A comparative survey on the goal element of science education curriculum in Iran and selected countries

This paper is part of a qualitative study that has surveyed the goal element of curriculum in science education of Iran and some other countries of the world using both the comparative and descriptive– analytic methods. To meetthe goal of preparing a comprehensive picture, the documents relevant to this issue in the pioneer and selected countries in science and technology were gathered, described, interpreted, compared and contrasted. The present paper tries to survey and study the goal element of curriculum in science education of Iran and these selected countries. The obtained results of this study can help curriculum planners, text-book authors, teachers, and other interested people to act with a deeper insight when developing or changing/revising curricula, enabling them to select more appropriate objectives. The obtained results show considerable similarities and differences between science education goals of Iran and other countries studied. These similarities are visible mostly in curricular written documents or intended documents so that the objectives look very similar in all these countries. All the studied countries focus on four subjects including physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. Furthermore, the goals advanced in these documents address the three dimensions of knowledge, skills and attitudes. The most significant points common among the studied countries are the promotion of technological scientific literacy, ability of solving problems, reflecting, and nature discussions. However, there is a remarkable gap between our country and others which demands serious consideration: this gap portrays a flaw in curriculum implementation that reflects itself in achieved curriculum objectives by students. The results of TEEMS tests illustrate this issue. However, further research in this area is needed for more appropriate conclusions.