Dissertation Defenses

Doctoral Dissertation Announcement

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Candidate: Fang Huang

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Mallinson Institute for Science Education

Title: Curriculum Coherence: A Comparative Analysis of Elementary Science Content Standards in People’s Republic of China and the USA

Committee:
Dr. Marcia Fetters, Chair
Dr. William Cobern
Dr. David Schuster
Dr. Paul Vellom

Date: Monday, November 9, 2009 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
3715 Wood Hall

Abstract:
This study examines elementary science content standards curriculum coherence between the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America. Three aspects of curriculum coherence are examined in this study: topic inclusion, topic duration, and curriculum structure. Specifically this study centers on the following five research questions: 1) What science knowledge is intended for elementary students in each country? 2) How long each topic stays in the curriculum? 3) How these topics sequence and connect with each other? 4) What is the educational political and cultural ground that shapes current science content standards in each country? 5) And finally, what is the implication for elementary science curriculum development?
Four intended science curriculum frameworks were selected respectively for each country. A technique of General Topic Trace Mapping (GTTM) was applied to generate the composite science content standards out of the selected curriculum for each country. In comparison, the USA elementary science standards feature broader topic coverage at each grade, longer topic duration, more description than theoretical aspects of science, and loose connections between topics. The Chinese science curriculum is characteristic of fewer topics at each grade, much shorter topic duration, more advanced topics, and a hierarchical structure of topics. In conclusion, the Chinese elementary science curriculum presents more coherence than its USA counterpart.
By further examining such factors as national science content standards, educational administration system, testing system, and culture, this study at last suggests voluntary national standards with enough succinctness and specification, a top-down educational administration system with popular representation at local levels, and a testing system with alignment between national, state/provincial, and school levels for high quality elementary science curriculum.