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This paper discusses some of the qualitative data obtained from a small number (23) of semi-structured interviews of academic staff who are involved in module design, and who are employed within one UK university. Analysing the interview transcripts produced eight main themes. One of these themes was the perceived pressures or constraints on design. Using verbatim responses given by the interviewees, a discussion of the data used to illustrate this theme compares the findings of this project with those from the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper asserts that an Irish dimension should be taught within the context of diversity within the English history curriculum. The study explores perceptions of a wide range of respondents through the use of questionnaires and interviews undertaken during the period 2002-2007. Research findings suggest that perceptions of the place of Ireland in the history curriculum in UK schools are influenced by attitudes ranging from pragmatism to values associated with identity and diversity. The period from 2007 has also seen a plethora of reports related to diversity which have included specific references to an Irish dimension. There appeared to be a strong case for developing planning principles to underpin the place of an Irish dimension in the curriculum. Consequently, the final stage of the paper provides a curriculum model which relates an Irish dimension to the development of diversity and an inclusive map of the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the idea that a sense of school subject image is a necessary feature of curriculum management and a potent force for change. The discussion centres on the view that all school subjects have an image and that if those intimately involved with the subject do not control the image then someone else does! In such circumstances the image is the product of past encounters and old euphemisms and is unlikely to hold the changed realities. The UK developments in Design and Technology education (the term Design and Technology is used to denote the school subject defined under this heading by the UK National Curriculum, 1995) have created something of an 'image problem' which has interesting international parallels. Some of these problems are due to clearly discernible internal tensions and an ambiguous relationship with other subject areas. Through greater attention to subject image internal controversies might be acknowledged and resolved, relationships with other subject areas can be more meaningfully understood and practitioners can be helped to make sense of curriculum change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a perspective regarding the changes made in curriculum for medical education in Great Britain. It has been mentioned that the rapid developments in medical and health care delivery, advances in information technology, globalisation influencing medicine and education, changing political and public expectations, demands from within the profession and developments in how we look at teaching and learning. These changes allow to discuss educators' expectations from students to learn.

The article supports the introduction of genetics as part of the new Royal College of General Practitioners curriculum for general practice in Great Britain. The curriculum written by Professor Peter Farndon and colleagues at the National Genetics Education and Development Centre will become effective in August 2007. The move reinforces the significance of genetics across the range of healthcare and the central role that primary care must play in this both now and in the future.

Focuses on the state of the educational system in Great Britain. Conception of educational planning at national and local level; Developments in educational studies; Improvements of the curriculum policy.

Can training for business actually be provided by schools? If so, what type of training is most effective? Should businessmen be trained as generalists or specialists? Questions such as these are not the special product of educational turmoil in our day and age. This article examines a little known but highly significant eighteenth-century document which points to the origin of the business-school concept, and affords a unique opportunity to see current ideological differences in historical perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the numbers of international students attending UK universities increases, so the need grows to address the internationalisation agenda in a variety of ways. Much of what has been written in this area has been focused at the level of institutional and national policy and strategy. We argue here that this focus has tended to obscure the issue at the teaching and learning level, which is where students and teachers actually experience internationalisation, and because of its central importance, teaching and learning must be addressed explicitly alongside policy and strategic perspectives; otherwise there is a danger of a gap forming between policy and implementation. We describe several ways in which an aspect of internationalisation, i.e. supporting students' learning, is addressed through curriculum design which takes into account the international student population of many courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing a curriculum for sustainable development for engineers, even on a small scale, is a complex task. The University of Manchester has been undertaking a pilot project for an experiential, student-centred approach across engineering and science disciplines, described elsewhere. But that pilot also provided a springboard for the study described in this article. Group techniques for resolving complex issues have been around for half a century but mostly applied to questions of forecasting. Of these, the Delphi technique seemed to best fit the curriculum issues that we wished to explore. This article sets out some of the background to the choice of the Delphi approach, the questions that we sought to answer, the responses that we obtained and some discussion of the appropriateness of the approach to other issues of sustainable development and curriculum design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve their desired aims, evidence-based, theory-driven drug education programmes need to be implemented as intended. Measurement of 'fidelity of implementation' is now included increasingly as part of programme evaluation, although measures and methods are sometimes limited. A more sophisticated approach to assessing implementation fidelity, based on Dane & Schneider's (1998) five dimensions, was used to examine the classroom curriculum element of the Blueprint programme. Blueprint was the largest and most rigorous evaluation of a multi-component drug prevention programme to date in the United Kingdom. Lessons were, overall, delivered with reasonable fidelity, although teachers did not always understand the thinking behind particular activities, suggesting that training needs to focus not only on content and methods but why particular approaches are important. Different dimensions of fidelity could conflict with one another: under pressure of time, generic elements and processes designed to reflect on learning were sometimes sacrificed in order that core drug education activities could be completed. Future drug education curricula need to build in more flexibility for discussion without compromising core evidence-based elements. Even with substantial training and support, individual variations in delivery were found, although few differences were found between teachers with prior expertise and teachers new to drug education. The methods and measures applied in the Blueprint study all represent attempts to improve on previous measures in terms of both reliability and sensitivity. In this respect the Blueprint study represents a valuable contribution to the science of implementation fidelity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written about the benefits and applications of Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) in the literature. Curriculum developers increasingly consider PAL as a vehicle to help undergraduate healthcare students learn to teach; an outcome which has received more attention in the UK since the General Medical Council stated in Tomorrow's Doctors that medical graduates must 'Be able to demonstrate appropriate teaching skills'. This guide is primarily designed to assist curriculum developers, course organisers and educational researchers develop and implement their own PAL initiatives. It is structured around a PAL planning framework consisting of 24 questions. The questions are grouped in threes, around eight themes. Each question is discussed with reference to the PAL literature and other related subjects, and is exemplified by responses from a recent PAL project developed at The University of Edinburgh. Working through the 24 questions, particularly with discussion in a small planning group, will enable readers to efficiently develop their ideas for PAL into comprehensive and practical project plans cognisant of current educational theory, existing PAL literature and the local context. The framework is particularly suitable for those who want to develop healthcare undergraduate PAL initiatives yet have little or no experience of PAL, as it provides an introduction to the relevant literature field and a step-by-step process for the design and implementation of such projects. It will also be of interest to those with experience of PAL and those seeking a structured framework for planning non-PAL curriculum developments in undergraduate healthcare curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that examines British educational processes which considers the relationship between curriculum placement and ability, streaming, pupil ambitions and social class. It is based on an intensive study of two schools, which allowed for the collection of an archive of ethnographic-type data in addition to the data analyzed. The hypothesis tested is derived as much from the concerns of the teachers interviewed as from academic literature. Based on interview material and theoretical literature, the hypotheses examined were, that curriculum placement is related to social class even when ability is held constant, that curriculum placement is related to past streaming even when ability is held constant, that curriculum placement is related to pupil ambitions even when ability is held constant and that the effect of past streaming on curriculum placement is through its effect on pupil ambitions. The hypotheses were examined with hierarchical models of multiple regression analysis.