Abstract
The purposes of this comparative study are, by comparing to Japan, to grasp some features of Chinese elementary science education, and to establish fundamental knowledge resources for ideal teaching in this subject. Firstly, the study compared the educational objectives, topics taught, the number of total class hours and evaluation criteria of science education in both countries. Secondly, the study conducted the science achievement survey which was developed to measure knowledge I (rote memory), knowledge II (simultaneous application of multiple knowledge), and laboratory techniques. The results of the comparison in the achievement survey revealed that Chinese students scored as well as Japanese students in the knowledge I test, but they scored significantly lower than Japanese students in the knowledge II test and laboratory techniques. The author, through the comparison of science curricula, attributed the difference in the achievement to two facts: 1) that the topics covered are so crammed into fewer class hours that Chinese students have few opportunities to apply the knowledge learned in the classroom, and 2) that the Chinese curriculum over-emphasizes "teaching" and disregards children's "thinking for themselves".
