The Social Education Materials Project (SEMP) was launched into the Australian education arena in 1975 and was heralded as yet another major project to overcome current curricular deficiencies — in this case ‘to develop an understanding of contemporary society and the forces shaping the lives of people in that society’ (Jones, 1977, p. 91). The project was the first one to be fully administered by the newly created Curriculum Development Centre (CDC). Eight teams, with at least one allocated to each State, worked on specific topics during 1975-76. Their brief was to develop a wide range of materials for a variety of school contexts and for various social education subjects (including the social sciences).
References
1.
Australia. Curriculum Development Centre.Social Education Materials Project: Family Package.Canberra: 1978.
2.
BarrowsL. K., and KlenkeW. H.Documenting change: Procedures, problems and possibilities. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association, Boston, 1980.
3.
ElliotM.The Social Education Materials Project — SEMP: Some negative aspects.Curriculum Perspectives, 1980, 1(1), 55–63.
4.
FranceG.Formative influences on the content and structure of the Social Education Materials Project.Ethos, 1980, 8(4), 3–6.
5.
FraserB. J.Review of Research on Australian Science Education Project.Canberra: CDC, 1978.
6.
HallG. E., WallaceB., and DossettB.A developmental conceptualisation of the adoptive process within educational institutions. Unpublished paper, University of Texas, Texas, 1973.
7.
HallG. E., GeorgeA. A., and RutherfordW. L.Measuring stages of concern about the innovation: A manual for use of the SoC Questionnaire.Texas: University of Texas. Research and Development Center for Teacher Education, 1977.
8.
JamesR. K., and HallG. E.A study of the concerns of science teachers regarding an implementation of ISCS.Journal of Research and Science Teaching, 1981, 18, 6.
LoucksS., and MellM.Implementation of a district-wide science curriculum: The effects of three-year effort. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of American Educational Research Association, Boston, 1980.
11.
LoucksS., NewloveB., and HallG. E.Measuring levels of use of the innovation: A manual for trainers, interviewers and narrators.Texas: University of Texas, Research and Development Center for Teacher Education, 1975.
MarshC. J., and CarterD.An analysis of formative diffusion strategies used by project teams associated with the Social Education Materials Project (SEMP).Australian Journal of Education, 1981, 24(3), 302–14.
14.
MatthewsR., and SudaG.Evaluation for improvement through the concerns-based adoption model. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the South Pacific Association for Teacher Education, Melbourne, 1982.
15.
OwenJ. M.The Impact of the Australian Science Education Project on Schools.Canberra: CDC, 1977.
16.
PiperK.Evaluation in the Social Sciences.Canberra: AGPS, 1976.
17.
RutherfordW. L.A personal interview: A tool for investigating and understanding change in schools. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of American Educational Research Association, Toronto, 1978.
