Abstract
As we know, a large number of the standards-based curriculum materials have been developed around the world. This paper aimed to explore the degree to which the standards-based senior secondary school chemistry curriculum materials have been implemented in the classroom in China. This study was based on the premise that the interaction of the teacher with the curriculum materials determines what happens in the classroom. A multiple case study was employed and five chemistry teachers in four senior secondary schools participated in this study. Classroom observations and interviews were used as research methods to find the degrees of discrepancies between the operational and intended curricula at the three levels of “teaching objectives,” “teaching strategies,” and “teaching activities.” The data analysis revealed that distinct discrepancies existed between the operational and intended curricula among the five cases. Furthermore, for the three levels, “teaching objectives” exhibited a smaller degree of discrepancies, whereas “teaching activities” presented a larger degree of discrepancies, with “teaching strategies” being between the two. The implications of findings and the suggestions for further studies were discussed in the last section of this paper.
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Notes
- 1.
In China, senior secondary schools are classified into exemplary schools and ordinary schools. Exemplary schools have more resources and are able to recruit more competent students than ordinary schools.
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Chen, B., Wei, B. (2015). Implementation of Standards-Based Curriculum by Chemistry Teachers: From Curriculum Materials to Teaching Practice. In: Khine, M. (eds) Science Education in East Asia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16390-1_21
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