensões: a construção de culturas, o desenvolvimento de políticas e a orquestração de práticas inclusivas. No que tange a metodologia, realizamos a análise documental; dessa forma, pesquisamos as ementas de todas as 37 disciplinas obrigatórias que compõe o currículo dos licenciandos em Educação Física da Instituição pesquisada, e para a análise dos dados obtidos, utilizamos o método de Análise de Conteúdo. Nesse quadro geral da análise das ementas, observamos que os temas relativos à dimensão da orquestração de práticas inclusivas se apresentam em maior número (36,36%). Muito emparelhados surgem os temas relativos à dimensão da criação...

This presentation will discuss a research project conducted to further develop and validate questionnaire items designed to measure situational interest in an English language learning context. The research project initially focused on identifying students’ triggered situational interest/maintained situational interest and currently focuses on the broader situational interest of students.

A self-report questionnaire was administered in a private Japanese university with first and second-year students (N=1285) of non-English majors from five faculties at the university. The questionnaires were administered to participants in the final weeks of the second (15 week) semester. Four items measured students’ affective reactions or triggered situational interest to the presentation of the course content as engaging and enjoyable and four items measured students’ maintained situational interest to the course content as being important, useful and meaningful.

The results of this research project provide insights into the relationship between student language proficiency levels and student interest levels. Implications of these results for teachers, administrators and material developers will be discussed.

Las didácticas centradas en el Patrimonio Cultural ofrecen interesantísimas aplicaciones. La interrelación de enseñanza, patrimonio y reflexión conforma una tríada que permite al alumno aprender y aprehender de forma significativa. Desde este enfoque, San Millán de la Cogolla constituye el principio geográfico más antiguo del origen de la lengua castellana que posibilita el estudio de su historia, arte, geografía, literatura o lengua. El método didáctico de la presente propuesta parte del patrimonio cultural integrado desde una perspectiva cons-tructivista y contribuye a una adecuada documentación interdisciplinaria, que permite realizar una fructífera visita a los monasterios. Posteriormente, se plantean diversas actividades que conducen a la tarea final: la redacción de un texto que explique y valore su amplio patrimonio. Este trabajo culmina con una grabación en vídeo en la que los alumnos simulan ser guías turísticos. Palabras clave: Didáctica; Patrimonio; Orígenes de la lengua; San Millán de la Cogolla.

This paper describes the curriculum design and enhancements of dental gross anatomy courses at three universities in North America. The greatest problem for gross anatomy faculty is making the regions of the body below the neck relevant to dental students for their future clinical education as well as the longer term dental practice. The proposed solutions demonstrated in the three courses range from satisfying the student's grade and test requirements, such as passing the anatomical sciences section of the National Board Dental Examination Part I, to making the material relevant to clinical dentistry. Strategies to increase relevance include incorporating clinical faculty into the gross anatomy course and integrating dental clinical material into the course. Lastly, pedagogical innovations include peer teaching, the use of the Internet and intranet for examination preparation, and the animation of dental procedures to illustrate relevant anatomy to dentistry.

Curriculum and curriculum access issues for students with special educational needs in post-primary settings: An international review Glossary Banding (see also 'streaming') Both banding and streaming are approaches to teaching pupils in ability-based groups. With banding, the year group is divided into two, three or four bands on the basis of a measure of general ability. Each band contains more than one class and pupils may be regrouped within each band. Bands remain consistent across subjects, but each student may be in different bands for different subjects (Department of Education and Employment (UK), 1999 1). Education specialists argue both for and against teaching in ability based groups. Evidence suggests that for pupils with special educational needs, streaming can militate against inclusion, and lead to lower self-report satisfaction for students and pupils (see Section 2.3.1.2). Co-teaching This involves two or more teachers, usually one general and one special educational needs teacher, planning and delivering the curriculum together. Curriculum This sets out what is to be taught, how it is to be taught and how learning is to be assessed 2. Department of Education and Skills Before 1997, this was known as the Department of Education. From 1997 to 2010, it was the Department of Education and Science (DES). Today the Department of Education and Skills is responsible for education policy at primary, post-primary, and tertiary levels in Ireland. The relevant Minister for Education and Skills is responsible for ensuring implementation of the Government's education policies. In this review, we distinguish between reports published by the Department of Education, the DES (Science) and the DES (Skills). Differentiation This is the process of varying content, activities, teaching, learning, methods and resources to take into account the range of interests, needs and experience of individual students (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, 2007, p8). Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) FETAC is the national awarding body for further education and training in Ireland. FETAC validates awards at Levels 1 to 6 of the National Framework of Qualifications and works with a range of providers in education and training centres, colleges and the workplace. 1 https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RR166.pdf 2 NCSE, 2009. A request for tenders to undertake a review of the international research literature on curriculum and curriculum access issues for students with special educational needs in post-primary settings. 3 National Council for Special Education (2006). Guidelines on the individual education plan process. Dublin: NCSE. x Curriculum and curriculum access issues for students with special educational needs in post-primary settings: An international review Post-primary education In Ireland, this relates to students aged 12 to 19 years and consists of three years of "junior cycle" followed by two or three years of "senior cycle", both culminating in examination and certification. Special educational needs (SEN) Under Section 1 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, 2004, "special educational needs" is interpreted as "a restriction in the capacity of the person to participate in and benefit from education on account of an enduring physical, sensory, mental health, or learning disability, or any other condition which results in a person learning differently from a person without that condition" (NCSE, 2006). The definition of special educational needs in Ireland excludes pupils who are gifted and talented. Special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) This is a teacher with responsibility for coordinating special educational needs provision within a school (Department for Education (UK), 2011). Special educational needs organisers (SENOs) SENOs are appointed by the National Council for Special Education and provide a direct service to the parents of children with special educational needs and to schools within designated geographical areas. SENOs are mainly involved in resourcing schools to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and in ensuring resources are used efficiently in schools. SENOs also have a role in supporting and advising parents of children with special educational needs. They identify possible placements for children with special educational needs, liaise with the HSE and other services, engage in discussions with schools and assist in planning the transition of children between schools and onwards from schools to further/higher education and other services. Special Education Support Service (SESS) SESS supports teaching and learning in relation to special educational provision in Ireland. It coordinates , develops, and delivers a range of professional development initiatives and support structures for school personnel working with students with special educational needs in mainstream primary and post-primary schools, special schools, and special classes. The SESS operates under the remit of the Teacher Education Section (TES) of the Department of Education and Skills. State Examinations Commission (SEC) This is responsible for the development, assessment, accreditation, and certification of the Irish State's "second-level" examinations: the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate. The State Examinations Commission is a non-departmental public body under the aegis of the DES. Curriculum and curriculum access issues for students with special educational needs in post-primary settings: An international review xi Special needs assistants Special needs assistants (SNAs) have a non-teaching role focused on the care needs of pupils with disabilities in an educational context. They are recruited to assist pupils with a significant medical need, a significant physical or sensory impairment or whose behaviour is such that they are a danger to themselves or others. SNAs should not be used for pupils with a general learning disability who need mainly additional academic input 4. Streaming This is where pupils are assigned to classes on the basis of a measure of general ability: the most able pupils are in one stream, the next most able in the next stream and so on. Pupils remain in these streamed classes for most or all subjects (Department of Education and Employment (UK), 1999 5). Teaching assistants or learning support assistants These are classroom assistants who, under the supervision of a trained teacher, offer educational support to students individually or in small groups. Some have just basic training, but others are more highly trained and experienced and higher level teaching assistants may supervise a class in the absence of a teacher for one or more sessions. There are no teaching or learning support assistants in the Irish system. Universal design This refers to the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of age, size or disability (Disability Act 2005). When universal design is applied to learning, curricular materials are flexible enough to suit all learners, and the activities provided are accessible to students across a diverse range of abilities (Winter & O'Raw, 2010).

This study examined the impact of animation interactivity on novices' learning of introductory statistics. The interactive animation program used in this study was created with Adobe Flash following Mayer's multimedia design principles as well as Kristof and Satran's interactivity theory. This study was guided by three main questions: 1) Is there any difference in achievement improvement among students who use different interactive levels of an animation program? 2) Is there any difference in confidence improvement among students who use different interactive levels of an animation program? 3) Is there any difference in program perception among students who use different interactive levels of an animation program?

We describe two metaphors that we hope can be used to better understand the contemporary mathematics curriculum context in U.S. middle schools, to see how this new context is both similar to and different from prior curriculum contexts. We explain the role and positioning of middle school mathematics curriculum materials over the last century or more and build from learning theory to develop the metaphors. The first metaphor, curriculum as delivery mechanism, builds from technical rational or scientific discourses and encompasses perspectives that are so pervasive they are often unstated and unquestioned. The second metaphor, curriculum as epistemic device, posits that role of curriculum is to provoke interactions that generate understanding. In this metaphor, the role of tasks in curriculum materials is to provoke and progressively refine student thinking, individually and collectively.

Este trabajo pretende contribuir a la reflexión existente en torno al proceso de adaptación al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior, concretamente en el ámbito de la orientación y asesoramiento dentro del sistema educativo. En una primera parte, se desarrollan algunas ideas fundamentales acerca de la función del asesoramiento educativo, subrayando sus dimensiones, ámbitos de actuación y orientaciones. Además se presentan algunas propuestas realizadas por diferentes autores sobre el tema de las competencias en el ámbito del asesoramiento. En la segunda parte del trabajo, proponemos un marco teórico que pretende contribuir a la problemática existente en torno a las competencias profesionales, con la intención de complementar las ideas existentes en torno al diseño y desarrollo de la formación de estos profesionales desde la perspectiva del modelo de proceso. Palabras clave: Asesoramiento educativo, competencias profesionales, diseño y desarrollo de planes de estudio y diseño de proceso.