Development of the Elementary Science Curriculum to Enhance Creative Problem-Solving Abilities: Theme Based Construction of Contents

창의적 문제해결력 신장을 위한 과학교육과정 개발 연구-주제 중심의 초등과학교육과정 내용구성-

This article is a part of a research on the elementary science curriculum development to enhance creative problem-solving abilities. The components of the curriculum have been identified as 'scientific knowledge', 'process skills' & 'divergent/critical thinking'. Among these components, construction of the scientific knowledge that enables creative problem-solving abilities has been selected as an intensive research topic for the purpose of the present research. To avoid or to prevent the knowledge learned from separate facts and concepts, five themes have been selected so as to incorporate with all three areas of the elementary science curriculum, i.e., physical science, earth science and life science. The five themes are, 'structure', 'change', 'interaction', 'energy' and 'stability'. The contents of elementary science, which have been selected from the 3rd, 6th and 7th National Elementary Science curriculum, were reconstructed based on the five themes given above. The results of reconstruction are presented in the form of matrix, such that the vertical axis represents how the concepts are related within each domain of science, while the horizontal axis shows how the concepts are interconnected between domains of science. Therefore, based upon the five themes, individual or separate knowledge can be put into more unified knowledge so that contribution of knowledge transfer to new ones can be expected for leaners who will be creative in problem-solving. The process and products of the curriculum development as well as the background of the present research are described and discussed in detail.

본 연구는 창의적 문제해결력 신장을 위한 초등 과학 교육과정 개발을 위한 2차 연구의 첫 단계로서 초등 과학교육의 세 가지 영역인 물상과학(물리+화학), 생명과학(생물), 지구과학의 개념들간에 공통적으로 함축되어 있는 주제들을 찾아내어 주제중심으로 교과내용의 재구성을 시도하는 연구이다. 채택한 주제는 에너지, 변화, 상호작용, 규모와 구조, 안정성의 5가지로서 이들은 각 학문 영역의 개념들이 단편적으로 제시되는 교육과정의 구성방식을 획기적으로 전환하도록 이끌어 줄 수 있는 하나의 모델이 될 것을 기대한다. 재구성의 절차는 우선, 물상과학, 지구과학, 생명과학의 영역별 총괄개념을 정하고, 그것을 다시 학년별 주개념으로 나눈 다음, 위의 다섯가지 주제별로 하위개념들을 기술하였다.