National Science Curriculum Research Articles

What’s the Future for Science in the New Zealand Curriculum?

AbstractThis commentary article considers the current contentious debates over the national school science curriculum in Aoteaora New Zealand. The co-authors of this commentary are members of a group of science teacher educators and science education researchers who met recently to discuss concerns over aspects of these debates in the context of a wider political contest over the control and direction of education policy.

Relationship between young learners’ L2 proficiency and subject knowledge: evaluating a CLIL programme in China

While CLIL programmes have been extensively researched for their impact on L2 learning outcomes, the relationship between young learners’ L2 proficiency and subject knowledge has received less attention. This study aimed to address this research gap by examining the science content knowledge of two cohorts of Grade 5 students (n = 100) from two primary schools in China, with one school implementing a CLIL science programme and the other offering a conventional science programme. The study also investigated the correlation between science achievement and L2 proficiency, measured by assessing learners’ English speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills using the Cambridge Young Learners English Tests. Science knowledge was evaluated with a tailored test aligned with the National Science Curriculum. Results indicated no statistically significant differences in science achievement between CLIL and non-CLIL students, with the former achieving higher mean scores. We also found a significant positive correlation between science knowledge and overall L2 proficiency. Notably, receptive language skills significantly correlated with science scores, while productive language skills did not. These findings provide positive evidence for the potential effectiveness of CLIL programmes in the primary education setting in China.

Techniques and a Model for the Incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems Into the Natural Science Curriculum in Schools

Techniques and a Model for the Incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems Into the Natural Science Curriculum in Schools

CURRENT SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF TEACHING IN STEM EDUCATION IN GENERAL SCHOOLS: A CASE STUDY IN SOME NORTHERN PROVINCES OF VIETNAM

<p>The paper delves into the state and challenges of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in schools. By conducting an intensive survey, it offers insights into the current status of STEM education and highlights the perceptions and difficulties faced by educators in adopting STEM methodologies. The study reveals that while there's an increasing recognition of the importance of STEM in the natural sciences curriculum, several obstacles impede its full implementation. A significant challenge is the difficulty in correlating real-world issues with natural science subjects, making it tough for educators to make lessons engaging and relevant. Furthermore, the lack of appropriate educational tools and materials, combined with inadequate infrastructural facilities in schools, further hampers the quality of teaching. Moreover, the research identifies a gap in the training of educators. Many teachers are unfamiliar with STEM, lacking both understanding and confidence in the approach. This is exacerbated by time constraints in the classroom and insufficient support from parents. Additionally, the paper points out that only a limited number of natural science topics can be aptly integrated into STEM projects, creating a narrower scope for educators. To address these challenges, the paper suggests the need for better training for teachers specifically tailored to STEM requirements, more substantial institutional support, and fostering a closer relationship between STEM education and the broader natural sciences curriculum.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0601/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Fostering Students’ Environmental Competencies through a Plant STEAM Education Program in Korean Elementary Schools

Abstract This study details the development of a plant STEAM education program aligned with the Grade 6 elementary school Korean national science curriculum, using a regionally linked curriculum as its design framework. The primary objective was to investigate the plant program’s effectiveness in enhancing elementary students’ environmental competencies. Ninety-one Grade 6 students, divided into an experimental class (n = 46) and a comparison class (n = 45), participated in the study. Data were collected before and after the program through an assessment tool designed to evaluate environmental competencies, in addition to collecting field notes and student learning outcomes, which were subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis. The results revealed significant improvements in students’ environmental competencies, with notable enhancements in exhibiting environmental sensitivity and displaying a sense of environmental community. This study offers an illustrative model showcasing the integration of plant-related, STEAM, and a regionally linked curriculum in education.

Didactic strategy to improve the significant learning of Natural Sciences

This research evaluated the effectiveness of integrating home experiments as a didactic strategy in the Natural Sciences curriculum aimed at primary school students. The study took a mixed approach and was conducted using a sample of 24 students randomly assigned to two groups of 12 each. One of these groups received conventional instruction, while the other was introduced to four home experiments in two units. Pre- and post-test tests were implemented as a measurement strategy to evaluate the incidence of home experiments. The experimental design was a Completely Randomized Design (DCA) with twelve replications. The results obtained indicated that the inclusion of home experiments had a positive impact on the learning process. In addition, they facilitated the connection between theoretical concepts and situations in everyday life.

The scientist’s ways in national science curricula: A comparative study between Taiwan and Vietnam

Recent science education reforms center at having students learn the practices of scientists. In this study, we aim at exploring how science curricular documents reflect the latest updates from the “practice turn” reform. To do that, we utilize the notion of the scientist’s ways of doing science as a perspective to observe the distribution of components constituting scientific practices in national science curricula. Current literature provides several curriculum analysis frameworks based on taxonomies of cognitive demands or international tests. Still, those frameworks are either not intended for science curricula or limited in indicators and hence failed to capture an updating picture of science curricula that reflect the recent practice turn. We employ multiple case study research design and qualitative content analysis approach to compare learning outcomes in Taiwan and Vietnam’s two national science curricula. Results from this study offer maps of scientific practices across curricular documents and relevant suggestions for stakeholders to improve science curricula. The study opens a new direction on researching science curricula to make science learning approaching the scientist’s ways in reality.

The representation of sustainable development goals in a national curriculum: a content analysis of Taiwan’s 12-Year Basic Education Curriculum Guidelines

Despite the increasing focus on incorporating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into education through curriculum mainstreaming, related research remains lacking. This study explored the representation of SDGs in Taiwan’s national curriculum in terms of selection and organization. Through a content analysis of the social studies and natural sciences curriculum guidelines, the findings revealed that SDG-related content comprises a minor part of the guidelines and is not well organized, possibly due to limitations on discipline characteristics and curriculum types. A subtle but complex implicit curriculum reflects neoliberalism, which addresses SDG-related issues through market mechanisms and shifts the focus from power, politics, and citizenship to consumers’ choices and lifestyles. The results provide a reference for policymakers and educators in re-examining underrepresented SDGs and dimensions and organizing them coherently. They also bridge the gap between the international framework and national curricula, laying the foundation for international comparisons, discussions, and debates on ESD.

Exploring the Efficacy of Inquiry-Based Learning for Human Respiratory System: Students' Achievement at High School Setting

The current research has primary objective that is to assess the effect of implementing the Inquiry-Based Learning Model in enhancing students' academic performance in the field of Science at SMA Smart Indonesia. The Inquiry-Based Learning Model promotes proactive student engagement in exploring, gathering, and interpreting information through independent investigation. The study utilized a quasi-experimental design encompassing pre-test and post-test phases. The participants were selected randomly via a simple random sampling technique. The acquired data underwent analysis using the N-Gain method (T-test). The outcomes revealed a noticeable improvement in the academic performance of students in the experimental group who were exposed to the Inquiry-Based Learning Model, particularly in the context of the human respiratory system. Furthermore, the null hypothesis (H0) was invalidated, as was proven by the 2-tailed Significance value of 0.000 that was smaller than 0.05. This discovery underscores the substantial positive impact of applying the Inquiry-Based Learning Model on enhancing students' academic achievements when compared to conventional teaching methods employed in the control group. In conclusion, this study highlights the significant potential of integrating the Inquiry-Based Learning Model into the Natural Science curriculum at the secondary school level, which could potentially elevate the standard of education and overall student learning accomplishments.

The prioritized natural sciences curriculum under the functionalist approach to education: The Chilean case

The prioritized natural sciences curriculum under the functionalist approach to education: The Chilean case

Dental materials science curriculum in Malaysia: Time for transformation

Introduction: Dental materials science is one of the core courses for Malaysian undergraduate dental programmes, which has been primarily taught through a series of didactic lectures during the preclinical phase. In accordance with the newly revised national competency statement, Malaysian dental education is moving toward competency-based education, hence a reformation of the dental materials science curriculum is warranted. Methods: Curriculum design including common teaching, learning and assessments methods for the Malaysian dental materials science were described and analysed. The common practices were reviewed and compared with latest national guidelines and literature. Results: There is yet an initiative to establish a national curriculum for dental materials science. The use of traditional teaching strategies for this course also needs to be revamped from a teacher-centred to a student-centred approach. Furthermore, faculty members are facing significant challenges because the revamp requires them to explore cutting-edge pedagogical methods and develop appropriate learning opportunities, environments, resources, and assessments. Several recommendations are proposed, such as mapping the existing dental materials science curriculum to identify gaps, incorporating more hands-on sessions, implementing an integrated curriculum, introducing various formative and summative assessments, as well as recruiting faculty members with different areas of educational expertise. Conclusion: It is hoped that this article offers a clearer pathway for Malaysian dental educators to pioneer new insight and transform the existing dental materials science curriculum.

Develop AI Teaching and Learning Resources for Compulsory Education in China

Artificial intelligence course has been required to take for compulsory education students in China. However, not all teachers and schools are fully prepared and ready. This is partially because of the lack of adequate teaching and learning resources, which requires a major expenditure of time and effort for schools and teachers to design and develop. To meet the challenge of lacking appropriate resources in teaching and learning AI from grade 1 to grade 9, we developed AI knowledge structure and instructional resources based on Chinese national curriculum for information science and technology. Our comprehensive AI syllabus contains 90 core concepts, 63 learning indicators, and 27 teaching and learning resources, which have been implemented. The resources have been taken as model courses in teacher training programs and an exemplary course has been implemented in primary schools that verified the effectiveness of our resources.

Prospect and challenges of integrating indigenous knowledge systems into the Natural Science curriculum in schools

The study explored the prospect and challenge of integrating Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) into the Natural Science (NS) curriculum in schools. An interpretivist research philosophy was employed to guide the data collection process that utilized a qualitative research approach and a case study research design. Interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data from purposively selected NS Heads of Departments (HODs), NS teachers and Head masters in Phongola schools. Findings revealed that IKS has benefits in the NS curriculum, such as contextualising education and acting as learners’ prior knowledge, promoting diversity in class and making it possible for teachers to use field trips and traditional visual materials when delivering instruction in NS classes. Findings also revealed that integrating IKS into the NS curriculum faced challenges like a lack of government commitment to review education policies, lack of IKS study material in schools and extinction of IKS. It was recommended, that the Department of Basic Education should review its policies and integrate IKS as a full knowledge strand in the NS curriculum, document IKS as a full knowledge stand in the NS text books and incorporate IKS in teacher training programmes. Schools should use IKS custodians in communities as resource persons and also involve parents to help their children with their homework on IKS related topics and activities.

Application of 5E model in Natural Science teaching to develop students' nature-understanding competence in junior high school

According to the Natural Science Curriculum 2018, nature-understanding competence is one of the three components of natural scientific competence. The expression of this competence is that students can perform some basic skills to understand and explain natural phenomena, demonstrating practical problems with scientific evidence. An important feature of teaching Natural Science is that students need to experience and discover things and phenomena of the natural through experiments and practical experiences, thereby forming scientific knowledge and apply knowledge to solve problems in life. The 5E is a model of science teaching in accordance with the educational philosophy of "student-centered" and is built on the theory of constructivist teaching, in which students gain new knowledge based on what they already know. Using the 5E model in teaching helps students to receive knowledge systematically and effectively. In this article, we analyze the correlation between 5E-model phases and expression of understanding nature competence, and design the lesson plan of "oxygen" Natural Science grade 6 by using the theoretical framework in related references. We also use the expert method in the practical investigation methods to get an idea about the competence structure in understanding nature and designing the teaching plan of the subject Oxygen in Natural Science 6.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ПРИРОДНИЧОЇ ОСВІТИ В НОРВЕГІЇ

The article argues the importance of studying the ways in which natural science in Norway is taught. The research findings could help to modernize the natural science curriculum in Ukraine since all reforms are more or less related to integration. Ukraine, taking into account the proposals of the European Commission, has identified the science, engineering and technology competence as one of the key competences. The expected outcomes include the ability to apply the appropriate set of knowledge and methodologies to explain the natural world, to determine and make conclusions based on the information received, and to be responsible for the consequences of the human activity. The integration approach of the subject areas is relatively new for schools in Ukraine, so studying the experience of developing the natural science curriculum in Norway allows understanding the opportunities offered by integration, since a characteristic feature of science curriculum in general education schools in Norway is an integrated course of biology, chemistry, physics, and geography taught in the first through the eleventh grade. Based on the analysis of psychological and pedagogical publications the features that characterize science curriculum in Norway have been identified. They include: the constant reformation that the science curriculum undergoes aiming at constant improvements to provide for the country’s economic, cultural and social development; the science curriculum is centralized; the content of physics, biology, chemistry, and geography is integrated in the natural science curriculum in Grade 1 to Grade 11 in lower secondary school and upper secondary school; the science curriculum content is comprehensive and coherent; the content is organized in the five subject domains and expected competencies are outlined; «family resemblance approach» is used to integrate the subject areas and to teach the nature of science – it motivate students to develop better attitude to the subject; the inquiry-based learning technology is used as a teaching method; when developing the natural science curriculum the main trends in the society development are taken into account. The development of science education in Norway is characterized by the acceleration of education reform under the influence of globalization factors. The analysis of the natural science curriculum in Grade 1 to Grade 11 is likely to give the perspective for the future studies.

Teaching Science Using Argumentation-Supported 5E-STEM, 5E-STEM, and Conventional Didactic Methods: Differences in the Learning Outcomes of Middle School Students

5E-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (5E-STEM) education is known to be one of the most used pedagogical models in STEM-oriented science courses for middle school students. However, the 5E model lacks a clear explanation of how STEM subjects are strongly linked in each of its operational “E”. In this study, a novel approach was proposed with the use of the argumentation-supported 5E-STEM (A-5E-STEM) model in the science curriculum. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in learning achievements, learning motivation, learning interest, and higher-order thinking skills of middle school students between teaching science using A-5E-STEM, 5E-STEM, and conventional didactic methods. A semi-experimental study with post-test only non-equivalent groups design was used. A “Separating Mixtures” unit in the 6th grade Natural Science curriculum was designed with A-5E-STEM and 5E-STEM model orientation. The participants were three 6th grade classes with a total of one hundred and twenty students at a public middle school in Hanoi City, Vietnam. The first experimental group was taught science using the A-5E-STEM model, the second experimental group was taught science using the 5E-STEM model, and a control group was taught the science unit with conventional didactic methods. A post-test was used to collect data on learning achievement, and questionnaires were used to collect data on learning motivation, interest, and higher-order thinking skills of middle school students in the science curriculum. The findings showed that the effect of teaching science using the A-5E-STEM model on learning achievement, motivation, interest, and higher-order thinking skills of middle school students was significantly superior to that of the 5E-STEM model and conventional didactic methods. Therefore, science teachers are expected to increase the use of the A-5E-STEM model in their related curriculum.

Pedagogical and Epistemological Challenges of Pre-Service Science Teachers Teaching Socioscientific Issues

Abstract To effectively address socioscientific issues (SSI), science teachers need to obtain a certain level of pedagogical content knowledge for SSI teaching (SSI-PCK). In this study, therefore, pre-service science teachers (PSTs) were provided an SSI teacher education program (SSI-TEP) based on the SSI-PCK framework and their development and challenges were carefully examined. Fifteen PSTs participated in the SSI-TEP over 15 weeks and had opportunities to design and implement an SSI lesson in a group. Data were collected through SSI lesson plans, fieldnotes, and group interviews. The results showed that the PSTs highly valued their SSI-TEP experience but noted several pedagogical and epistemological challenges. They were concerned about how to meet both the national science curriculum and students’ needs and how to reveal the nature of science and technology through the selected SSI scenarios. Additionally, they felt the need to obtain skills to facilitate and scaffold students’ participation. The challenges were often intertwined with SSI-PCK components.

Alignment between teachers’ practices and political intentions in the context of a reformed modelling-oriented science curriculum in Danish lower secondary school

A new national science curriculum for lower secondary education was initiated in Denmark in 2015-2016. The intentions behind the new curriculum include substantial changes to how teachers should address models and modelling (MoMo) in their practice. This study focuses both on those intentions and on teachers’ practices, rationales, and experiences in this regard. Data were generated by means of semi-structured interviews and lesson planning workshops among three pairs of teachers. Our findings suggest that: (1) teachers’ practices and rationales for integrating MoMo into their teaching reflected an approach by which MoMo were treated largely as the product of a scientific process rather than part of a scientific process; (2); the dynamic process of designing, evaluating and revising models based on students’ own inquiry only played a minor role; and (3) teachers had multiple experiences in their efforts to enact the curriculum intentions. Finally, based on the findings, we discuss how to enhance the alignment between curriculum intentions and teachers’ practice.

Southeast Asian Students’ Perspective in Science and science education

The study describes the attitudes and beliefs towards science and science education of Year 9 and 10 Southeast Asian students including gender and year level differences based on the seven categories. This study involved Year 9 and 10 students from seven SEAMEO countries. Out of 5,375 samples selected, 2,158 were boys and 3,217 were girls. There were seven categories in the survey instrument that was administered, including students’ perceptions about: (1) science; (2) science outside school; (3) science topics; (4) scientist vocation; (5) self-efficacy in science; (6) teaching and learning science; as well as (7) future participation in science. The analyses showed that generally students had positive attitudes on categories such as: science, science outside school, teaching and learning science, scientist vocation, science topics and future participation in science. However, in general, the students in this region had slightly low self-efficacy in science in which included items such as science as a difficult subject and science classes are boring. The results also showed that Year 9 and boys acted more positively than Year 10 and girls in the attitudes and beliefs towards science. Further research and recommendations are explored. The findings would be used as a tool to revise the national science curriculum of the participating countries in terms of content standards and inform teachers of how teaching and learning practices can be aligned with students’ attitudes and perceptions to obtain better learning outcomes. The research findings could also be used as a springboard for further research exploring deeper the variables affecting students’ success in science and providing intervention for teachers’ training curriculum and continuing professional development in terms of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) that would increase the interest of students in learning and exploring science.

The Degree of Familiarity of Female Teachers at Secondary Schools in Al-Kharj Governorate, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the Technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Their Applications in the Curriculum of Natural Sciences

The current study measured secondary school teachers' (female) familiarity with "Fourth Industrial Revolution" technologies and their applications in the Natural Science curriculum. The study followed a descriptive-analytical technique. A test was constructed with three themes: fourth industrial revolution technologies, fourth industrial revolution in teaching and learning of sciences, and fourth industrial revolution in the science curriculum. The study sample included 140 Al-Kharj secondary school, science teachers. The results of the study showed that secondary school teachers' (female) familiarity with "Fourth Industrial Revolution" technologies is low, at 43%, with "Fourth Industrial Revolution" technologies in teaching and learning science is very low, at 42%, and with "Fourth Industrial Revolution" technologies that can be included in "Natural Sciences" curricula is very low, at 37%. The study found no variations in secondary teachers' (female) acquaintance with the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" and its applications in the natural sciences curriculum based on specialization and experience. Considering the results, many recommendations have been made. The most important is science teachers need in-service "training programs" to educate them on the fourth industrial revolution technologies and how to use them in the curriculum. The fourth industrial revolution requires "Teachers Preparation Programs" for science teachers and the science curriculum.
 
 Received: 11 June 2022 / Accepted: 28 August 2022 / Published: 2 September 2022