Sec+13+Group+4+Benchmark


 * The Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS)**

In the early 1960's science education curriculum was not quite up to par with the increasing complexity of modern scientific approaches and content, reform was needed. Dr. Robet Karplus, professor of physics at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories at Berkeley, noticed this and decided to create a National Science Foundation (NSF) project to rebuild the method and content of scientific education in the K-8 demographic. Three assumptions were used in the development of the new curriculum. 1. The curriculum must represent the best of all modern scientific thinking. 2. Children learn the scientific approach best, when doing it ie. Hands-on learning is key. 3. The curriculum must contain the empirical findings of developmental psychology ie. Children of 8 years of age are known to become puzzled with systems containing more than one variable. These three assumptions lay the foundation for curriculum reform proposed and implemented by Dr. Karplus.
 * Basic Summary of Benchmark**

Under the direction of Dr. Karplus SCIS became a comprehensive, hands-on approach to the teaching of phsyical and biological sciences. The NSF project lasted for 15 years in the hands of the original directors. While the project had little influence on actual instruction at the time, it forced textbook authors to change its content and style into a hand-on approach.
 * Key Manifestations**

Dr. Robet Karplus was a professor of physics at the University of California at Berkley. Among his various accomplishments with elementary science education, Dr. Karplus also made huge contributions to the theory of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) while studying at Princeton.
 * Key Personnel**

Before the NSF funded project, science curriculum was developed solely by textbook authors. They did not take into account the latest in psycological findings on the learning behaviors of children, nor the opinion of the top scientific minds of the time. They just wrote the material however they saw fit. Dr. Karplus recognized the need for reform and started the SCIS project. The project forever changed how children were taught science. The method of instruction was also changed, by giving a very systematic and hands-on approach to science education known as the learning cycle instructional strategy.
 * Why this is a Benchmark**

http://www.coe.ufl.edu/esh/Projects/projects.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Karplus http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/sc600.htm**
 * Links