Donald B. Young, Director, Curriculum Research & Development Group

College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Conceptualization and development of the three-year sequential middle-school Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching (FAST) program was initiated at the Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) of the University of Hawaii in 1966. FAST is rooted in the instructional hypothesis of knowledge organization through recapitulation of Herbert Spencer and the constructivist assumptions of John Dewey, since elaborated on by many contributors. Using these insights, a sequential set of laboratory and field investigations were invented, tested, and modified in the grade 6-9 classes of University Laboratory School and then further tested beginning in 1970 in pilot schools throughout Hawaii. These investigations put students in the role of researchers constructing anew the foundational concepts and inquiry skills of modern science. After twelve years of research-centered program adjustments, the program was introduced to schools on the U.S. Mainland in 1978. Using an intensive teacher training and support system, FAST was validated by the U.S. Department of Education as an exemplary program and widely disseminated through the National Diffusion Network in the 1980s and 1990s, with over 5,000 teachers and 5,000,000 students using the program in 36 states. Thirty eight years after inception, FAST remains a viable program undergoing continuing scrutiny, dissemination, research, and assessment and addresses the concerns and recommendations of the National Science Education Standards and international testing. FAST's theoretical and pedagogical foundations, its teacher in-service support system, and assessments of program effectiveness will be presented.