Abstract
This study describes the improvement of a science curriculum based on a social constructivist approach in order to support primary students in a Confucian heritage culture in practicing scientific argumentation. The former design is adjusted by the application of an adapted model of the learning placemat for argumentation and by the formulation of concrete teaching-learning activities which are articulated with the application of the adapted learning placemat. The practice of a designed curriculum unit reveals that the designed curriculum can support the primary students in practicing scientific argumentation and in attaining consensually agreed knowledge. Nevertheless, the study also shows that primary teachers and students in a Confucian heritage culture do not pay much attention to the activities of qualifying and rebutting in scientific argumentation. The study recommends that further developmental research needs to deal with the refined problem of how to improve qualifying and rebutting in scientific argumentation in the practice of science lessons in a Confucian heritage culture.
Highlights
The teaching and learning of science in a Confucian heritage (CH) culture maintains a traditional approach which is teacher-centred, while students remain passive in constructing knowledge (Hằng, Meijer, Bulte, & Pilot, 2015; Pham, 2019; Tao, Oliver, & Venville, 2013)
This study describes the improvement of a science curriculum based on a social constructivist approach in order to support primary students in a Confucian heritage culture in practicing scientific argumentation
Data and evidence were provided in all of the students‟ arguments. They can be recognised in the students‟ arguments by the quantitative words, such as one and many, and the qualitative words, such as big, small, thin, and long, that the students used in their arguments related to the root systems of the mango and grass plants
Summary
The teaching and learning of science in a Confucian heritage (CH) culture maintains a traditional approach which is teacher-centred, while students remain passive in constructing knowledge (Hằng, Meijer, Bulte, & Pilot, 2015; Pham, 2019; Tao, Oliver, & Venville, 2013). The changes aim to help students be active and autonomous in constructing and grasping knowledge and skills; thereby, they can be well educated to be future labourers who can cope with the challenges of modern times and contribute to the development of CH countries. Coping with these issues, researchers call for curriculum development that takes cultural resources and local experiences into consideration (Coll & Taylor, 2012) so that culturally appropriate pedagogies can be developed
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