Network Analysis of Changes to an Integrated Science Course Curriculum Over Time

Curriculum texts for science courses change over time as policy changes. Changes occur in particular wordings in official documents and give rise to changes in possible interpretations. Using a recently published methodology, the study from which this paper reports constructed thematic maps of the development of the curriculum for the upper secondary Danish “Basic Science Course”. The analysis integrates qualitative analysis (critical discourse analysis) with quantitative analysis (linguistic network analysis) to identify and characterise themes in official curriculum texts for the course. This chapter provides illustrative examples of the methodology, a discussion of our methodological choices, and the findings of the study. We analysed curricular texts from 2004 (first curriculum text), 2007 (first change), and 2010 (second change). We focused on four emerging themes: Structural Demands, Implementation of Teaching, The Importance of Science in a Bildung Perspective, and BSC’s Identity as a Course. The findings show that Structural Demands changed little over time; the didactical focus remained on “active learning”. Implementation of Teaching first appeared as a theme in 2007 and matured in 2010 to be linked to the identity of the course as well as the goals for competences to be learned. Finally, we found that The Importance of Science in a Building Perspective started out as a separate theme but merged in 2010 to become integral to the purpose of the Basic Science Course. This may signify a maturation of the course to represent a school discipline in its own right. It may also imply an official intention that science should be part of most students’ development as citizens. The chapter discusses the appropriateness of thematic maps as analytical tools and how these curricular analyses can be linked to the political discussions amongst stakeholders.