The purpose of the book is to present a different perspective on curricular theory. This book extends knowledge in the Education fields of Curricular Theory and Learning; it does this by directly blending the concepts of Active Processing and the Integrated Curriculum. The active processing of knowledge and the Integrated Curriculum are interrelated and interdependent on each other, and the book leads the reader to experience this connection by asking the reader to participate in numerous Learning Activities. A unique feature of this book is that it presents an environment for readers to develop their own version of the Integrated Curriculum (as opposed to just feeding the reader concepts through a top-down approach) by using the Learning Activities to connect learning theory with curricular theory. This book utilizes Active Processing, an application of the Constructivist philosophy to enable the learning of the Integrated Curriculum an “audience participation” endeavor.
In addition to the concepts discussed in the above paragraphs, the book provides discusses and provides: 1. Specific examples of how to choose topics for the Integrated Curriculum; 2. Suggestions for developing lesson plans; 3. Examples of professional schools using and supporting the Integrated Curriculum; 4.Presenting and discussing a model for motivating faculty and colleagues to implement the Integrated Curriculum.

James Pelech retired from teaching after 30 years at the high school level and after over 18 years at the university level. He has authored 3 other books, and several journal articles. Presently, he is on the Board of the Association for Constructivist Teaching and Board of the Army Transportation Museum Foundation. Additionally, he is President of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Learning Centered Education. Dr. Pelech and his wife live in Joliet, Illinois with their cat, and are the proud parents of an adult son. He can be reached at www.pelechactiveprocessing.com.