The Implementation Of Integrated Science Curriculum In Junior Middle School

"Curriculum integration"is one of the objectives of curriculum reform in basic education, and the national blueprint of curriculum structures is"an integrated curriculum in primary school, a combination of subject and integrated curriculum in middle school and subject curriculum in high school". The integrated science curriculum is the main type of integrated curriculum, and it is one of the major components in the basic education curriculum in our country. Advocating the establishment of an integrated science curriculum is a trend in an international science curriculum reform. Integrated science curriculum has its unique advantages in cultivating and improving the scientific literacy of the citizens of the future. However, great difficulties exist in the implementation of the integrated science curriculum in our country, as a number of principals, teachers, parents and social circles do not know about and can not understand the science curriculum, in addition, most teachers with the original structures of professional knowledge can not meet the teaching demands of the integrated science curriculum. The integrated science curriculum experiment has encountered one obstacle after another, and the experimental scope does not enlarge with the expansion of curriculum reform."How to implement the integrated science curriculum effectively"is an issue which requires urgent solution in the current basic education curriculum reform.This study first combs the relevant theories on curriculum implementation, and then the current research status of the implementation of integrated curriculum at home and abroad, finally the relevant theories on integrated curriculum and also two types of integrated science curricular. On this basis, the study mainly adopts five methodologies: a questionnaire, case study, semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, and teaching-case study. The subjects include 114 science teachers from city A, 9 science teachers from three middle schools, 173 science teachers from city B, 9 science teachers from two middle schools, and science teaching and research staff, school leaders, heads of the teaching and research groups. Proceeding from the implementation of the integrated science curriculum (i.e. science courses), the views of science teachers (view of knowledge, curriculum and teaching), and the curriculum decision-making perspective at classroom level (including the teaching objectives, teaching contents, teaching methods and teaching evaluation, etc.), the present study aims to investigate the current status of the implementation of the integrated science curriculum in city A and city B (both cities have more than ten years experience in offering the integrated science curriculum), tries to find out the major factors affecting the implementation of science curriculum in two cities, has a comparison between the two modes of integrated science curricular, and finally addresses the strategies for effective implementation of the integrated science curriculum and also put forward some relevant suggestions.Conclusion of the present study:1. The views of science teachers in city A and city B.â‘ 78.6% of the science teachers in city A, and 73.3% of the science teachers in city B had views advocated by the science curriculum. 43.8% of the science teachers in city A, and 50% of the science teachers in city B thought that knowledge alone was an objective existence. In addition, as for the questions on whether there was a passive acceptance or active construction of knowledge in the process of learning, 27.1%of science teachers in city A, and 28.2% in city B held views different from those supported by the science curriculum.â‘¡A majority of science teachers in both cities had view of course based on experiences, with an orientation of adaptation to the implementation of curriculum, which was consistent with the view advocated by the science curriculum. Most teachers agreed that an integrated curriculum was a curriculum design, whereas the majority of teachers disagreed with the establishment of an integrated curriculum, and a large number of teachers regarded subject curriculum science teaching as the best method to achieve the curriculum integration.â‘¢88.4%of science teachers in city A, and 84.1% of the science teachers in city B had views of teaching advocated by the science curriculum. In city B, the science teachers'recognition of the individual aspects of the views of teaching varies according to different types of schools, professional titles, majors, and genders, and the difference reaches a significant level.2. Curriculum decision-making of the science teachers.the decision-making behaviors of 79.4% of science teachers in city A during teaching was in accord with those advocated by the science curriculum. The teaching methods commonly used by science teachers were the following: the teacher played the role of organizer and guider, and the students studied collaboratively in groups; the teacher taught and demonstrated the experiment, and the students operated the practice; the teacher taught, aided by the multimedia courseware. 67.1% of the science teachers in city B were primarily concerned with knowledge and skill objectives during the process of fulfilling the objectives of classroom instruction; the teaching methods commonly used by science teachers included lecturing (predominant), inspiring and guiding, and then practice (34.7%), and there was less collaborative study in groups for the students'part (15.6%). The exchanges and cooperation between 52.4% of the teachers were rarely carried out, and cooperation and exchange between teachers focused on explanation of the knowledge points and its implementation and consolidation.3. The major factors influencing the implementation of science curriculum and rewarding experience.Most of the science teachers in city A and city B had views of knowledge, curriculum and teaching advocated by science curriculum, therefore, the updating of the view of teaching is not a prominent issue required to be resolved in the current implementation of the science curriculum. However, a lot of factors constrain the final transformation of the advanced educational ideas into the teachers'conscious and effective action. The factors include the social environment needed to implement the science curriculum (the support and understanding given by the directors in the education department of higher authority, school leaders, parents, teachers and other social members ), the guarantee of the external resources to implement the scientific curriculum (including the improvement of experimental conditions, an corollary learning equipments, etc.), the improvement of the teachers'qualities (including the education and training of teachers, an school-based teaching and research atmosphere for the professional development of teachers, etc.), and also the characteristic factors of the science curriculum (such as the need to improve teaching materials, insufficient teaching hours, etc.). The rewarding experience of the implementation of the science curriculum in the school as a case study in city A, is to organize science teaching and research groups in large size, and to promote exchanges and cooperation between teachers; the useful experience of the implementation of the science curriculum in the school as a case study in city B, is school-based research, that is, the professional guidance of the school principals.4. The comparison of the two models of the integrated science curricular.Science (Grade 7-9) curriculum in city B is adapted to the"six ? three"school system, which is an integrated science curriculum running throughout the entire middle school phase, and in order to cope with the secondary education test, there is a high requirement on the knowledge and skills in this curriculum. Under the"five ? four"school system, science (Grade 6-7) curriculum in city A is arranged from Grade 1 to Grade 5 after the natural course, and from Grade 8 to Grade 9 before the subject science curriculum. This curriculum is a comprehensive and basic one which is also a connecting link, and there is a comparatively low requirement on knowledge and skills, and the focus is on the science understanding. From the point of the curriculum concepts and objectives, the two science curricular are the same in its core ideas, that is,"to improve each student's scientific literacy". The sub-goals of these two types of science curricular include the four aspects of scientific literacy.5. Suggestions on the implementation of the integrated science curriculum.â‘ Only a coexistence of the subject and integrated science curriculum can ensure the comprehensiveness of the structures of the students'knowledge base and thinking.â‘¡We should determine a proper proportion of the subject and integrated science curriculum on the basis of economic development level and the current basic education in different areas, and we should employ a variety of curriculum integration models and explore different modes of integrated science curriculum.â‘¢We need to explore appropriate models to promote integrated science curriculum, a"first in economically developed areas, and then gradually advancing to the sub-developed areas"model,"a relatively experiment-intensive area"promoting model,"a comprehensively step-by-step implementation"plus"a combination of compulsory and elective"model ...... First, there should be a small-scale pilot, and then a large-scale promotion. This study also suggests that an external support system should be set up, which is beneficial to the implementation of the science curriculum, e.g., the search for the understanding and support from the members of a large number of social communities, the administrative policies to ensure and improve the conditions for the implementation of science curriculum, the research and reform of the examination and evaluation system for science curriculum. The teachers'qualities should also be improved, e.g., great importance should be given to the training of the science teachers of the future, the training of in-service science teachers should be strengthened, and it is necessary to foster a culture of cooperation between the teachers, etc.