A Comparative Study on the Curriculum on Electricity and Magnetism between in Korean and in

캐나다 Ontario주와 우리나라 초등학교의 전기, 자기 관련 교육 과정의 비교 연구

In this study, we conducted a comparative study to investigate the curriculums on electricity and magnetism between in Korean and in Ontario elementary schools in Canada with respect to connectivity and difference among course materials with grades. We compared textbooks that contain the contents about electricity and magnetism, and connectivity in curriculums that were relevant to the science content system in each country. We report the following differences in the curriculums on electricity and magnetism in each country. First, it turns out that science is taught from the first grade in Ontario, while it is taught from the third grade in Korea. Second, Ontario covers electricity and magnetism only in science curriculum, while Korea covers the same topics both in the science and practical arts curriculum. Third, while the curriculum in Korea introduces 'a magnet' in the third grade, 'electricity' in the fourth and the fifth grade, and 'an electromagnet' in the sixth grade, while the curriculum in Ontario covers the concept of energy from the first grade. As the grades go up, the contents of electricity and magnetism tend to be more deepen. It also emphasizes enhancing students' ability that they can communicate what they learn about technology with others, and that they can apply their knowledge to other fields as well. Based on this study of the Ontario curriculum, we suggest that it is necessary for us to n Science curriculum from the first grade, so that the students can learn science from the early grade, without a need to run another subject, like practical arts. We also found that the Korean curriculum has an interesting structure for the young students to learn to apply their knowledge to the real life immediately, based on an idea that the topic of 'Manipulating the electric appliances' in practical arts curriculum moves to the Science.