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Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 9, Issue 2, Article 1
(Dec., 2008) |
This study involves analysis of different types of curriculum documents using a conceptual frame of IAS based on their current representation in the science education research literature. Data for this interpretive-qualitative study has been collected from Bangladesh science curriculum documents and textbooks comprising the existing and proposed curriculum documents, the existing physics, chemistry, biology and general science textbooks for grades IX-X, and guidelines for authors and publishers to publish textbooks under the proposed curriculum. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) in Dhaka publishes all these documents. I have analyzed the existing textbooks along with the curriculum documents because textbooks are the de-facto curricula in schools in Bangladesh. Although teachers have the main role in communicating IAS to the students, textbooks also played an important role in communicating IAS to students. Textbooks play a more important role in Bangladesh because teachers and students heavily rely on the lone textbook published by the NCTB. The qualitative exploration of ideas about science in this study was based upon:
(a) Explicit statements and/or explanations of IAS in the curriculum documents and textbooks;
(b) Implicit portrayal of IAS by the way scientific concepts are presented/discussed in the textbooks
(c) Implicit and explicit portrayal of IAS in curricular activities especially in the practical/laboratory work as portrayed in the textbook; and
(d) Emphasis given on any IAS in the assessment process as detailed in curriculum documents.
The above criteria have been used to explore IAS qualitatively and deductively based on the following conceptual framework developed from current science education literature.
