Taiwanese science and life technology curriculum standards and earth systems education

Abstract

In the past several years, curriculum reform has received increasing attention from educators in many countries around the world. Recently, Taiwan has developed new Science and Life Technology Curriculum Standards (SaLTS) for grades 1–9. SaLTS features a systematic way for developing students' understanding and appreciation of individual–society–nature interactions, which are well aligned with the philosophical essence and foundations of Earth Systems Education (ESE). Implementation of several ESE‐inspired curricula or instructional modules in the secondary schools of Taiwan have all demonstrated promise in improving students' abilities both in their cognitive and affective domains. Moreover, several empirical studies suggest that implementing the Earth‐system integrated theme has the potential to serve as a model for future development of an integrated science curriculum and instruction, not only in Taiwan but also worldwide.

Acknowledgements

The foundation for the ideas in this paper was established in part while the author was a visiting research scholar at The University of Texas at Austin, Science Education Center, USA in 2001. The author wishes to thank the National Science Council (NSC) of Taiwan, the Republic of China for financing this short‐term visiting scholar project (grant number 39059F) and a 3‐year special grant TMD‐ESIT project (grant numbers NSC 89‐2511‐S‐003‐144, NSC 90‐2511‐S‐003‐028, NSC 91‐2514‐S‐003‐004). The data presented, the statements made and the views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Li‐Chin Lai, Wan‐Yun Tsai, Hsiu‐Ru Lan, Chien‐Hua Hsiao, Yu‐Hua Weng, Jing‐Wen Hsu and Chia‐Chu Tung. Special gratitude goes to Jean Curran of the Academic Paper Editing Clinic, National Taiwan Normal University, for providing useful English editing of this paper. The author thanks two anonymous reviewers and the editor for their insightful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.