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The Received Curriculum: Nature as Understood by Students

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The Natural World and Science Education in the United States

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore the received curriculum as reflected in students’ understanding of the natural world and its relationship with the human world. We braid existing research findings on students’ understanding of the major ecological topics covered in science curricula with patterns that emerged from our conversations with seventh-grade students in the classroom of the teacher covered in the previous chapter to present a comprehensive and detailed view of the received curriculum as regards nature in school science in the United States. On the whole, we see a huge transmission loss between the intended, enacted, and the received curricula. This transmission loss is largely limited to the understanding of science concepts. The overall perspectives on the world as embedded in the scientific and environmental discourses of the science standards, on the other hand, manage to seep into the received curriculum with remarkable fidelity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Hereafter referred to in the first person.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Theory and Practice, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Ajay Sharma

  2. University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Cory Buxton

Authors
  1. Ajay Sharma
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  2. Cory Buxton
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Sharma, A., Buxton, C. (2018). The Received Curriculum: Nature as Understood by Students. In: The Natural World and Science Education in the United States. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76186-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76186-2_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-76185-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-76186-2

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