CCMS Research Programs
Overview of the CCMS Research Agenda
Curriculum Materials for All Children
This aspect of CCMS
research focuses on the nature of curriculum materials and how they can encourage
and support learning. Research questions include how curriculum materials
can scaffold learners in complex practices and motivate all students to engage
in and learn from activities. Research also seeks to identify attributes of
curriculum materials that support local adaptation and attend to the learning
needs of all students.
Teacher Learning and Educative Materials
This
aspect of the research deals with teacher learning as it relates to science
curriculum materials. CCMS research focuses on the best ways to provide teachers
with the support they need to implement high-quality curriculum materials.
Research questions include how teachers interpret and use curriculum
materials, what qualities of pre-service education and professional development
can best help teachers to successfully use and adapt high-quality materials
to serve the diverse needs of students, and how curriculum materials can take
into account the diverse needs of teachers who will be enacting the materials.
The Curriculum Development Process
CCMS
seeks to understand the contribution of various design elements (such
as the kinds of expertise on the design team, an underlying theoretical model,
periodic analysis of drafts against specific criteria, periodic evaluation
of student learning) to a successful product. Research questions include how
learning objectives can best be articulated to guide the design process, what
processes enable developers to effectively and efficiently translate learning
objectives into curriculum designs, how learning theory can guide design,
and how a design process can best be articulated to support its use by others.
Assessment
Research related to student
assessment is central to the work of CCMS. Assessment is a critical
component of curriculum materials themselves and a necessary tool for conducting
research on those materials. Of particular interest are questions about what
types of assessment items are most effective as probes of student understanding,
how such items can be designed and incorporated into curriculum materials,
and how teachers can be helped to use assessment results to adapt
curriculum materials to their own students.
Policy
In the context of curriculum materials,
policy involves the world of publishing, funding agencies, adoption committees,
school administrators, teachers in classrooms, as well as parents and other
community members. It is concerned with the production and dissemination of
materials, the adoption of materials, and the enactment and sustainable use
of materials. Research questions relate to the level of understanding and
acceptance of CCMS core principles by key constituents and the identification
of effective strategies to promote the widespread understanding and acceptance
of them and of materials that are consistent with them.
