The meaning of 'experiment' in the intended chemistry curriculum in China: the changes over the period from 1952 to 2018

• Published in: International journal of science education Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 656 - 674
• Main Authors: Wei, Bing, Chen, Yue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 03.03.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Chemistry; Chemistry curriculum; Course Content; Course Descriptions; Curricula; Curriculum development; Education history; Educational Change; Educational History; Educational Trends; experiment; Experiments; Foreign Countries; Inquiry; laboratory work; Meaning; Organic Chemistry; Pedagogy; practical work; Qualitative research; Quantitative analysis; Science Course Improvement Projects; Science Curriculum; Science education; Science Experiments; Science Instruction; Science Teachers; Scientific Research; Secondary School Students; Social environment; subject matter; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Trend Analysis; China
• ISSN: 0950-0693; 1464-5289
• DOI: 10.1080/09500693.2020.1723181

The term 'experiment' is used in different ways to mean different things in school science. This study examines the meanings of 'experiment' and how they have changed in the intended chemistry curriculum (ICC) in China since the early 1950s. A mixed methodology was adopted to analyse the 11 ICC documents from a socio-historical perspective. The qualitative analysis identifies four meanings of 'experiment' in these various documents: (1) subject content, (2) pedagogy, (3) scientific processes, and (4) inquiry. The quantitative analysis shows that the frequency of two meanings of 'experiment', subject content and pedagogy, has decreased while two other ones, scientific processes and inquiry, has experienced an upward trend during the period under study. While analysing five typical ICCs in different decades, it was found that the distribution of the four meanings of 'experiment' in these ICC documents has become more balanced from the past to the present. Moreover, explanations are provided for the changing tendencies and the distributions of the four meanings of 'experiment' in the social contexts of China. The implications for science curriculum development, science teacher development, and future research are discussed in the last part of this paper.