What Are Elementary and Middle School Students Expected to Learn about the Sun and Moon in Taiwan and the US?

The overarching goal of this study is to examine what is considered most important regarding the depth, breadth and content of space science concepts as reflected in current national science education standards and science curricula in Taiwan and the US. Major findings of this study conclude that many skills and concepts articulated in the standards in both countries are similar, although the structure of the standards is not the same; most space science content is addressed more specifically for a smaller grade span in Taiwan's standards than in the US standards; and "Insights" (an elementary science curriculum in the US) exhibits greater learner self-direction but expects students to comprehend more concepts in about the same amount of time as does the Taiwanese curriculum. Differences in these two curricula could be attributed to the varied content expectations for different clusters of grade span in the science standards. While the US is developing the Next Generation Science Standards, the findings of this study shed light on students' performance expectations in science in different countries, which in turn helps direct focus to areas of science education requiring significant attention, such as science standards, curriculum, and textbook development through international benchmarking. (Contains 5 tables.)