Studies in Science Education in the Asia-Pacific Region Consistent with international trends, there is an active pursuit of more engaging sci- ence education in the Asia-Pacific region. The aim of this book is to bring together some examples of research being undertaken at a range of levels, from studies of cur- riculum and assessment tools, to classroom case studies, and investigations into mod- els of teacher professional learning and development. While neither a comprehensive nor definitive representation of the work that is being carried out in the region, the contributions – from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand – give a taste of some of the issues being explored, and the hopes that researchers have of positively influencing the types of science education experi- enced by school students. The purpose of this book is therefore to share contextual information related to science education in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as offering insights for conduct- ing studies in this region and outlining possible questions for further investigation. In addition, we anticipate that the specific resources and strategies introduced in this book will provide a useful reference for curriculum developers and science educators when they design school science curricula and science both pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes. The first section of the book examines features of science learners and learning, and includes studies investigating the processes associated with science conceptual learn- ing, scientific inquiry, model construction, and students’ attitudes towards science. The second section focuses on teachers and teaching. It discusses some more inno- vative teaching approaches adopted in the region, including the use of group work, inquiry-based instruction, developing scientific literacy, and the use of questions and analogies. The third section reports on initiatives related to assessments and curricu- lum reform, including initiatives associated with school-based assessment, formative assessment strategies, and teacher support accompanying curriculum reform. May May Hung Cheng is Chair Professor of Teacher Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Alister Jones is a Research Professor and the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Cathy Buntting is a Senior Researcher in the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Routledge Research in Education For a complete list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/Routledge- Research-in-Education/book-series/SE0393 This series aims to present the latest research from right across the field of educa- tion. It is not confined to any particular area or school of thought and seeks to pro- vide coverage of a broad range of topics, theories and issues from around the world. Recent titles in the series include: Citizenship Education in the United States A Historical Perspective Iftikhar Ahmad Transformative Learning and Teaching in Physical Education Edited by Malcolm Thorburn Teaching Young Learners in a Superdiverse World Multimodal Approaches and Perspectives Edited by Heather Lotherington & Cheryl Paige History, Theory and Practice of Philosophy for Children International Perspectives Edited by Saeed Naji and Rosnani Hashim Teacher Professional Knowledge and Development for Reflective and Inclusive Practices Edited by Ismail Hussein Amzat and Nena P. Valdez Art and Design Pedagogy in Higher Education Knowledge, Values and Ambiguity in the Creative Curriculum Susan Orr and Alison Shreeve Service Learning as a Political Act in Education Bicultural Foundations for a Decolonizing Pedagogy Kortney Hernandez Studies in Science Education in the Asia-Pacific Region Edited by May May Hung Cheng, Alister Jones and Cathy Buntting Studies in Science Education in the Asia-Pacific Region Edited by May May Hung Cheng, Alister Jones and Cathy Buntting First published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2018 selection and editorial matter, May May Hung Cheng, Alister Jones and Cathy Buntting; individual chapters, the contributors The right of May May Hung Cheng, Alister Jones and Cathy Buntting to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-85884-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-71767-8 (ebk) Typeset in Galliard by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents About the authors vii 1 Learning, teaching, and assessing science in the Asia-Pacific context 1 MAY MAY HUNG CHENG, ALISTER JONES, AND CATHY BUNTTING PART I The science learner and learning 13 2 Taiwanese students’ ‘equilibrium’ reasoning: Fluency in linking Newton’s first and second laws 15 WHEIJEN CHANG 3 Primary school students’ use of the concepts of evidence in science inquiries 27 WINNIE WING MUI SO, LIANG YU, AND YU CHEN 4 Understanding students’ co-construction processes of scientific modelling in Korean junior high school classrooms 42 CHAN-JONG KIM, MIN-SUK KIM, HYUN SEOK OH, JEONG A LEE, AND SEUNG-URN CHOE 5 Hong Kong students’ characteristics of science learning in relation to ROSE 61 YAU YUEN YEUNG AND MAY MAY HUNG CHENG PART II Science pedagogy 75 6 Investigating the impact of inquiry-based instruction on students’ science learning in Taiwan 77 HSIAO-LIN TUAN AND CHI-CHIN CHIN vi Contents 7 Teaching values and life skills using reversed analogies in school science 89 KOK SIANG TAN 8 The influence of group work on students’ science learning in Hong Kong primary schools 103 DENNIS CHUN LOK FUNG 9 Elementary science learning experiences in Singapore: Learning in a group 125 JOANNA OON JEU ONG, AIK-LING TAN, AND FREDERICK TORALBALLA TALAUE 10 Focusing on scientific literacy: The value of professional learning 139 JOHN LOUGHRAN 11 Analysis of questions in primary school science textbooks in Japan 151 MANABU SUMIDA PART III Assessment and curriculum reform 165 12 Assessment policy in the senior physics curriculum documents of Mainland China and Hong Kong 167 MAY MAY HUNG CHENG AND ZHI HONG WAN 13 Pre-service science teachers’ implementation of assessment for students’ learning 180 HYE-EUN CHU AND CHEE LEONG WONG 14 School science in New Zealand: Support for curriculum reform and implementation 194 CATHY BUNTTING AND ALISTER JONES Index 207 About the authors Cathy Buntting is a senior researcher within the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Edu- cational Research at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She has a master’s degree in biochemistry and a PhD in science education, and has been involved with the development of the New Zealand Science Learning Hub since its incep- tion over ten years ago. Her research interests straddle science and technology education, and she has directed a number of government-funded research and development projects in both subject areas. Wheijen Chang received her bachelor’s degree in physics from National Chang- hua University of Education, her master’s degree in physics from Ohio State Uni- versity, and her PhD in science education from the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She is currently a professor of the Physics Education Research group in the Physics Department at the National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan. Her main research interests are the development of teaching and learn- ing sequences, the assessment of conceptual knowledge structures in physics, and question-driven instruction. Yu Chen obtained her master’s degree from the University of Hong Kong and PhD from the Education University of Hong Kong. She is currently a senior research assistant in the Department of Science and Environmental Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on socio-scientific issues-based instruction in science education May May Hung Cheng obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Hong Kong and her PhD from the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She is currently chair professor of teacher education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Education University of Hong Kong. She was previously a reader in professional education at the Department of Educa- tion, University of Oxford. Her main areas of research are teacher education and science education with a focus on teacher learning and teacher professional development. She is currently the president of the East Asian Association for Sci- ence Education (EASE). viii About the authors Chi-Chin Chin obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the National Taiwan Normal University and his PhD from the University of Iowa, United States of America. He is currently professor of the Department of Science Educa- tion and Application at the National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan, R.O.C. He was previously curator and head of the science education division at the National Museum of Natural Science in Taiwan. His main areas of research are teacher education, science education and environmental education with a focus on informal learning and STES. Seung-Urn Choe obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science from the Seoul National University and his PhD in astrophysics from the Univer- sity of Minnesota, USA.