Abstract
This introduction presents the major goals of science teaching and highlights the recent movement for improving student assessment. The selection of topics and issues for discussion is based on the assumption that there is no need to repeat what has recently been published in other sources, such as the comprehensive review by Doran, Lawrenz, and Helgeson (1993b). Many lists of goals/aims/objectives for science education have been published, featuring a variety of levels of detail and emphases. Perhaps the most useful is the list proposed by Bybee and DeBoer (1993), who identified three basic goals for the science curriculum and showed how these goals differ in emphasis and scope in different periods. These goals are:
Affecting personal and social development of the individuals and the influence it has on the wellbeing and improvement of society…. Personal development includes such things as intellectual growth, personal satisfaction, career awareness and building moral character. Social. development includes maintenance of public health, a productive economy, a stable and orderly society, a physically safe environment… Learning science facts and principles…is simply considered a basic element of science education that needs no justification…. Another extremely important focus of science teaching has been the development of both understanding of the methods of science and abilities in applying those methods (pp. 358–359).
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Tamir, P. (1996). Science Assessment. In: Birenbaum, M., Dochy, F.J.R.C. (eds) Alternatives in Assessment of Achievements, Learning Processes and Prior Knowledge. Evaluation in Education and Human Services, vol 42. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0657-3_4
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